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Digbyhp
Participant
July 9, 2026
Answered

Photoshop 2025 Custom Actions working, but cannot see the .atn files in Finder.

  • July 9, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 41 views

I upgraded to PS 2026, but my custom actions did not migrate from PS 2025 even though I had selected to migrate presets and actions.

The Actions still work in PS 2025, but the corresponding atn files do not show up in the Actions folder in Finder, which is probably why they did not migrate.

I recreated one of these Actions manually in PS 2026, saved it, used it, but it also does not show as an atn file in the Actions folder.

If I try to Save Action from PS 2025 into PS 2026, the the file shows as greyed out.

So it looks as though my custom atn files exist as ghosts ?

Can’t see this specific issue addressed in the Help community, but please advise.

    Correct answer c.pfaffenbichler

    but the corresponding atn files do not show up in the Actions folder in Finder, 

    If you are referring to the Actions-Folder in the Presets-Folder in the application-Folder then that is not the default location when saving custom Actions; that would be

    ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 2025/Presets/Actions

     

    and the Library-Folder is by default hidden on Mac but can be selected by pressing the alt-key when selecting the »Go«-menu item in Finder. 

    4 replies

    Stephen Marsh
    Community Expert
    Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 25, 2026

    One should manually save out each action set "folder" individually to a .atn file using the menu on the upper right of the action panel window. Later versions of Photoshop allow saving individual actions from within a set.

     

    Loaded .atn files or newly created and unsaved action sets are temporarily stored in the Actions Palette presets file (Actions Palette.psp). This file should be considered temporary and may be subject to corruption or loss, which is why making an explicit save to .atn file for each individual action set is strongly advised.

     

    Where "should" one save these .atn files?

     

    Mac:

    • /Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2022/Presets⁩/Actions

     

    Win:

    • C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2022\Presets\Actions

     

    https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/preference-file-names-locations-photoshop.html

     

    If the .atn file is saved to the default application/program presets folder as above, the action will be listed and available in the action palette menu. This allows an action to be easily restored if it is removed without having to manually find and load the original .atn file. If there are many actions, this menu may become unwieldy due to the length of the added action sets.

     

    Note: by storing saved action .atn files in this default application/program location they will not be available to the built-in preset migration export tool (edit menu, presets, export/import presets).

     

    For the built-in export/import presets feature to list saved actions for migration, they should be saved to a non-default location – the user level preset folder for actions:

     

    Mac:

     

    • /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CC 2022/Presets⁩/Actions

     

    Win:

     

    • C:\Users\username\appData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2022\Presets\Actions

     

    (Note: On Windows OS, the AppData directory is hidden by default)

     

    In practice, action .atn files can be saved anywhere for manual loading into the panel.

     

    More here:

     

    https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/01/photoshop-custom-action-file-backup.html?m=1

      Stephen Marsh
      Community Expert
      Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 9, 2026

      You can save action sets/groups or actions to .atn file to any location. You can then load the .atn file into the action panel.

       

      More here:

       

      https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/01/photoshop-custom-action-file-backup.html

        c.pfaffenbichler
        Community Expert
        c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        July 9, 2026

        but the corresponding atn files do not show up in the Actions folder in Finder, 

        If you are referring to the Actions-Folder in the Presets-Folder in the application-Folder then that is not the default location when saving custom Actions; that would be

        ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 2025/Presets/Actions

         

        and the Library-Folder is by default hidden on Mac but can be selected by pressing the alt-key when selecting the »Go«-menu item in Finder. 

        c.pfaffenbichler
        Community Expert
        c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        July 9, 2026

        I am not sure I follow. 

        What is the complete path of the Folder you save the atn-file to in Photoshop 2025 via »Export Actions«? 

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