Cant deselect

I am using Corel Photo-Paint 2017 for the first time, on a windows 10 computer. I am unable to deselect (escape the selection tool). 

I have tried to press the escape button, select a different tool, select the pick tool and click somewhere, and press the space button. Nothing works. With the selection active, I am for example not able to use the eraser tool. I therefore have to reload the image each time i use the select tool. Obviously very cumbersome. 

So is Corel Photo-Paint a totally crappy software, or is it just that they have hidden away the option to deselect so that no normal user will ever find it, or am I missing something very obvious here?