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Participant
October 23, 2020
Question

Photoshop 21.2.4 Unable to open because scratch disk is full

  • October 23, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 484 views

My operating system is High Sierra

To correct the scratch disk, it says to select the command and option keys (mac) as I launch photoshop. I did, but I still get the scratch disk box, but it doesn't allow me to do anything with it. I uninstalled and reinstalled Photoshop, but still am in the same spot. I'm unable to open Photoshop to make any necessary adjustments. 

 

Are there any work arounds for this? 

 

Hope someone can help me.

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1 reply

D Fosse
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 24, 2020

The message is very real. You have 5.74 GB free, which is practically nothing. You will soon have much bigger problems than Photoshop not opening. The whole machine can freeze up at any moment. I have single files that are bigger than 5.74 GB.

 

Photoshop moves large amounts of data around, and so it has to store temporary working data on disk as you go. Scratch disk is real physical disk space. If you don't have disk space, no Photoshop preference setting can change that. You should normally have around 300 - 500 GB free to be on the safe side, depending on the size of your files and how many you have open at the same time.

cfishmanAuthor
Participant
October 24, 2020

I finally was able to open up Photoshop and the scratch disk is now 12.78 GB free. I know, still very low, how can I adjust the size of it. May I ask what kind of computer do you have as far as it's memory size, ram, etc. if it is a Mac. I'm going to need a larger computer to handle the work that I do. Thank you for the feedback with explaining Photoshop.

jane-e
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 24, 2020

"How can I adjust the size of it."

 

"You can adjust the size of it by freeing up more space. The scratch disk is looking for space that is not being used.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/scratch-disks-preferences.html

 

Jane