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antoines71818209
antoines71818209
Participant
July 21, 2019
Answered

Photoshop won't load. "disk saturated"

  • July 21, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 1700 views

Hello,

I keep getting errors about my working drives being saturated. I am using OSX 10.14.5 and have a 128Gb SSD with 18Gb available.... How much disk space does photoshop needs???

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Nancy OShea

18GB of hard disk space is not nearly enough. 

See the minimum system requirements below.  And keep in mind that these are baseline recommendations.  Your mileage may vary depending on the type of work you do -- filters, number of layers, 3D, animations, etc....  Also keep in mind the need for additional resources to run your OS and other apps.   Moving data files to external drives can help free up your primary hard disk.

Adobe Creative Cloud system requirements

Photoshop system requirements

4 replies

D Fosse
Community Expert
D FosseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 22, 2019

The problem is that system drives fill up over time. 128 GB is a very small drive, and you really need to clean it out regularly.

All kinds of junk accumulates in your user account. It is not applications program files, but temporary stuff put in your user account by the applications. Over time, it just grows and grows. Uninstalled applications just leave all their junk behind.

The user account is a hidden folder, so you need to unhide it in the OS.

On Windows there is an excellent utility called WinDirStat, which presents all your disk content in a graphical interface, sorted by file types. You immediately see what's filling up your drive.

antoines71818209
antoines71818209Author
Participant
July 22, 2019

Nothing is filling up my drive, I have 18Gb available. And I only wanted to fire up photoshop to edit a 5Mb image...

D Fosse
Community Expert
D FosseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 22, 2019

18 GB is next to nothing. You will soon have bigger problems than Photoshop.

If you have 110 GB used on that drive, something is filling it up. That's much more than it needs to be.

Photoshop is professional-grade software that needs a lot of machine resources. Especially disk space. The way raster image editors work, it's mostly about moving massive amounts of data around. Free disk space, and lots of it, is essential.

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
July 21, 2019

128GB is a minimal space for people who do not use serious apps or store their own media... too small for anything serious, least of all Photoshop.

antoines71818209
antoines71818209Author
Participant
July 22, 2019

Well, it's been working great for over 1,5 years on the exact same hard drive with very little available space.

I do web developpment and only use photoshop to modify pictures sent by my clients. The pictures are generally under 10Mb. I wonder what photoshop would do with 17Gb, this sounds more like poor development practices.

Anyways, thank you all for your quick replies, I'll switch software.

Peru Bob
Community Expert
Peru BobCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 21, 2019

antoines71818209  wrote

have a 128Gb SSD with 18Gb available.... How much disk space does photoshop needs???

I would upgrade top a larger disk if possible.

davescm
Community Expert
davescmCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 21, 2019

Hi

Short answer - lots. I've just glanced and Photoshop's scratch file is currently using 8GB on my system but frequently climbs higher (and I have 64GB RAM available).

When you say Photoshop won't load - do you mean it won't open at all or you have an issue opening a file?

Dave

    antoines71818209
    antoines71818209Author
    Participant
    July 21, 2019

    It just won't open at all...

    I really need to get better at using gimp, I can't believe I'm paying for this

    Thanks for your reply

    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Nancy OSheaCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    July 21, 2019

    18GB of hard disk space is not nearly enough. 

    See the minimum system requirements below.  And keep in mind that these are baseline recommendations.  Your mileage may vary depending on the type of work you do -- filters, number of layers, 3D, animations, etc....  Also keep in mind the need for additional resources to run your OS and other apps.   Moving data files to external drives can help free up your primary hard disk.

    Adobe Creative Cloud system requirements

    Photoshop system requirements

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
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