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pslane1
Inspiring
December 1, 2023
Answered

Computer space

  • December 1, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 2668 views

I keep running out of computer space.  I have added more and even more but still I really don't have enough space.  Photoshop is taking up a great deal of it.

My question is this:  Is there anything, files maybe, in Photoshop that can be deleted/removed?  Maybe something that is not really necessary? 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Bojan Živković11378569

    Photoshop uses a so-called scratch disk to process complex operations. When it runs out of memory, it will use the scratch disk that you select in Preferences > Scratch Disk. Larger files and complex operations will need a lot of scratch disk space. Is that the problem you have? Free up some space on the disk selected as the scratch disk or add a new, larger disk, preferably an SSD M.2 NVME.

    2 replies

    Bojan Živković11378569
    Community Expert
    Bojan Živković11378569Community ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    December 1, 2023

    Photoshop uses a so-called scratch disk to process complex operations. When it runs out of memory, it will use the scratch disk that you select in Preferences > Scratch Disk. Larger files and complex operations will need a lot of scratch disk space. Is that the problem you have? Free up some space on the disk selected as the scratch disk or add a new, larger disk, preferably an SSD M.2 NVME.

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      pslane1Author
      Inspiring
      December 2, 2023

      Here is my scratch disk info.  Thanks.

       

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      pslane1Author
      Inspiring
      December 2, 2023

      Bojan and Trevor,

      I am using Photoshop 2024 and I see that I still have alot of Photoshop 2023 files on my computer.  Can I safely delete those files?

      Trevor.Dennis
      Community Expert
      Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 1, 2023

      Is the problem mainly with your C: drive?  If you have additional drives, there are all sorts of ways to reduce what you have on the boot drive.

       

      Are you using Windows 10 or 11?

       

      I'm actually struggling to find a decent link for you, so I'll give you the basics, and you can Google the details.

       

      Turn off hybernate.  It uses a bunch of space, and has always been a PITA IME often causing crashes when waking up.  Always thje first thing I do with a new system.

      Open File Explorer. Right click Documents and choose Properies.\

      Click on the Location tab. You'll see an option to move to another drive.

      Do the same with Desktop, Downloads, Pictures (if you have a lot of them).

      Install WinDirStat.  It's an incredibly useful app that shows you what and where things are on your drives.

      Well this is embarrassing.  It turns out that I have NOT disabled hybernate on my current system, but it does let us see its impact on drive space.  The way it works is you click on a big chunk of colour in the lower half, and it shows you the file path in the top half. Hybernate is using 25.5Gb on my system.

       

      You say that Photoshop is using a bunch of space.  You need to check the root directory of the drive used for Photoshop scratch space.  With Photoshop closed, there should be no Photoshop temp files. If there are, you can delete them.

       

      I hope that helped.  If you say you were asking about RAM and not drive space, I might scream.

       

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      pslane1Author
      Inspiring
      December 2, 2023

      Thank you for all this info.  Please tell me how to find the root directory. 

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