Skip to main content
AislaS
AislaS
Participant
February 3, 2026
Question

Photography workspace keeps disappearing

  • February 3, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 15 views

Intermittent bug:

After making adjustments in Camera Raw to a .ARW file, when I click Open to continue to Photoshop, the workspace in Photoshop is blank (except for my file).  The toolbars, panels etc have disappeared. 

This can be corrected by clicking Window > Workspace > Photography to reset the workspace back to Photography, and then loading up a custom toolbar preset with Edit > Toolbars > Load Preset but it’s pretty annoying as it happens fairly frequently, but not every time.  

Please note that I have raised this bug before, shortly prior to the community forum update, but the post appears to have disappeared.  

I have tried all the suggestions given by @Noel Orridge and @Sameer K  including:

1) Navigate to C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe.

- Right-click the Adobe Photoshop 2026 folder and select Properties.

- At the bottom, uncheck the Read-only box if it is checked (it might show a square; try to clear it).

- Go to the Security tab.

- Click Edit, then ensure your User Account has Full Control enabled.

 

2) Go back to C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe.

- If you see folders for older versions (e.g., Adobe Photoshop 2024, 2023), move them to your desktop or rename them.

 

3) Go to Edit > Preferences > Workspace and ensure "Auto-Show Hidden Panels" is checked.

 

My version of Photoshop is up to date (27.3) and this issue has been happening on this version as well as several previous versions.

    1 reply

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 3, 2026

    When you go to Workspaces, what workspace is currently set?

    It will say ‘Reset [workspace name]’

     

    It sounds like you are using Windows. Navigate to the Preferences file and check that it is not read only.

    Set the View to Details and see if the date is no later than the last time you saved or exited Photoshop.

     

     

    AislaS
    AislaSAuthor
    Participant
    February 3, 2026

    Hi Trevor,

    Thanks for your fast reply!  

    Yes, I am on Windows (Windows 11).  My workspace is currently “My Workspace” - probably because I tried saving it as a custom workspace to resolve this issue.  However, prior to that, I was using Photography and it was saying “Reset Photography”.

     

    I also navigated to the Preferences file as you suggested and can see the date last modified corresponds to the date I was last in Photoshop, so I presume it’s not set to read-only:

     

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices