Participating Frequently

Answered

Why is updating apps so glacially slow?

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
June 16, 2026
66 replies
1393 views

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!!

Correct answer markh67689002

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.

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!!

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

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.

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]

Glen+SavilleAuthor

Participating Frequently

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

T

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

S

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.

steven_parker

kglad

Community Expert

@steven_parker0655

is your problem resolved?

M

markh67689002Correct answer

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.

R

Razvan_crist

Participant

It worked! Thanks man!!!!

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!

M

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

-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.

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

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!

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.

Abstract24

Participant

Hello, granting full disk access to Creative Cloud on MacOS26, solved the problem. Cheers!

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