: Shortcut for selecting parent Group in Photoshop Questions says it all in a way. I have selected a layer, and I want to press some button combination to select the direct parent of the current

@Ogunnowo857

With a script you can select the parent of the currently active layer.

var doc = app.activeDocument;
var layerParent = doc.activeLayer.parent;
if ( layerParent !== doc ) doc.activeLayer = layerParent;


Tested up to CS6

You can save it as Select Parent.jsx

If you put the script the the Photoshop scripts folder (eg. Program FilesAdobeAdobe Photoshop CS6 (64 Bit)PresetsScripts on Windows) and restart photoshop, you can set a hotkey to launch the script from Edit > Keyboard shortcuts.... You will find the new command under File > Scripts > Select Parent



Gif of me pressing the hotkey a few times to travel the parent groups up until there aren't any parents left.



The gif loops after it gets to Group 4, which is the last parent group.

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@Cugini998

If your current layer is in a group and you are trying to select the entire group (the parent in the layers panel that has the little folder icon), then all you need to do is hold down COMMAND (CTRL) and then, with the Move Tool selected, click anywhere inside your document.

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@Goswami567

Maybe not exactly what you're after but there is a shortcut key for selecting the layer above which you can keep doing until you get to the parent or group you're after. Try alt/option + ]. alt/option + [ selects the layer below. alt/option + < or + > selects the bottommost and topmost layer respectively.

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@Gonzalez368

Adobe came out with a solution for this in CS6 I believe, where at the top left of the toolbar you can choose to select a layer or a group upon clicking. I don't think there are any solutions for CS4.

Sorry mate.

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