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Can not Edit In or open Photoshop from newly updated Lightroom Classic

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
June 18, 2026
4 replies
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When I chose several images in Lightroom Classic I can not open as layers in Photoshop

Correct answer AxelMatt

@Francefoto I’ve tried this and I can’t reproduce this on my machine.

Unfortunately you haven't given us any information about your system. Therefore, all proposed solutions are a look into the crystal ball.

What exactly you’re trying to do? What do you like to get and what do you really get?

Please describe the steps you’re doing, so we can try to reproduce.

Do you use Smart Previews in Lightroom and in the case are the original files are available?

If you work with a single image does this work?

Which operationg system and which version of Adobe’ applications do you use?

If your system up-to-date?

When the 'link' between Lightroom Classic and Photoshop has issues, the first step is to try this: Use the Adobe Creative Cloud Application to uninstall Photoshop. When asked, keep preferences! After this reinstall Photoshop again.

If this doesn't help the nest step is to reinstall both apps Lightroom and Photoshop. Please follow the steps below:

1. Open the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Client and uninstall both Photoshop and Lightroom Classic. When asked, keep preferences!

2. Install Photoshop first and then Lightroom Classic. The right order is very important here!

If this doesn't help try the reinstallation with removing the preferences also.

FrancefotoAuthor

Participant

Yes, reinstalling Photoshop was the solution to the problem.
Thank you all for your help!

yamato713108855

Community Expert

Is it possible to launch only Photoshop?
After installing a Windows update, I'm experiencing a problem where Photoshop won't launch.
Updating my NVIDIA graphics driver to a newer version resolved the issue.

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @Francefoto,

Thank you for reporting this issue. I'd like to help get this resolved for you. Great questions from AxelMatt above, those system details will definitely help us narrow it down. While we wait for those, here are a few additional things to check that are specific to the "Open as Layers in Photoshop" workflow:

Check your External Editing preferences in Lightroom Classic: Go to Preferences > External Editing. Under "Edit in Adobe Photoshop," confirm it shows your current Photoshop version (2026). If it shows the wrong version, manually point it to the correct Photoshop executable.
Reset Photoshop's startup scripts. Navigate to your Photoshop Scripts folder:
Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Startup Scripts CC\Adobe Photoshop
Mac: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Startup Scripts CC/Adobe Photoshop
Look for a file called photoshop_v2026.jsx. If it's missing or a zero-byte, that could be the problem. The interop script that Lightroom calls is broken. A reinstall of Photoshop (as AxelMatt mentioned) would restore it, which confirms the root cause.
Try the alternative "Edit In" method. Instead of right-click > "Edit In > Open as Layers in Photoshop," try selecting your images, then use the menu: Photo > Edit In > Open as Layers in Photoshop.
Also, try, does a simple single-image Photo > Edit In > Edit in Adobe Photoshop work? This helps isolate whether the issue is all interop or just the "Open as Layers" command specifically.
Check if Photoshop Beta is installed. Open Creative Cloud Desktop > check under "Beta apps." If Photoshop Beta is installed alongside the release version, it could cause a conflict where they share a startup script. Try uninstalling Photoshop Beta, then test again; there's no need to reinstall anything else.

Let us know what you find!

Best,
Anshul Saini

A

AxelMatt

Correct answer