Can I download my new Photoshop software to an external drive instead of my laptop?

Question

Hi,

I have a new laptop and an old version of Photoshop on my PC. I would like to download the newest version of Photoshop, but I would prefer to download it to an external hard drive instead of directly onto my new HP laptop so that it won't take up so much space.

Will Photoshop work if I download it onto an external storage drive? And if so, how do I actually do this?

Thanks for your help.

saranee

Anshul_Saini · Accepted Answer

Hi @saranee,

I agree with Gred and Dag. Unfortunately, we do not support or recommend installing Photoshop directly on an external hard drive. While you can technically change the install location, Photoshop still installs essential components on your system drive (C:), so even if you try to use an external drive, it won’t fully work or be reliable. This doesn't work well for a number of reasons, like:
• Photoshop needs to access system libraries, cache, and GPU resources that are tightly integrated with your OS.
• Running from an external drive can cause performance issues, update errors, or even crashes.
• Some core files will always be written to your internal system drive, no matter the selected location.

If you’re short on space, here are better alternatives:
1. Move large files (like documents, images, and videos) to your external drive.
2. Uninstall unused apps.
3. You can store your Photoshop files, brushes, fonts, other assets, and plugins on the external drive.
4. Set Photoshop’s Scratch Disk to the external drive via Edit > Preferences > Scratch Disks.
5. If your laptop allows it, consider upgrading to a larger SSD or HDD for a better experience.

Let us know if you have any further questions. We'd be happy to help.

Best,
Anshul Saini

D Fosse · Answer

Don't even think about it.

As Ged points out, the space saving is next to nothing and totally insignificant.

Just by running disk cleanup in your operating system, you can normally clear out at least as much space as the Photoshop installation files would take. With a little more active cleanup, you can get ten times that and more. For instance, laptops usually come with a ton of pre-installed and totally useless software.

In any case, installing Photoshop on a non-system drive, let alone an external one, is asking for trouble. And about half of it will end up in your user account on the system drive anyway.

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