How to turn off CEP HTML Engine permanently?!

[gsmdesign]

How do I turn the CEP HTML Engine off PERMANENTLY, from coming on automatically in Photoshop, InDesign & Illustrator?  Recently the Adobe suites updated to the latest version (2024) & these processes are killing my productivity.  It's also caused the program to crash, as well as being non-responsive & in some cases has damaged/corrupted the file I'm working on, when the program crashes.  I run all 3 programs daily for work (Photoshop, Indesign & Illustrator), and there's at least 30+ different CEP HTML processes running at all times for each of the programs - Which is ridiculous!  How do I turn these off permanently?!  I've tried going into the preferrences panel in photoshop and turning off the options for "Legacy Extensions", but it's still being an issue!  I also don't see any options in the InDesign's or Illustrators preferance panels to turn it off.  Also, since the latest update, I now have a new process called "Microsoft Edge WebView2", which is using up a ton of my memory as well.  Please...Please...Please....tell me how to turn these off permanently.  I'm currently working on a 900 page Catalog project & this is become a serious issue, with all of the CPU & RAM resources being tied up in these ridiculous processes.  Thanks in advance!

[Ben M]

Have you tried this kb article: https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/high_cpu_usage_cephtmlengine.html

[gsmdesign]

@Ben M - Thanks for the link, however, that article/options shown are for the CC 2015 version & I'm runing the latest 2024 version.  I did try it, but it caused the programs to be unstable and crash, which I had to then unsintall & reinstall everyting again.

Below is a workaround I found while searching on YouTube for a fix, after posting the request here on the forum.  It seems to work, but also not working 100% without running into stability issues with Indesign & Illustrator.  I'd really like to know how to properly turn these processess off permanently, without running into stability issues from doing "Hack" fixes (i.e.  changing folder names, deleted plugins, moving/replacing folders, etc..)  those seem to create more issues than actually fixing the problem.

Photoshop seems good after turning off the "legacy Extension" option in the preferances panel.  At least the CEP process haven't come on for photoshop after doing that.  I just can't seem to figure out how to turn off the new "Microsoft Edge WebView2" that keep coming on, nor have I found anything to help me in turning it off.

InDesign & Illustrator are working with the "Fix" I found (shown below).  However, I am getting a bit of unstable performance from them.  They both seem to run without the CEP process coming on (which is great), but it seems to freeze when working on certain files.  Not sure if it's due to the file size I'm working on, or if it's due to me renaming the folder for the CEP process itself.  Also, Illustrator gives me the "An unkown error occured" when I first open it, but seems to be running fine....for now....  I would still very much like to know the "proper" way to turn these off permanetly, without having other issues.

Below is the "Fix" I found:

For Indesign:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign 2024\Resources\CEP\CEPHtmlEngine
I changed the Folder name to read "CEPHtmlEngine.BAK" - If issues, remove the .BAK & restart.

For Photoshop:
I went into the preferrances panel & turned off "Legacy Extensions" - For now that seems to work....Until Adobe decides to update it again 😕

For Illustrator:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator 2024\Support Files\Contents\Windows\CEPHtmlEngine
I changed the Folder name to read "CEPHtmlEngine.BAK" - If issues, remove the .BAK & restart.

[Shivangi_Gupta]

Hi @gsmdesign,

We appreciate you sharing your research. I'll keep an eye on this case. Please keep observing if you get any issues with the app performance. 

Let us know. We're here to help.

Regards,

Shivangi

[pixlekansas]

Hello, I'm in the same boat over here trying to create and update a huge directory with NO GRAPHICS. 

I've also turned off everything running with only InDesign 2024 running and in the midst of formatting my text into the different columns using paragraph styles my entire system locks up and I see 24 instances of CEPHTMLEngine crippling and turning my document as nonresponsive. I've had to delete and reinstall my InDesign numerous times and as I work inhouse with no admin access to some of my system files I do not have access to do the extreme renaming of Adobe scripts or doing anything that doesn't involve moving my issue up the chain with a IT coworker who has absolutely no clue on how to fix this issue. I've been told to just reboot my machine and hope for the best -- my poor PC has been rebooted so often that I'm starting to wonder how long I've really been able to work without waiting for my system.

For clarification I created a 1500 page document in a previous version of InDesign while at home during the COVID quarantine on a mifi (as I have limited internet out where I live) with ABSOLUTELY NO ISSUES and my document was using full vector graphics, tables, multiple formatting and multiple sections. Now I'm crippled with a only text document that I'm having to cut up into small chunks and still my system becomes unresponsive. My PC was built specially so that it can handle the usual strain (one of my IT friends called it a battleship) which I can normally work on video projects with Photoshop running and Outlook, Teams and everything running in the background even on limited internet. Now I'm on a dedicated internet hub and with only InDesign running and I'm on a deadline. So I understand wholeheartedly how frustrating this is.

So there has to be a fix as I'm about an inch away from having to recreate this in Word -- so please Adobe fix this.

[kglad]

you'll probably need to reset your computer and reinstall the adobe cc apps.

[pixlekansas]

Yes, that's been done more than once. But, I can continue doing this ad nauseum until something sticks.

[kglad]

how did you reset your computer?

[pixlekansas]

The most that I can do on my end is uninstall from the cloud and reinstall. I can kill the processes when InDesign locks up via the task manager. I can not rename system files or reconfigure the program files so that's pretty much my total ability to continue working. Yes, it's pretty frustrating and I'm worried that I'm going to have to insist that IT checks my computer to see if I need to do a full defrag of my harddrive after this.

[kglad]

that's not resetting your computer.  it's not even a good try at removing adobe files.

so, start with the standard adobe cleaning by carefully following each applicable step:

uninstall every cc app including preferences per https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-remove-app.html

then uninstall the cc desktop app using the correct uninstaller per https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html#sa_src=web-mes...

clean your computer of cc files per http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

check for, and if available, update your os

if windows is your os, repair all ms visual c++ versions that can be repaired (use google if you don't know how to do this)

if windows is your os update your ms visual c++, if it can be updated (use google if you don't know how to do this)

restart your computer (don't skip this)

reinstall the cc desktop app using the "alternative download links" at the bottom of the page at https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/creative-cloud-desktop-app-download.html

use the desktop app to install your cc programs/trials

NOTE: win 11 users that have trouble with the latest win 10 installer often have success with the older win 10 installer.

[nr48385538]

I appreciate that this "might" help in some cases, but it's utterly ridiculous to my mind.

We are paying good money to use a flawed product.

This issue has persisted for ten or more years and Adobe obviously has no intention of fixing the bug.

Unfortunately we are stuck paying for shoddy software...

[kglad]

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