Skip to main content
AleCGames
AleCGames
Participant
April 3, 2026

Photoshop shortcut not working after latest update

  • April 3, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 18 views

After the latest Photoshop update, the desktop shortcut no longer works.

When I click the Photoshop shortcut on Windows 11, the cursor shows a loading circle for a few seconds, but the application never opens. Nothing happens after that.

However, if I open Adobe Creative Cloud and click the "Open" button for Photoshop from there, the application launches normally without any issues.

This issue started immediately after the recent update. Before that, the shortcut worked without any problems.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Double-click the Photoshop desktop shortcut
  2. Wait a few seconds
  3. The loading cursor appears briefly, but Photoshop does not open

Expected result:
Photoshop should launch normally when clicking the desktop shortcut.

Actual result:
Nothing happens after clicking the shortcut, but it works when launched from Adobe Creative Cloud.

    1 reply

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 3, 2026

    I take it you have tried editing the shortcut to make sure it points to the correct file path?

    With two issues (your other thread about Remove Background) I wonder if the update failed?

      AleCGames
      AleCGamesAuthor
      Participant
      April 3, 2026

      Thank you for your response to my report.

      No—the update was completely successful.

      After making this post, I realized I somehow had two versions of Photoshop installed: 2025 and 2026. That’s quite strange, since I never did anything intentionally to cause that—I simply update Photoshop whenever a new version is available.

      The shortcut I had been using in Windows was the same one I’ve always used to open Photoshop, but after checking, I noticed it was pointing to the 2025 version instead of 2026. So what I did was locate the 2026 .exe file on my PC and create a new desktop shortcut to replace the old 2025 one.

      After that, I tried uninstalling the 2025 version from Creative Cloud, but it fails during the uninstall process. The same thing happens if I try to remove it from the Control Panel.

      For context, I’m an app developer and very comfortable with technology, so I know how to handle software properly. That’s why it’s especially odd that two versions of Photoshop were installed on my system when I’ve only ever updated to the latest version.

      Ged_Traynor
      Community Expert
      Ged_TraynorCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 3, 2026

      ​@AleCGames when you install a new version of Photoshop you are given the option to keep the previous version, which as far as I can remember is set that way by default, so that’s more than likely why you have both 2025 and 2026 installed.

      Have you tried rebooting your PC and then uninstalling, if that doesn’t help, try using the Adobe Cleaner Tool

      https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/creative-cloud/apps/troubleshoot/diagnostics-repair-tools/run-creative-cloud-cleaner-tool.html

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices