Known Participant

Question

Suddenly ALL of my settings in Photoshop have DISAPPEARED

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
March 23, 2021
9 replies
9580 views

This is a recurring problem. I have reinstalled Photoshop but this continues to happen. It is a very serious issue. I need to get my settings back. And all of my patterns and colors. I have not made any changes to the app whatsoever but when I switched it on today, ALL of my settings and saved patterns etc are GONE. I can't afford to keep losing work like this. The last time this happened, the agent removed all trace of Photoshop from my laptop and it was reinstalled from scratch. This has happened AGAIN,

Problem or error

Y

yametee

Participant

Press Windows + R and type %appdata%. In "AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2025" location inside "Adobe Photoshop Backup" you may find a backup of your all settings. If you find it, just close Photoshop completely, find the backup of the file you lost, copy it and paste it into "Adobe Photoshop 2025 Settings". It worked for me. However, a few of my settings were missing. I don't know what will happen to you. You may not find it at all or at all times. I think it's best to make your own backup.

RHE.

Participating Frequently

As of today, I also experienced this problem. All my PS settings reset to default. I managed to get them back manually, but this took some time. I also followed the tip in this post about running as administrator. I hope this doesn't happen again!

X

XPRAMT

Participant

I am writing to report a significant issue that I and many other users have encountered while using Adobe Photoshop. This problem has caused inconvenience and data loss, and I believe it warrants immediate attention.

Issue Description
Suddenly, all my customized settings in Photoshop disappeared without any warning. This includes personal presets, color settings, workspace configurations, and other adjustments that took considerable time to set up. The unexpected loss disrupts my workflow and creates unnecessary downtime for restoring settings manually.

Registry Impact
Moreover, I discovered that the issue is not limited to Photoshop's internal settings. It appears that Photoshop also affects the system registry by deleting all contents under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers

This behavior is alarming as it affects critical registry entries unrelated to Photoshop, potentially causing broader system issues.

Relevance to Users
This problem is not an isolated case. Multiple users in the Adobe Community Forums have reported similar experiences. The thread here contains numerous accounts of the same issue. While resetting Photoshop preferences is often suggested, it is not a long-term solution, as it does not address the root cause of the problem.

Impact
Loss of time and productivity due to manual reconfiguration.
Potential system instability caused by unauthorized registry changes.
Frustration among users who rely on Photoshop for professional work.
Suggestions
Investigate the Cause: Please prioritize investigating this issue, especially regarding why registry changes occur.
Implement Safeguards: Develop mechanisms to back up and restore user settings automatically to prevent data loss.
Improve Communication: Notify users if any changes to settings or the system registry are necessary and explain why.

D Fosse

Community Expert

@XPRAMT

This is how Photoshop has alwys worked since the beginning.

All settings and preferences are version specific. They are stored in your Windows user account, and each version has its own folder. This contains the entire app configuration.

Old settings may not have the exact same meaning in new application code.

That's one reason why you should always save out actions, brushes, presets etc if you want to reload in the new version.

There is an option in the installer to migrate settings. I would actually not recommend that, because this is rewritten on every application exit, and an irregular shutdown can easily corrupt preferences. Errors will accumulate. Corrupt preferences can cause strange and erratic behavior, often mistaken for "bugs".

X

XPRAMT

Participant

Thank you for your response to my issue. However, the explanation regarding "Photoshop settings and preferences being version-specific" and "incompatibility caused by upgrades" does not address the problem I encountered, because:

My Photoshop has not been updated or upgraded.
The loss of settings did not occur after any version change or reinstallation. Instead, it happened suddenly during one of the software's startups. Prior to this, I had not made any changes to the settings, nor experienced any system crashes or irregularities.

Unexpected Registry Deletion.
In addition to the loss of Photoshop settings, I also discovered that all entries under the Windows registry path
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers
were deleted. This seems to be an unintended behavior affecting the system at a deeper level rather than a normal issue with how settings are stored. This has no relation to your mention of "setting migration" since I did not use that feature.

Core Issues
This issue should not be simply regarded as a migration problem. Instead, it involves:

The sudden loss of settings, unrelated to version updates.
Unintended registry deletion, which may affect overall system stability.
Request for Assistance
I hope Adobe can:

Investigate the cause of this sudden loss of settings, especially in cases where no version upgrade or changes occurred.
Verify whether Photoshop might unintentionally modify or delete system registry entries unrelated to the application.
As a long-time user of Photoshop, I heavily rely on this tool for professional work. This issue has significantly impacted my workflow, and I hope Adobe will take it seriously and provide a resolution.

X

XPRAMT

Participant

Same here

A

alexbolotina 3791

Participant

I faces this problem severel times already - it drives me mad to lose all my settings!!!

AlexClaude

Known Participant

Same here. Definitively a bug.

NB, colourmanagement

Community Expert

Perhaps try a thorough reset of Photoshop preferences?

(read this entire post before acting please)

Resetting restores Photoshop's internal preferences, which are saved when Photoshop closes.

If they become corrupt then various issues can occur.

Here’s some info on how to do that:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

Manually removing preferences files is the most complete method for restoring Photoshop to its default state:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually

Note re macOS: The user Library folder is hidden by default.

To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see here for how to access hidden user library files.

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

Unexpected behavior may indicate damaged preferences. Restoring preferences to their default settings is a good idea when trying to troubleshoot unexpected behaviors in Photoshop. check out the video

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#reset_preferences

Learn how to access and modify Photoshop preferences and customize per your frequent workflows

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

And here’s an earlier forum discussion as an aid to understanding

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/quick-tips-how-to-reset-photoshop-preferences/td-p/12502668

You may want to backup your settings and custom presets, brushes & actions before restoring Photoshop's preferences.

Here is general info about that: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#BackupPhotoshoppreferences

Before you reset your preferences

in case of future issues, I suggest you make a copy as Adobe may need one to check problematic references.

Quit Photoshop.
Go to Photoshop's Preferences folder

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

[on MacOS see: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings

Note for those on macOS: - be aware that the user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS.

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

In the Finder, open the “Go” menu whilst holding down the Option (Alt) key.

Library will now appear in the list - below the current user's “home” directory. ]

Now you can drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe as a back-up of your settings.

Note for those on macOS:

Preference preservation is affected by macOS permissions,

you’ll need to allow Photoshop ‘Full Disk Access’ in your Mac OS Preferences/Security and Privacy

It may even be time to reinstall Photoshop.

It’s recommended that you use the Adobe CC cleaner tool to remove all traces first.

(See above about preserving preferences though! Its worth preserving them unless they are corrupted.)

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

Uninstall Photoshop BUT make sure to choose the option “Yes, remove app preference”.

Once that process finishes, start the installation process and look into the “Advanced Options”. Uncheck “Import previous settings and preferences” and choose to “Remove old versions”.

I hope this helps

neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer

google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

C

cosmic_satori

Participant

Same thing just happened to me with the 2022 update.
I am also administrator of my computer. All my previous presets files in 2019, 2020 and 2021 folders have been erased.

This is very anoying.

T

Telfordman

Participant

Same here I am the admin on my computer and it just updated and took out all my presets and actions including extra plugins ---does it everytime ---

D

defaultreic4tdxikf3

Participant

Same thing just happened to me , yes I'm admin , the update reverted all my setting to those I was using a year ago . Adobe need to sort this out , 3 hours of tech support doing even more damage

M

Michael.Pollaci

Participant

I'm with you... Adobe screwed up and there is a bug. And, if they do an update and don't hold your existing preferences and assets, that IS A BUG!

C

Carmen RayAuthor

Known Participant

Right? Thanks for your comment.

D Fosse

Community Expert

All preferences and custom settings are stored in your machine's user account - not the program files.

Each major Photoshop version has its own main folder in the user account. When you update to a new major version (like from v21 to v22), you need to take steps to migrate these settings, if not, you get a new default set.

If you don't uninstall the old version, all the settings are still intact there. I suggest you turn off automatic updates.

If settings are deleted outside of these scenarios, there is a problem with the user account in your operating system. You may not have the necessary permissions in your account.

C

Carmen RayAuthor

Known Participant

According to the technician who shared my screen, there are NO FILES in the user accoount. You are missing the point. Photoshop is RESETTING ITESELF TO FACTORY DEFAULTS. This has nothing to do with me. I have not updated. This is a bug and I want it reported. It is a recurring problem.

C

Carmen RayAuthor

Known Participant

I lose all of my recorded actions and presets along with my preferences. They just default to factory settings on their own.

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