A common problem I’ve run into in Photoshop is the inability to move a group of layers around my document due to having a locked layer in the group.

 For example, if you look at the following screenshot, you’ll notice a locked layer at the bottom of the group (Layer 2530). If I try to move that root folder (Calling_PSTN), it’s not going to let me due due to that pesky little layer. I’ve expanded all the groups in this shot to give you an idea of where the file is located, but in most cases it’s not going to as noticeable.

There are some easy ways to get around this problem without having to search for that layer, and it only involves a few clicks.

First, select the folder which contains the locked layer that you want to move. Then from the layer menu, click on ‘lock all layers in group’

From the menu that pops up, click on ‘All’ beside the lock icon. This will lock all of the layers within that group.

Now, simply click it again and every layer in that group will become unlocked (including that pesky one at the start that we didn’t want to go looking for)

Voila, Unlocked layers for all!

Update : If you find yourself using this fairly often, you can also bind the ‘lock all layers in a group’ to a keyboard shortcut (found under the edit menu).