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Martin21957387fdoi
Martin21957387fdoi
Participating Frequently
July 30, 2025
Question

Can't access Photoshop or any Creative Cloud apps – Error 20400 / Reference Code 109

  • July 30, 2025
  • 6 replies
  • 503 views

Hi everyone,

 

I'm currently unable to access Photoshop or any other Creative Cloud app. When I try to open Photoshop, I first get this message:

 

"We can’t reach the Adobe servers. This may be because you’re not connected to the internet. Check your connection and try again below. If you’re still having issues, please see our connectivity troubleshooting guide. Error code: 20400."

 

After clicking "Try Again", it changes to:

"Sorry, Photoshop has encountered an error. You will not be able to use Photoshop at this time. Please contact Customer Support and use the reference code 109 for more information on how to resolve this issue."

 

Here’s what I’ve already tried:

  • Checked my internet connection (it’s working fine)

  • Reset the hosts file to default

  • Logged out and back into my Adobe account

  • Uninstalled the Creative Cloud app and all Adobe apps

  • Reinstalled everything fresh

  • Logged out and back in again after reinstall

 

Apps are being launched through the Creative Cloud desktop app (see screenshot below):

Photoshop appears as version 26.9, and shows the "Open" button, but the error appears right after launching.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

6 replies

Martin21957387fdoi
Martin21957387fdoiAuthor
Participating Frequently
July 31, 2025

Unfortunately, no luck. I made sure in the firewall that the HTTPS is not blocked, I also added multiple more Adobe services to the firewall exceptions, such as Creative Cloud Desktop and Update services. I added outbound rules so that port 443 remains open. After restarting, I'm still getting the pop-up.

edit: i also tried to disable the firewall entirely, but to no avail.

Kevin Stohlmeyer
Community Expert
Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 31, 2025

Have you gone through all the troubleshooting steps outlined in the link above? There is more than just the firewall that could be causing this including certificates, etc. 

Kevin Stohlmeyer
Community Expert
Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 30, 2025

Do you have Windows Defender installed? Here is a list of IPs that may need to be whitelisted: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/kb/network-endpoints.html

Martin21957387fdoi
Martin21957387fdoiAuthor
Participating Frequently
July 30, 2025

Thank you for the suggestion! Unfortunately, after using an admin account and adding the PDapp to the firewall exceptions, the problem and popup still persists after launching photoshop. Here's a screenshot of my allowed adobe applications:

 

 

Kevin Stohlmeyer
Community Expert
Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 30, 2025

Are you logged in as an admin on the Windows account (not your Adobe account)?

Martin21957387fdoi
Martin21957387fdoiAuthor
Participating Frequently
July 30, 2025

Hi!

 

I'm trying to add the PDApp to the firewall exception EXEs, but unfortunately, I can't see an OOBE folder or PDapp exe file in the destination provided.

 

 

I also added both the Creative Cloud Desktop app and the Photoshop exe to firewall exceptions, but still get the same error message.

Kevin Stohlmeyer
Community Expert
Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 30, 2025

Hi@Martin21957387fdoi normally this means you cannot connect to the Adobe servers to verify activation. Try this help document to verify and check your firewall settings to make sure Adobe IPs are not blocked. 

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/activation-network-issues.html?linkId=100000367146117#test-connection

 

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