Error 12053

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
August 25, 2025
3 replies
713 views

For the last 24 hours I have been unable to open any of my desktop apps included in my plan (CC, Br, Lr and Ps).

Each time I do, I get the same dialogue box quoting Error 12053. My mobile apps and online apps do not seem to be affected.

I have not changed any settings on my firewall, anti-virus or router, and googling Adobe Server availability says no issues are detected. I have also rebooted my PC several times but this has not yielded any positive change.

According to "My Account" on the Adobe website, I have all five desktop apps available for download/install (even though they are already installed), but when I try to, I get the same issue of "unable to connect to server".

I am going round in circles and do not have much hair left to tear out. HELP!!

Correct answer Rich325588621tqv

Thanks Glenn.

Woke up this morning, tried reinstalling CC again and.....

It works!!

All others now reinstalled too. Thanks to you all for your help.

Rich, the happy photoshopper

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

Glenn 8675309

Legend

1. Turn your router all the way off. If you have an internet hub from a provider turn that off as well. Some people will say "router" when they mean their Internet hub- the deivce that provides the internet. I have both.
2. Turn your computer all the way off.
3. Go get a cup of coffee, and look out a window for a bit. You would not believe how important this step is!

Turn the router on
Turn the computer on.

R

Rich325588621tqvAuthorCorrect answer

Participant

Thanks Glenn.

Woke up this morning, tried reinstalling CC again and.....

It works!!

All others now reinstalled too. Thanks to you all for your help.

Rich, the happy photoshopper

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

P

petpro

Participant

I’ve run into this one myself not too long ago, and it nearly drove me up the wall too. Error 12053 is almost always a connectivity/authentication problem between the desktop apps and Adobe’s licensing servers, even if everything else on your system looks fine.

A few things that helped me (and others I’ve seen on the forums):

Sign out / back in: Open the Creative Cloud Desktop app, sign out completely, then quit the app (make sure it’s not running in the tray). Restart your machine and sign back in. Sometimes it’s just the token getting stuck.
Clear cached credentials: On Windows, I had to clear out Adobe-related entries from the Windows Credential Manager, then relaunch CC. On Mac, you’d do the same in Keychain.
Check system time/date: Sounds silly, but if your system clock is even a bit out of sync, Adobe’s servers reject the handshake. Make sure it’s synced to internet time.
Flush network settings: I reset my DNS (ipconfig /flushdns on Windows) and temporarily switched to Google’s DNS (8.8.8.8). That got me reconnected when my ISP routing was flaky.
Hosts file: Double-check that nothing Adobe-related is being blocked in your hosts file. Sometimes old entries sneak in and cause connection failures.

If none of that works, the nuclear option is to run the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool, remove the desktop apps, and reinstall. But in my case I didn’t need to go that far—signing out, clearing cached credentials, and fixing the DNS did the trick.

You’re not alone—lots of us have hit this exact loop. Try the above in order, and hopefully you’ll be back up and running without having to rip out the rest of your hair.

R

Rich325588621tqvAuthor

Participant

Thanks, petpro.

I have worked diligently through your suggestions, ending up hitting the big red button...... Now I can't reinstall anything as I am getting error 206, saying Adobe's servers aren't reachable.

Hair disappearing rapidly👴