files i made not appearing on home screen anymore

Forum|Forum|28 days ago
May 15, 2026
3 replies
48 views

i logged on one day to none of my designs being in my home screen as if i had just downloaded photoshop for the first time can anyone explain how to get them back i kept seeing a scratch disk error right before loading in

Correct answer D Fosse

It needs to be emphasized: your files are not “in” the home screen. That’s not your file.

Your files are still on disk, and you can open them normally from a file browser like Windows Explorer or Bridge. You just need to know where on disk you saved them!

If you don’t know, the default location for image files in Windows is “Pictures”, under the main Documents folder. There should be a shortcut to this folder somewhere in Windows Explorer.

I know @Stephen Marsh already said this, but this point is frequently misunderstood.

D Fosse

Correct answer

Community Expert

It needs to be emphasized: your files are not “in” the home screen. That’s not your file.

Your files are still on disk, and you can open them normally from a file browser like Windows Explorer or Bridge. You just need to know where on disk you saved them!

If you don’t know, the default location for image files in Windows is “Pictures”, under the main Documents folder. There should be a shortcut to this folder somewhere in Windows Explorer.

I know @Stephen Marsh already said this, but this point is frequently misunderstood.

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

The recent files list is version specific. i.e. you won’t see the same files in the beta version that you see in the release version.

It is possible to lose them when updating if you choose not to keep old settings.

The Recent Files setting might have been set to zero.

You have somehow managed to clear them

Something is broken.

I wonder if it is the last option after seeing you mention the Scratch disk error. Can you give us more details?

Do you change any of your Preferences to something other than their default? If you do, check to see if they have been reset?

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

The file shortcuts/alias found on the Home Screen, or under File > Recent Files are just pointers to the original files, not the original files themselves. You can just open the originals from the location where you saved them.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded