# Common Causes of GIMP Non-Responsiveness

## There is a floating selection

Layers dialog showing a floating selection.

Showing a floating selection that can be anchored ( Ctrl H) or turned into a new layer ( Shift Ctrl N).

How to tell: If there is a floating selection, many actions are impossible until the floating section is anchored. To check, look at the Layers Dialog, shortcut Ctrl L (making sure it's set to the image you're working on) and see whether the top layer is called Floating Selection.

How to solve: Right click on the floating selection to open the Layer menu and select either Anchor Layer (shortcut Ctrl H) to anchor the floating selection to the layer below it, or convert it into an ordinary layer by selecting To New Layer (shortcut Shift Ctrl N). If you need more help on how to do this, see Floating Selections.

## The selection is hidden

How to tell: If this is the problem, merely reading this will already have made you realize it, probably, but to explain in any case: sometimes the flickering line that outlines the selection is annoying because it makes it hard to see important details of the image, so GIMP gives you the option of hiding the selection, by unchecking Show Selection in the View menu. It is easy to forget that you have done this, though.

How to fix: Go to the View menu for the image and, if Show Selection is unchecked, click on it.

## You are acting outside the selection

Fix selection using the "Select" menu

From the Select menu choose All to make sure that everything is selected, choose None to remove the selection, or Invert to invert the selected area.

How to tell: You may have previously selected a part of your image, but now you are trying to work on another part that is not inside the selection. Look for the selection outline and check if it is where you want it to be.

How to fix: There are a couple of possibilities.

- If you can't see any selection, there may be a very small one, or it is outside the visible area on your screen, or it can even be one that contains no pixels. If this is the case just remove the selection: Select None or use the shortcut: Shift Ctrl A.

- If you can see a selection and thought you were inside it, it might be inverted from what you think. The easiest way to tell is to hit the Quick Mask button: the selected area will be clear and the unselected area will be masked. If this is the problem, you can solve it by choosing Invert in the Select menu (after turning the Quick Mask off if you still have that enabled).

If doing this has destroyed a selection that you wanted to keep, use Undo (Ctrl Z) to restore it, and then we can continue to figure out what the problem is.

## The active drawable is not visible

Layer is invisible

Layers dialog with visibility off for the active layer.

How to tell: The Layers dialog gives you ability to toggle the visibility of each layer on or off. Look at the Layers Dialog, and see if the layer you are trying to work on is active (i.e., darkened) and has an eye symbol to the left of it. If not, this is your problem.

How to fix: If your intended target layer is not active, click on it in the Layers dialog to activate it. If none of the layers are active, the active drawable might be a channel—you can look at the Channels dialog to see. This does not change the solution, though. If the eye symbol is not visible, click in the Layers dialog at the left edge to toggle it: this should make the layer visible. See the Help section for the Layers Dialog if you need more help.

## The active drawable is transparent

Layer opacity set to zero

Layers dialog with opacity set to zero for the active layer.

How to tell: When the opacity of a layer is 0, you cannot see anything you draw on it. Look at the Opacity slider at the top of the Layers Dialog and check the value next to it. If it is 0 or another very low value, that is your problem.

How to fix: Move or click on the slider to change it to the desired value.

## You are trying to act outside the layer

How to tell: In GIMP, layers don't need to have the same dimensions as the image: they can be larger or smaller. If you try to paint outside the borders of a layer, nothing happens. To see if this is the case, look for a black-and-yellow dashed rectangle that does not enclose the area you're trying to draw at.

How to fix: You need to enlarge the layer. There are two commands near the bottom of the Layer menu that will let you do this: Layers to Image Size, which sets the layer bounds to match the image borders; and Layer Boundary Size, which brings up a dialog that allows you to set the layer dimensions to whatever you please.

## You are trying to act on a layer group

Layer group selected

Layers dialog where a layer group is selected.

How to tell: Check the Layers Dialog to see if the active layer is actually a Layer group. If it is, it will have a + or - sign before its name and icon. Most actions don't work on a layer group, in which case an error message will show up: Cannot paint on layer groups.

How to fix: You need to make a layer active that is not a layer group. Select a layer by clicking it in the Layers Dialog. If the active layer group has a + sign in front of it, it is collapsed. You can click it to expand and show the individual layers inside that group.

## The image is in indexed color mode.

How to tell: GIMP can handle three different color modes: RGB(A), Grayscale and Indexed. The indexed color mode uses a colormap, where all colors used in the image are indexed. The color picker in GIMP however, lets you choose RGB colors. That means, if you try to paint with a different color than is indexed in the colormap, you can end up with the wrong color.

How to fix: If possible, use the RGB color mode to paint on images. You can verify and select another color mode from the Mode menuitem in the Image menu. If you need to use indexed mode you can pick the color you want to use from the Colormap Dialog.

## No visible effect when trying to use a brush, eraser or other tool

How to tell: You are trying to use the brush or eraser but you are not seeing anything changing.

How to fix: Check the Tool Options and make sure that Opacity is not set to 0.

## No visible effect when trying to use the move tool, rotate or other transform tool

How to tell: You are trying to move (or perform a transformation) on a layer but you do not see anything changing.

How to fix: Check the status bar to see if there is a message telling you what is happening, next check Tool Options and make sure that the tool you are using is not set to work on a Selection or Path. These little buttons are at the top of the Tool Options for Transform Tools.

## Eraser and brushes no longer work

You have selected the clipboard brush and the clipboard is empty.

Empty Clipboard Brush

How to tell: You are trying to use a brush or the eraser and nothing is happening.

How to fix: Check the Brush Dialog to see which brush is currently in use. If it is the Clipboard Brush and it shows an empty rectangle then select a different brush to use.

## Eraser does not make area transparent

How to tell: You are trying to use the eraser to remove all color but instead of a transparent area appearing it turns into the background color (usually white).

How to fix: Check the active layer in the Layers Dialog: right click on it to open a menu and see if Add Alpha Channel is enabled. If it is, then your layer has no alpha channel: click that menu item to add an alpha channel. With that fixed, you will be able to erase to transparency.

## Unexpected colors when trying to use a brush or eraser

How to tell: You are trying to use the brush or eraser but the outcome is not as you expected.

How to fix: Check whether the layer you are painting on has a Layer Mask. If there is, you may be painting on the Layer Mask instead of the Layer itself. In that case click the Layer to make that the active painting area.

Another similar possibility is that a Channel is active instead of a Layer. In that case click a layer in the Layers Dialog to make a layer active.

## The crop tool leaves an empty area after cropping

How to tell: After cropping using the Crop Tool the image canvas is still using the old size and only the visible part was cropped.

How to fix: Go to the Tool Options and make sure that Delete cropped pixels is checked.

## I've been waiting for a long time and GIMP is not responding

How to tell: your mouse cursor is spinning or the window is saying it is not responding and you can't do anything in GIMP.

How to fix: some filters and other operations can take a long time, especially on large images or if your computer does not have a lot of free memory. In these cases, you may just need more patience. It can sometimes help to reduce the part you are working on by making a selection around a specific area.

GIMP, just like any other software, is not perfect. You may have found a bug. The best thing to do is report it, since you may be the first to encounter it. Not reporting it may mean it won't get fixed until someone else reports it.

First check to make sure that you are using the latest version of GIMP; if not update and check if the problem is still there. If it is, check if the issue is already known by searching our list of issues (also check the closed issues, fixed issues get closed even if there is no new version available yet). If you don't see it there, please open a new issue, making sure to give us all details like your Operating System, GIMP version, what tool or filter you were using and what exactly happened. Adding a screenshot, or uploading the image you are using can also be helpful in certain cases.

## General guidelines on what to check if you are stuck

- Check the status bar to see if there is a message telling you what is happening.

  If you add the Error Console to one of your docks most of the warnings will appear there. This can make it easier to spot any problems.

- Check the Tool Options and make sure that all settings there have expected values, or else try to reset to default values.

- Check which Image Mode your image is using. Some operations have limitations when using Indexed mode.

- Check if a selection is active and if needed remove the selection.

- Check the Layer Dialog and make sure the correct layer is active, that the opacity, blending mode and layer attributes are set as expected.