Today’s Question: Recently this [Contextual Task Bar] appeared on my Photoshop screen for every image that I open in Photoshop. I never asked for this and I can’t seem to get rid of it. Do you have ideas on how to eliminate this from Photoshop altogether?
Tim’s Quick Answer: The floating toolbar referred to in today’s question is the Contextual Task Bar in the public beta version of Photoshop. It can be hidden (or revealed) by choosing Window > Contextual Task Bar from the menu.
More Detail: The Contextual Task Bar is a new interface element in the public beta version of Photoshop, which can be used to test out features that haven’t yet been finalized, such as the new AI-based Generative Fill feature. By default the Contextual Task Bar appears as a floating toolbar on every image you open in this version of Photoshop.
If you don’t want to keep the Contextual Task Bar open, you can choose Window > Contextual Task Bar from the menu. The same command will reveal the task bar if it had previously been hidden. You can also hide the bar by clicking the “more” button (the three dots) on the bar and choosing “Hide bar” from the popup menu.
While the Contextual Task Bar can certainly be a convenient way to access certain features, it can also be a bit of a distraction. It is worth noting that the features you can access on the bar can also be accessed elsewhere. For example, if you want to test out the Generative Fill command in the public beta version of Photoshop you can create a selection and choose Edit > Generative Fill from the menu to access the feature without using the Contextual Task Bar.
