How to close images in photoshop

Here we see that I currently have one image open in Photoshop:

To close a single image, go to the File menu in the menu bar along the top of the screen and choose Close. You can also use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl + W (Win) / Command + W (Mac):

Another way to close a single image is to click the small “x” icon in the document tab. On a Windows computer, the “x” is on the far right of the tab. On a Mac (which is what I'm using here), you'll find it on the left:

How to close multiple photos at once

If you have two or more images open in Photoshop and need to close them all, you can close each image one at a time. Or you can close all open photos at once. To close all open photos, go to the File menu and choose Close All. There's also a handy keyboard shortcut, Ctrl + Alt + W (Win) / Command + Option + W (Mac):

Close an image with an unsaved change

If you see a small asterisk after the file name and other information on the Document tab, it means you've made one or more edits to your image and haven't saved your work yet:

To close an image with unsaved changes, go to the File menu and choose Close, or click the x icon on the Document tab. Photoshop will ask you if you want to save your work before closing the image.

On a Windows computer, your options will be Yes to save, No to not save, or Cancel to escape the shutdown process and return to your image. On a Mac, your options are to Save, Don't Save, or Cancel:

One very important thing to be aware of is that if you choose No (Win) / Don't Save (Mac), Photoshop will still lock your image. But since you didn't save your work, any edits you made will be lost forever. If you simply want to cancel the shutdown process and return to your image, choose Cancel instead.

How to close images in photoshop

Close multiple images with unsaved changes

If you have two or more images open in Photoshop that have unsaved changes, you can close them all at once by going to the File menu and choosing Close All. Before it closes your first image, Photoshop will ask you if you want to save your work. You'll see the same options to choose from (Yes, No, or Cancel on a Windows PC, or Save, Don't Save, or Cancel on a Mac).

If you want to apply the same option to all photos you close, select Apply to All, and then make your selection:

How to close an image and return to Adobe Bridge

Finally, if you use Adobe Bridge To select and open your images in Photoshop, you can close an image and return to Bridge by going to Photoshop's File menu and choosing Close and Go to Bridge:

This closes the image and sends you back to Adobe Bridge where you can select the next image you want to open in Photoshop: