Skip to main content
eheld
Participant
Nov 6, 2019 6:43 PM UTC
Question

Photoshop 2020 running slow

My Adobe Photoshop auto-updated for me this morning (yay!) but as I have been using it throughout the day, it has started to lag. At this point I wasn't even able to make a selection without having to wait 10 minutes (approximately) before it was ready to move on to the next step. Is there a reason it's running so slow?

    This topic is closed to new replies. Start a new post to keep the conversation going.

    194 replies

    peaceprop
    Known Participant
    Nov 12, 2020 8:46 PM UTC

    What a miserable heap of unusable trash Photoshop has become in the last year — my God. This is absolutely ridiculous. No other software on my system so much as lags much less crashes. Only Photoshop (Illustrator works but can't decide if it's saving a document or not...it's just a roll of the dice if your document is saved now—NEW FEATURE!)

    Translate
      bysea
      Known Participant
      Nov 12, 2020 9:26 PM UTC

      I think most people who run their own companies don't get paid for troubleshooting other companies software. At least they keep some usuable versions around to install. I went through this whole thing a few years back in Premiere where they cut codec support. If you upgraded and opened an existing project, all the audio didn't work. What a disaster...movie studios using it and then, nada. I find I have to constantly save things, even if auto-save is on as it's not a guarantee it will pull up with your latest edits. You'd think mature software like this (includes MSFT apps as well) would be more stable at this point, but I guess we're all beta testers now.

      Translate
      bysea
      Known Participant
      Nov 20, 2020 9:01 PM UTC

      In case anyone stumbles upon this thread...the latest 2021 update seems to have solved the slow/laggy running issues, but still takes forever to load and is laggy for a few minutes after it loads, but seems to setttle down after that. Maybe it's all the extra features/plug-ins that are now part of Pshop. YMMV.

      Translate
        Katbrtlm
        Katbrtlm
        Participant
        Oct 26, 2020 7:02 AM UTC

        Experienced super slow performance as well when I updated, but I may have seem to fixed it.

         

        Try the following:

         

        1. Go to Preferences > Performance

        2. Increase Memory Usage to 80%, if your system allows it

        3. Optimize Cache Levels for your intended use. For me its 'Web/UI Design'

        4. Click Advanced Settings in the Graphics Processor Settings 

        5. Set drawing mode to Basic (I think this is the major one)

        6. Save and restart Photoshop.

         

        Hope this helps

        Translate
        Katbrtlm
        Katbrtlm
        Participant
        Oct 26, 2020 7:22 AM UTC

        Also, check 'Legacy Compositing'

        Translate
        bysea
        Known Participant
        Nov 11, 2020 9:45 PM UTC

        The above didn't work for me, but also couldn't find this setting ^ - where is it? Thanks! Installing an older version, btw. I've kept old Premiere versions, but this latest for Ps is unusable.

        Translate
          eraxtyledesign
          Known Participant
          Oct 25, 2020 6:22 PM UTC

          Same problem here, it is way tooooooo slow!

          I am thinking to install back my last copy of Photosop this is toooooo painful

          Translate
            R3DSH1FT
            R3DSH1FT
            Participant
            Oct 20, 2020 3:21 PM UTC

            Well, a year later and still no fix. I checked every possible stat on my computer and nothing else is running this poorly.

             

            Adobe's UX is non-existent, their UI is a dinosaur, and the dev team couldn't not perform any worse. They had an entire year to sort this out, not that it ever should have been released this way. Time for Adobe to clean house or for a better competitor. Their product line is a mile wide and an inch deep.

            Translate
              EverydayMe
              Participant
              Aug 30, 2020 10:14 AM UTC

              Ugh... so frustrated with this new version... Not only is it SUPER slow.... but "lucky me" right after one of their updates it caused my mac to crash with the prohibitory sign... which ended up being so bad I couldn't fix it myself in recovery mode and I had to call Apple for help... which took hours and because of whatever that update did to my mac the only fix was to erase my mac and do a clean install with original settings... I lost everything! My mac is fine again EXCEPT when I open any Adobe 2020 version app... everything slows down to a snail's pace. I'm so ticked off. I've wasted hours because of this inferior "new 2020" version. Adobe what's up? Every new version has always been better than the last... but this one is a failure... PLEASE GET THIS FIXED... waiting for the spinning wheel is not my idea of productive time... Fix it!

              Translate
                dougc64952172
                Known Participant
                Sep 4, 2020 6:57 PM UTC

                Just wondering....when was the last version of PS that the brushes actually worked? Sort of knowing how Adobe operates I am guessing that this version is no longer available to purchase? I am in the position of starting to use PS some, slowly teaching myself the things I need it for. Have not been using the brushes for masking  purposes...until the other day. Forgot about the problem, went in and try to use the edge detail brush (or whatever it is called) and had an absolute disaster on my hands. Pretty sad that Adobe is not dealing with this.

                Translate
                  Hugo Nadeau!
                  Hugo Nadeau!
                  Participating Frequently
                  Aug 19, 2020 9:37 PM UTC

                  I've got a copy of Photoshop CS6 and CC 2020 on the same computer and this si absolutely clear that CC 2020 is not working properly. It is slow as hell and I can't even use the lasso from a 1000x1000 document without it lagging. Really? This is a NO-NO for me, even if CS6 is having a lot of stupid bugs that will not be addressed ever. Prefer the stupid bugs to the extreme lags.

                  Translate
                    David5DC7
                    Participant
                    Aug 15, 2020 4:43 AM UTC


                    It is totally Horrible. I called them and begged for any older version even CS-2 2005 orhopefully up to CS-5 and pay the same.  Does not Compute Will Robinson Does not Compute Will Robinson Does not Compute Will Robinson Does not Compute Will Robinson Does not Compute Will Robinson

                    Translate
                      SKURT7
                      SKURT7
                      Participant
                      Aug 6, 2020 4:34 PM UTC

                      nothing to do with your hardware .... CC18 works fine but until CC20 it begins to be a pain to work with it ...

                      Translate
                      Peter Batarseh
                      Peter Batarseh
                      Participant
                      Aug 1, 2020 12:18 AM UTC

                      Okay folks. Here's my story.

                      Windows 10. Plenty of RAM. Fast quad core.

                      CC Photoshop 2020 would not get past the initializing stage.

                      First error message said that my permissions were not set appropriately. And to go into Windows explorer and change my preferences.

                      Check. Done. No change.

                      As I look through these comments I noticed the recommendation to remove certain presets that might be too large. So I went into my program settings and emptied out the following folders; brushes, materials, meshes, patterns, and render settings.

                      Check. Done. No change. I've been replaced all those files.

                      FINALLY FOUND SUCCESS

                      I finally right clicked my application link, and selected RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR.

                      AND THAT TOOK CARE OF IT.

                      Translate
                      SKURT7
                      SKURT7
                      Participant
                      Aug 6, 2020 5:23 PM UTC

                      I try it and it works a bit faster but #i need often the Drag´n Drop function.... -.-

                      Translate
                      Charles_Vane
                      Known Participant
                      Jul 31, 2020 8:35 PM UTC

                      Each update makes the app more and more unusable. The text tool is an absolute joke at this point - something so simple as a text tool should not be so laggy. Also forget adding any guides to a document - it jerks around so much its absurd. I am so fed up with every update making the app worse and worse just to do simple things. And no - my PC is not that old. Adobe have added so much bloat to the app now that it just runs like a snail no matter what you do. Do they not even test their software anymore. It is so ridiculous.

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