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Why is updating apps so glacially slow?

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I’ve paid for Creative Cloud in advance for a year, checked for updates after a month away from my Mac and everything needs updating, it’s glacially slow, so far 5 hours to update 5 apps, another 8 to go, this is very poor service for the price I’m charged!

At this pathetic speed I will have wasted a complete day and evening while Adobe count their cash!

I’m on a MacBook Pro M4 pro max - Tahoe 26.4.1 128mb ram 4tb ssd hd, so hardware is not the issue, my internet speed is excellent.

The only possibility is that Adobe either haven’t been vigilantly checking their service speed or they are delierately throttling back to 1980 speeds?

Not good value for money!!

Jeff_A_WrightCorrect answer

Community Manager

Thread summary
A poster shared their experience with the Creative Cloud app update process on a Mac, noting that it took approximately 5 hours to update several applications after being away for a month, with 8 additional updates still pending. There is a concern that Adobe may be limiting the speed of updates. This issue was also observed on a second Mac.
Troubleshooting steps / guidance mentioned by other participants

Kglad (Community Expert) suggested using Cmd + Option + R on macOS to reset the Creative Cloud Desktop app.
Markh67689002 discovered that enabling the Creative Cloud option in System Settings > Privacy & Security > App Management, which was previously turned off, significantly sped up the update process.
Abstract24 reported that granting Full Disk Access to Creative Cloud in macOS System Settings allowed the entire suite update to be completed in approximately 10 minutes.

Suggested solutions by Adobe
1. To grant Creative Cloud full permissions on macOS, follow these steps:

Open System Settings and go to Privacy & Security.
Ensure that Creative Cloud is enabled under App Management and, if applicable, under Full Disk Access.
Limited file access often leads to slow updates. If the installer still gets stuck after this, please follow the troubleshooting steps provided by Adobe.

Installer is stuck for Adobe apps
2. To reset the Creative Cloud desktop app, bring it to the foreground and press Cmd + Option + R on your Mac. This will force a restart and reset its background sync queue. After that, try the update again. For more thorough troubleshooting of downloads and speed issues, please follow the additional steps.
Unable to download non-subscription apps
3. To resolve issues with the Creative Cloud desktop app, repair or reinstall it. If the app hangs at launch or updates continue to fail, uninstall the Creative Cloud desktop app and install a fresh copy.
Uninstall Creative Cloud desktop app

Jeff_A_Wright

Correct answer

Community Manager

Thread summary
A poster shared their experience with the Creative Cloud app update process on a Mac, noting that it took approximately 5 hours to update several applications after being away for a month, with 8 additional updates still pending. There is a concern that Adobe may be limiting the speed of updates. This issue was also observed on a second Mac.
Troubleshooting steps / guidance mentioned by other participants

Kglad (Community Expert) suggested using Cmd + Option + R on macOS to reset the Creative Cloud Desktop app.
Markh67689002 discovered that enabling the Creative Cloud option in System Settings > Privacy & Security > App Management, which was previously turned off, significantly sped up the update process.
Abstract24 reported that granting Full Disk Access to Creative Cloud in macOS System Settings allowed the entire suite update to be completed in approximately 10 minutes.

Suggested solutions by Adobe
1. To grant Creative Cloud full permissions on macOS, follow these steps:

Open System Settings and go to Privacy & Security.
Ensure that Creative Cloud is enabled under App Management and, if applicable, under Full Disk Access.
Limited file access often leads to slow updates. If the installer still gets stuck after this, please follow the troubleshooting steps provided by Adobe.

Installer is stuck for Adobe apps
2. To reset the Creative Cloud desktop app, bring it to the foreground and press Cmd + Option + R on your Mac. This will force a restart and reset its background sync queue. After that, try the update again. For more thorough troubleshooting of downloads and speed issues, please follow the additional steps.
Unable to download non-subscription apps
3. To resolve issues with the Creative Cloud desktop app, repair or reinstall it. If the app hangs at launch or updates continue to fail, uninstall the Creative Cloud desktop app and install a fresh copy.
Uninstall Creative Cloud desktop app

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Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

Im not clear on why this was chosen as the correct solution as update speeds are very unpredictable at best!

The speed depends on other issues, i frequently get an alert that the CC app is experiencing slower than usual speeds and that its attempting to fix this! It doesn’t

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kglad

Community Expert

@Glen+Saville

best answers are marked correct.

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Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

Now Creative Cloud hangs on launch - and BIG surprise the error reort cannot find a solution!

Value for money I think NOT!!

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kglad

Community Expert

@Glen+Saville

first try, resetting the cc app:

To reset the Creative Cloud desktop app, make sure it's in the foreground, then press: Win: Ctrl + Alt + R Mac: Cmd + Opt + R

if that fails, follow the repair option using the cc desktop uninstaller/repairerr, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/apps/manage-apps/creative-cloud-desktop-app/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html

if that fails, do a clean cc install:

uninstall every cc app including preferences, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-remove-app.html

then uninstall the cc desktop app, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html

clean your computer of cc files per http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

restart your computer (don't skip this)

download the cc desktop app by using the links at the both of this page, https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/apps/download-install-apps/creative-cloud-apps/download-creative-cloud-desktop-app-using-direct-links.html

install the cc desktop app using an administrator account (solution 4 here, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/creative-cloud-missing-damaged.html)

use the desktop app to install your cc programs/trials

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wiseman185

Participant

Most of the time, this happens because the Creative Cloud desktop app itself gets stuck or throttled in background process loops. You can usually fix this by opening the Creative Cloud app and pressing Cmd + Option + R on your Mac. That forces the CC desktop app to restart and reset its background sync queue, which usually restores normal download speeds right away.

Another quick thing to check on newer macOS versions is System Settings > Privacy & Security > App Management to ensure Adobe Creative Cloud has full permissions, as restricted file access can make updates crawl endlessly.

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Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

I don’t know about the rest of you but I don’t think that a 2% increase in upload is good enough for a paid subscription service! Where is the “SERVICE”?

I paid upfront for a year & I want a refund!

Restarting CC holding down modifier keys is not good enough!

I NEVER have these problems with Microsoft office! And no problems on any kind with Affinity!

CC was sold to us as a Marvelous improvement to our design lives offering new features as soon as they become available!

Affinity offer this without any of this nonesense! Don’t be put off by Canva, the difference is startling, there Ai is a choice!

[Profanity removed by moderator]

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Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

Still Slower than this should be! looks like throttling to me!

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tamara86784135

Participating Frequently

can i cancel creative cloud update since the download is very slow stack on 45% - last time when it got stack on 75% for few hours i canceled it and it crashed my photoshop... i hade to reinstall it and i lost all my setting

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steven_parker0655

Participant

I’ve run into similar issues with updates taking much longer than expected, especially when everything else on the connection seems to be working normally. Checking Creative Cloud’s bandwidth settings and making sure it has the necessary permissions on macOS seems like a good starting point. It’s also worth checking whether security software is interfering with the update process.

When troubleshooting other software or managing day-to-day tasks, I’ve found it helps to separate the actual connection issue from local application or system restrictions. Even something as simple as checking the relevant settings first can save a lot of time. The same principle applies when arranging services online — I usually prefer to compare the available options and requirements before making a decision.

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steven_parker

kglad

Community Expert

@steven_parker0655

is your problem resolved?

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markh67689002

Participant

So, I’ve also been having this problem consistently for the past month or two. I’ve tried a lot of. different things without any success. Today I tried a ChapGPT search of the problem and came up with the following...which completely solved the problem. Updates are now fast.

On the Mac, go to Settings | Privacy and Security | App Management. there’s an entry for Creative Cloud and a switch which was turned off. I turned it on and the whole process speeded up.

Oddly, the description of what this switch does seems to be the opposite of what you’d expect, but whatever it is, it fixed the problem.

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Razvan_crist

Participant

It worked! Thanks man!!!!

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Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

6 hours later and another 1%, I’ll be letting my subscription lapse, no other app or group of apps gives me so much trouble!

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Manan Joshi

Community Expert

Hi @Glen+Saville you had got this fixed then what happened or what changed on your MAC that this surfaced again. I am on a MAC as well and have never experienced this issue at the level you are getting it

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-Manan

Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi Manan,

OK the plot really thickens now!

I decided to abandon the updates and try the /sbin/fsck command line, found out that Apple in their infinite wisom has abandoned this, so started up held down the fingerprint / power button and chose disk utility, ran it twice no modifications made, rebooted and suddenly the last 4 updates flew by!

I’m baffled, but glad it’s working now and recovery mode will be my monthly go to.

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Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

disk access is allowed, if you see any bandwidth errors I tried toggling the low bandwidth off and on a few times, to see if it was the problem

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Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

I’m trying to updte my other Mac, and the speed is even worse! over 3 hours to progress 1%

Adobe is clearly throttling the updates!

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Abstract24

Participant

the moment i granted full disk access in MacOS system settings to creative cloud, it was updated in 10 minut, whole creative cloud suite.

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