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Participant
October 8, 2025
Question

Generative Expand Doesn't Work, Glitchy, and Unreliable

  • October 8, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 204 views

I would say 95% of the time when I go to use "generative expand" in photoshop I get this pop up, "Something went wrong. Please try again." My machine is updated, photoshop is updated, cache cleared, I even restarted my computer. After all of this, any time I go to use "generative expand" - which is on average once a week - it almost never works and I end up having to photoshop it the old fashioned way. 

 

We switched to a subscription based service to have the newest technology, but what's the point if that new technology never works? I'm paying a premium price for the same features I used 10 years ago. 

 

Generative expand is a great tool when and IF it works. Please fix because it's really annoying. 

1 reply

Claire H.
Community Manager
Community Manager
October 16, 2025

Hi @Mckenna_6530, Thank you for reaching out and sharing your experience. I understand how frustrating it is when a key feature like Generative Expand doesn’t work reliably. Let's try a few things to see if we can resolve the issue:

  • Try resetting Photoshop’s preferences manually.

    https://adobe.ly/3JeHFPg

    *Remember to back up your settings before doing the preference reset

    https://adobe.ly/4qgrMZg

  • Temporarily turn off your firewall to see if it’s blocking Adobe’s cloud services.
  • Try a different Wi-Fi network or switch to an Ethernet connection.
  • Use a simple prompt, such as a period (.), or no prompt when generating.
  • Adjust the crop area both horizontally and vertically, and avoid expanding too much at once.

Please let us know if any of these steps are helpful. If you continue to experience issues with Gen Expand, we can continue to troubleshoot the problem. Thanks! ^CH

Participant
May 21, 2026

I am having the same problem as OP.
Or it acts like it’s going to expand and then just leaves a flattened background color (like a “regular” crop).

I have tried all steps listed above. No change whatsoever.

nik.m
Community Manager
Community Manager
May 25, 2026

Hi, thanks for reaching out, and we’re sorry about the trouble. 

Please go to the Help menu in Photoshop, then System Info, and copy the text. You can share the info with us by either pasting it as a reply here or in a text file and sharing the file with us. 

Also, let us know the file format of the images you’re working on. This information will help us proceed further. 

 

Thanks, 

Nikunj