Adobe · Photoshop desktop on Windows or macOS

Invert a Selection in Photoshop

Source-checked About 1 minute

Answer

With an active selection, choose Select > Inverse. Photoshop deselects the area that was selected and selects everything that was previously outside it. Check the moving selection border before editing. The shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows or Command + Shift + I on macOS.

Guide steps3 steps
  1. Create the starting selection
  2. Invert the selection
  3. Check the opposite area
  4. If it still does not work

Create the starting selection

Open the image and use any selection tool to select the area you do not want the next edit to affect. Confirm that a moving dashed border surrounds that area.

Invert the selection

Choose Select > Inverse. You can instead press Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows or Command + Shift + I on macOS. The area inside the original border becomes unselected, and the previously unselected area becomes selected.

Check the opposite area

Look for the moving dashed border around the opposite area and along the canvas edge. Apply the intended edit only when that border matches the pixels you want to affect.

If it does not work

  • If Inverse is unavailable, there is no active pixel selection. Use a selection tool to create one, then open Select again.
  • If the border appears unchanged, look at the canvas edge. An inverse selection normally adds a moving border there because the area outside the original selection is now active.
  • If you used Ctrl + I or Command + I and the colors changed, undo that edit. Use the selection shortcut instead: Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows or Command + Shift + I on macOS.
  • If the wrong pixels change after the inverse selection, undo the edit before continuing, recreate the starting selection around the area you want to protect, and run Select > Inverse again.
Sources and verification

Checked against official documentation on . Scope: Photoshop desktop on Windows or macOS.

Source-checked against current Adobe guidance. The page is deliberately image-free: Select > Inverse and both shortcuts are exact, and the reader verifies success on the open image by checking the moving selection border around the opposite area and canvas edge. The migrated screenshot was inspected but rejected because it shows an older interface and adds no decision support beyond the written menu path.

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