Photoshop 2026 is the worst version so far

PS Version 27.7.0… the Remove tool barely works… I used it on several photos with terrible results… I went to PS 25 with the same photo and the remove tool worked perfectly...

Agree.
I have to restart my Photoshop every two or three hours – there's a problem with the scratch disc, which fills up memory and doesn't clear without restarting.
Of course, there's the persistent problem with the comma and period in the feather settings on the mask – with values ​​between integers. Values ​​like 0,6 or 0,9 (with a comma) automatically change to 0,1. Entering the same value with a period (0.9) produces the correct feather – but changes it to 0,9 (with a comma) in the window. So, using the same setting again resets the value to 0,1 – I have to enter zero-dot-nine each time.
And today I encountered another bug – the exposure window is going haywire – I move the exposure bar, then the offset bar (then the exposure resets to whole numbers), and I want to adjust the exposure again, but the offset resets to zero. I click preview, and the offset resets to zero again. Currently, this feature doesn't work at all.
Everyday something new…

I’m having constant glitches - for example: suddenly cannot select layers either on the artboard directly with the mouse, nor in the layers panels; suddenly entire list of options in a menu are greyed out or simply do not respond to click in any way; or trying to grab a curve in the Curves dialog just wont grab; to name a few. So I have to swear, save my work, force quit Photoshop, start it again, and continue my work  only to have to do it all again within 30 to 45 minutes .

I’m on a brand new (less than two months old) Macbook Pro with M5Pro chip and 64GB of RAM, with a virgin install of Creative Cloud, so it should not be a problem with old preference files from previous install as there are no provious installs, nor that the machine isn’t up to snuff.

At the price of a CC sub, this really is not cool.

​@DouglasPhoto  ​@mje69583573 

I agree with ​@D Fosse . Photoshop 2026 (v27) is working stable and smooth on my Windows 11 machine.

As ​@D Fosse wrote try a manual reset of the preferences. This method is the most complete method for restoring Photoshop to its default state.

Please follow the steps below:

1. Quit Photoshop.
2. Navigate to Photoshop's Preferences folder.
   MacOS: …Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
   Windows: …Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
    
   Note: The User Library folder is hidden by default. To access the content in the hidden folders see here:
   MacOS: Access hidden macOS library files
   Windows: Show hidden files, folders, and filename extensions in Windows
    
3. Drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to a safe place to a backup your settings
4. Move the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to a safe place on your drive for a back-up of your settings. Then delete this folder.
5. Open Photoshop.

Photoshop creates automatically the appropriate settings folder with the default values.

Without any informations about your issues and your system all proposed solutions are a look into the crystal ball.

Do you get error messages?

Do you get crash reports and send it to Adobe?

Please provide a copy of your 'System Info'. This can be get from the Photoshop menu item Help > System Info. There's a copy button in the System Info dialog. Press this button and paste the info into your next forum post.

​@mje69583573 Do you have the same issues or do you have only read about it?

​@mje69583573  ​@DouglasPhoto 

V 27 has been rock solid on my two machines.

I suspect at least some of these problems come from migrating preferences in the update. Corrupt preferences usually look and behave like application bugs and are often misidentified as that.

Preferences are vulnerable to corruption because they are rewritten on every application exit, as opposed to read-only program files. Small errors accumulate, and latent problems tend to come to the  surface with new application code in a new version. 

The preferences contain a lot more than your own user settings. It’s the entire app configuration, including lots of hidden and system-dependent parameters. 

The safest and most complete way to reset preferences, is to move the whole “Adobe Photoshop 2026 Settings”-folder to the desktop, so a fresh one can be rebuilt. This returns the application to clean, out-of-the-box factory state.

When that is done, make sure to update your GPU driver. Use the studio driver, not the game ready driver. Do a clean install to remove all traces of the old driver.

Agreed. You’re definitely not alone. I’ve been reading that many users are reporting significant instability issues with Adobe Photoshop 2026, particularly crashes related to GPU acceleration, font handling, memory management, and AI-driven features. What makes the situation especially frustrating is that the crashes often occur intermittently, meaning even high-end systems can become unreliable and difficult to use productively.

Some of the most commonly reported issues include:

• Random crashes every 5–15 minutes
• Freezes during save or export operations
• GPU-related crashes following updates
• Performance degradation during extended sessions
• Crashes tied to generative AI tools, along with inconsistent or below-average AI results

This is by far the worst many longtime users have experienced, and Adobe does not appear to be adequately addressing the root problems. Instead, much of the response has centered around temporary workarounds, troubleshooting steps, and “gerry-rigged” fixes rather than delivering stable, reliable updates. Given the high cost of Creative Cloud subscriptions, many users find this unacceptable.

Another major frustration is that support is frequently redirected to community forums. While forums can sometimes help with basic questions, they often fall short when dealing with serious technical issues that affect professional workflows. For creative professionals who rely on these applications daily, repeated crashes and lost productivity can have real financial consequences.

Many users are also reporting that Adobe InDesign 2026 has become increasingly unstable, with frequent crashes occurring during routine tasks such as exporting files, adding pages, or managing complex documents. In some cases, users have lost significant amounts of unsaved work, adding to the growing dissatisfaction with the current release cycle.

More broadly, frustration with Adobe has been building for years. Common complaints include buggy software, high subscription costs, bloated feature sets, unintuitive interfaces, and concerns over Adobe’s business practices. Many users feel “locked in” to the Creative Cloud ecosystem despite declining reliability and performance.

As a result, more creative professionals are actively exploring alternatives such as Affinity Suite, DaVinci Resolve, and GIMP for their photo, video, and design workflows. These platforms are increasingly appealing to users seeking greater stability and lower long-term costs.