Hiding the Contextual Task Bar

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Today’s Question: How do I get rid of the floating toolbar showing “Select subject – Remove background” that now pops up [in Photoshop]?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The toolbar in question is the Contextual Task Bar, and you can hide it by clicking the “more” button (with the three dots) and choosing “Hide bar” from the popup menu.

More Detail: The Contextual Task Bar is a relatively new toolbar in Photoshop, which by default will float over an open image. The toolbar is context-sensitive, meaning the specific controls that appear on the toolbar depend on the type of image that is currently active or the task you’re performing.

While the Contextual Task Bar can certainly be helpful in terms of having quicker access to tasks you might perform with an image in Photoshop, it can also be a bit of a distraction. Fortunately, while you can’t dock the Contextual Task Bar to put it in a preferred location, it is possible to hide it altogether.

You can hide the Contextual Task Bar by clicking on the “more” button at the right side of the toolbar and choosing “Hide bar” from the popup menu. You can also go to the menu bar and choose Window > Contextual Task Bar to hide or reveal the toolbar at any time. Once you’ve hidden the Contextual Task Bar it will remain hidden until you re-enable it.