After reinstalling Photoshop 27.9.1, all my preferences, actions, and plugins are gone—for my daily work, this is a total disaster! How can I restore all of this?

When you reinstall or update Photoshop on macOS without checking the migrate settings option, Photoshop generates a brand new default preferences folder, but your older presets and action files are often still sitting safely in your hidden Library directory.

Here is how you can retrieve and restore your lost setup:

1. Use Built-in Preset Migration Open Photoshop and go to Photoshop > Presets > Migrate Presets in the top menu bar. If Photoshop detects the directory from your previous installation on the same machine, it will automatically pull in your actions, brush sets, and workspace presets.

2. Manually Restore from the Previous Settings Directory If the automatic tool does not populate them:

1. Completely quit Photoshop.

2. In macOS Finder, click Go > Go to Folder... in the top menu bar (or press Cmd + Shift + G).

3. Paste this path: ~/Library/Preferences/

4. Look for your previous version folder (e.g., Adobe Photoshop 2024 Settings or your earlier version directory alongside the new one).

5. Open the older folder and copy Actions Palette.psp (which contains your unexported action library) and any custom .psp workspace files.

6. Paste and replace those files into your newly created Photoshop settings folder, then relaunch the app.

3. Check Time Machine Snapshots If the old directory was completely removed during a clean reinstall, open Time Machine from your macOS menu bar while viewing the ~/Library/Preferences/ folder and roll back that specific folder to a snapshot taken prior to the reinstall.

If you handle multi-document graphic assets, high-volume ID exports, or batch travel visa paperwork mockups, verifying proper client document resolution guidelines on Tripzo portal can help confirm required DPI and sizing presets before setting up batch automation actions again.

Once your actions are restored, remember to click the flyout menu in the Actions panel and select Save Actions (.atn) to a cloud or backup folder so you never have to rebuild them manually after an update.