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Sarah Northway
Inspiring
May 8, 2020
Answered

How to stop Creative Cloud from launching when Photoshop starts?

  • May 8, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 33000 views

"Settings > General > Launch Creative Cloud at login" is NOT checked.

"Settings > Apps > Auto-update" is NOT checked.

"Settings > Notifications > App Updates" (and all other notifications) is NOT checked.

 

However, after the most recent update, Creative Cloud launches when I start Photoshop, and pops up a notification to tell me there are updates to my apps. What part of do not launch / do not update / no notifications does Adobe not understand?

 

How do I stop Creative Cloud from launching EVER under ANY circumstances, except when I manually run the exe myself?

    Correct answer Sarah Northway

    The hacky workaround is totally obvious in retrospect.

     

    I renamed:

    C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Creative Cloud\ACC\Creative Cloud.exe

    to something else (something rude! lol).

     

    Also these files and every EXE in these folders for good measure (I was in a mood):

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Creative Cloud\ACC\Creative Cloud.exe

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe Desktop Common\ADS\Adobe Desktop Service.exe

     

    I switched back and forth a few times to confirm: Photoshop no longer starts up Creative Cloud when I run it. No error messages. And I can still run Creative Cloud manually when I want to.

     

    That red update reminder will no longer plague my working days. Free at last.

    4 replies

    H
    hatshatahsththstst
    Known Participant
    December 19, 2022

    getting this too on the Mac. 

    once again, a miserable decision from adobe and an unwanted UX decision.

      kglad
      kglad
      Community Expert
      December 19, 2022

      @hatshatahsththstst 

       

      you can make suggestions to adobe here:

       

      for applicable apps, use https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/x-productkb/global/how-to-user-voice.html

       

      for others, use https://www.adobe.com/products/wishform.html

      E
      Edward22389080s3w5
      New Participant
      February 18, 2022

      I had a similar issue where the creative cloud background processes were running by default on startup. I contacted Adobe support, who informed me that this behaviour is by design and there is no current plan to address it. After finding nothing online which fixed the issue, I performed a few tests and the following settings are working for me:

       

      1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud, select File - Preferences - General, Uncheck "Launch Creative Cloud at login".

       

      2. Open windows Task Manager, select "Startup" tab, right-click on all Adobe applications and select "Disable" (not forgetting to disable CCXProcess, whose publisher is not listed on my machine).

       

      3. Open "Run" from Start menu, open "msconfig". In "General" tab, choose "Selective startup" with "Load system services", "Load startup items", and "Use original boot configuration" checked. In "Services" tab, uncheck all services with "Adobe Inc." as manufacturer (in my case there were two: "Adobe Acrobat Update Service", and "AdobeUpdateService").

       

      My applications (Photoshop, Lighroom, Bridge) are working fine so far with the above settings. 

      S
      Sarah NorthwayAuthor
      Inspiring
      February 22, 2022

      My particular issue (Creative Cloud reminding me to update every time I launched Photoshop) went away late last year when I upgraded the entire suite, so I guess it was a bug and Adobe fixed it.

       

      Your steps sound like the surefire way to stop CC from launching when windows does!

       

      Since my problem wasn't at boot but later when I opened Photoshop, I tried setting all the adobe services to disabled so they couldn't run at all. Turns out one of them handles DRM license checks, and Photoshop refused to start without it (at least back in 2020).

      S
      Sarah NorthwayAuthorCorrect answer
      Inspiring
      May 15, 2020

      The hacky workaround is totally obvious in retrospect.

       

      I renamed:

      C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Creative Cloud\ACC\Creative Cloud.exe

      to something else (something rude! lol).

       

      Also these files and every EXE in these folders for good measure (I was in a mood):

      C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Creative Cloud\ACC\Creative Cloud.exe

      C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe Desktop Common\ADS\Adobe Desktop Service.exe

       

      I switched back and forth a few times to confirm: Photoshop no longer starts up Creative Cloud when I run it. No error messages. And I can still run Creative Cloud manually when I want to.

       

      That red update reminder will no longer plague my working days. Free at last.

        S
        Sarah NorthwayAuthor
        Inspiring
        May 15, 2020

        I feel like there's a very hidden setting deep in either CC or PS that instructs PS to check for updates when it boots. But I couldn't find anywhere in either app to turn it off. Maybe it's just a feature of the newest PS that can't be disabled, but then I'm not sure why @Nancy_OShea couldn't immediately recreate it.

         

        Maybe scrubbing and reinstalling everything would have fixed it but HELL NO that takes all day and I'm not confident I could keep all my custom settings / brushes / actions / hotkeys without also keeping whatever was causing the problem in the first place.

        B
        brian6932
        New Participant
        March 31, 2021

        Did you ever find a way to disable the simultaneous startup without the hacky workaround? I would prefer not to deal with deleting the old executables when Creative Cloud decides to update.

        Nancy OShea
        Nancy OShea
        Community Expert
        May 8, 2020

        Tell Windows to not open Creative Cloud on startup.

        Start > Settings > Apps > Startup...

         

        That said, today Creative Cloud did not open but I did receive a Windows notification that CC updates are available. I think that's because I don't accept automatic updates.

         

        Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
        S
        Sarah NorthwayAuthor
        Inspiring
        May 8, 2020

        To be clear: Creative Cloud is NOT STARTING WHEN WINDOWS BOOTS, it's starting when Photoshop starts.

         

        I should have also specified:

        "Windows > Settings > Apps > Startup > Creative Cloud" (and all adobe products) are NOT starting when windows loads.

        "Windows > Services > AdobeUpdateService" is set to Startup Type DISABLED

         

        I've searched Photoshop for settings relating to auto-updating or cloud but didn't find any.

         

        I did leave two Adobe DRM services in place: Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service & Adobe Genuine Software Monitor Service set to Automatic startup type, as I assume photoshop needs them to run.

        Nancy OShea
        Nancy OShea
        Community Expert
        May 8, 2020

        Open CC Desktop App. Settings > Syncing > Pause Sync.

         

         

         

        Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
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