Photoshop brush cursor became a crosshair: restore the brush outline

Separate the pointer from the painted result

Use a temporary blank document for this check. Choose an ordinary round brush and make one short stroke, then undo it. Ask two questions: can you see the pointer, and does the brush produce the expected stroke?

If painting works and only the circular outline is missing, focus on cursor appearance. A brush that leaves no mark, paints the wrong color, or responds incorrectly to pen pressure needs a different diagnosis. Changing a pointer style does not repair those problems.

This distinction also prevents you from changing a custom brush preset merely because its on-screen indicator looks unfamiliar.

Check Caps Lock in the canvas

Photoshop uses Caps Lock to switch certain tools between the usual cursor and a crosshair. Make the check while the canvas and Brush tool are active, rather than while entering text or typing in a numeric field.

If Caps Lock was the cause, turn it off and resume working. You do not need to reinstall a brush pack or reset the workspace. Adobe documents the toggle in its painting-tool guidance.

Choose the outline you actually need

Open Edit > Preferences > Cursors on Windows, or Photoshop > Settings > Cursors on macOS. Older releases may label the macOS submenu Preferences.

In the painting-cursor choices, Precise uses crosshairs, while Normal Brush Tip and Full Size Brush Tip show a brush outline. Choose an outline option if seeing the affected area is your priority.

Also inspect Show Crosshair in Brush Tip and Show Only Crosshair While Painting. The first adds a center mark; the second can explain why an outline disappears during a stroke even though it is visible while hovering. Change one setting at a time so you can identify which one mattered. Adobe's cursor settings

Why a soft brush can extend past the circle

Normal and Full Size outlines represent different portions of the brush stroke. With a soft brush, a faint edge can extend beyond the Normal outline. The Full Size option includes more of that lightly affected area.

Choose the display that helps your work rather than enlarging or shrinking the brush solely to make its outline match your expectation. Confirm the actual painted edge on the temporary document before returning to a precise mask or retouching task.

When the simple checks do not resolve it

Record whether the problem happens only while painting, only with one preset, or with every painting tool. Save your work before restarting Photoshop, then check a simple brush again.

If it persists, provide Adobe Support with the Photoshop version, operating system, chosen cursor settings, and whether a mouse and tablet behave differently. Include a screen recording if an ordinary screenshot does not capture the pointer. The steps here are documentation-reviewed; no mouse or tablet tests were performed for this article.