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audio90
Known Participant
January 18, 2019
Answered

How to change the Adobe preferences folder location?

  • January 18, 2019
  • 6 replies
  • 26500 views

Hi, I appears that the Adobe software saves its preferences in my 'This PC > Documents > Adobe' folder. I'd like to change this to another folder on my root drive for all the software (Windows 10).

How would I do that? I looked at the Adobe CC App Manager but it doesn't appear to be there.

Any help is appreciated.

    Correct answer kglad

    you can't change the preference file locations:

    acrobat:  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1595848?start=0&tstart=0

    adobe media encoder: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1713540 and https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/using/preferences.html

    after effects:  http://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/preferences.html

    animate: Re-create preferences

    audition: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1079494

    bridge:  https://helpx.adobe.com/bridge/kb/troubleshoot-errors-freezes-bridge-windows.html

    captivate: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/975032

    dreamweaver:  https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/restore-preferences-dreamweaver-cs6-cc.html: 

    fireworks:  https://helpx.adobe.com/fireworks/kb/restore-preferences-fireworks-cs5.html

    illustrator:  http://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html

    incopy:  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/526990

    indesign:  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/526990

    lightroom: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/setting-preferences-lightroom.html

    muse: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1127564 (message 7)

    photoshop:  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/375776

    photoshop elements:  https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/preference-file-locations-photoshop-elements.html,  http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/Photoshop_Elements/troubleshooting/1_delete_preferences_file.htm

    prelude: https://helpx.adobe.com/prelude/using/prelude-set-preferences.html

    premiere elements:  https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/preference-file-locations-photoshop-elements.html

    premiere pro: http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/premiere/pro/troubleshooter/trash-preferences.html

    6 replies

    G
    gasbi7
    New Participant
    March 3, 2021

    This is also a problem on Mac, because it gets saved in the Documents folder that is being synced on iCloud. Has anyone found a solution?

     

    In my case, three folders get created always in Documents/Adobe: PremierePro, Adobe Media Encoder, and Lumetri.

      R
      RalphXD
      New Participant
      February 22, 2021

      I just can't believe that some profile (anything at all really) is dumped in my - very organized - documents folder!! I just installed Premiere Pro after subscribing to an expensive license and the first thing I notice is that it writes the word 'Adobe' in my synced folders. This just isn't anywhere near acceptable.

        M
        MartinHuntford
        Inspiring
        February 22, 2021

        100% Agreed. It's meant that the default Documents folder on my system is entirely unusable for its intended purpose. I've had to create an entirely new Documents folder to use for... you know... DOCUMENTS while the default one is just packed full of Adobe, Red Giant and Izotope junk. The frustrating thing is that there's no way to remove this junked up Documents trashcan from the navigation panel in Explorer, so it's almost guaranteed that every time I try to quickly access my actual documents, I'll first accidentally click on the Adobe spew-bucket folder instead. 

         

        HOW IS IT SO HARD, IT'S 2021!?!

        kglad
        kglad
        Community Expert
        February 22, 2021

        i'm not sure what you are seeing.  my default documents folder has nothing in it from adobe (or anyone else).  just the folders created when my os was installed

         

         

        and my user documents folder is well-organized:

         

         

        with an organized adobe folder:

         

         

         

        M
        MartinHuntford
        Inspiring
        July 6, 2020

        For the people specifically having an issue with the Adobe folder in 'Documents' causing issues with OneDrive where your 'Documents' folder is synced as part of a OneDrive Backup, I found a *sort of* work around for this. 

         

        I'd moved my 'Documents' Library to be inside OneDrive E:/OneDrive/Documents and everytime I'd use Premiere, I'd get issues with OneDrive syncing duplicates of preferences etc, and that in turn causing lag in Premiere. 

         

        To get around this, I went to OneDrive settings, then to 'Back Up' then hit 'Stop backup' on Documents. The official windows 'Library' version of the Documents folder then reverted back to its old, now blank, location C:Users/Me/Documents but all my actual Document files stayed within the E:OneDrive/Documents folder. 

        From there, when I loaded Premiere, it created a new Preferences folder inside C:Users/Me/Documents, which was no longer being managed by OneDrive, meanwhile, my folder E/OneDrive/Documents still contains the rest of my documents files, and is still being synced with OneDrive. The final step was to swap out the official windows library 'Documents' folder with the one that I actually use under QuickAccess in the navigation pane.

        From what I can tell you're not losing anything by having, using and syncing a seperate documents folder from the official windows library folder, other than when Applications use the Documents folder to save preferences. But I could be wrong.

         

        martir68364484
        martir68364484
        Inspiring
        July 8, 2020

        This might be an interesting solutin but I am not sure I completely understand. My workaround was to move photos I am working on to a local folder that does not get backed up to the cloud. This is working okay (because when I am done working on the photos I move them off the hard drive. I mean, I am not happy with it, because I have to then delete it from light room (after I have exported copies with the metadata embedded).

         

        I try to keep all my photos in the cloud (unsynced locally. This is accomplished by selecting "Free Up Space).  Ordinarily, [and by that I mean outside of adobe bridge, lightroom or photoshop] I oculd have a sub-folder with 100 photos in it, click on one photo, and ONLY that one will be made available locally (as is indicated by a green check mark in onedrive).

         

        It works perfectly well  until, the software insists on depositing that aforementioned folder into onedrive (always after their upgrades). Then, it downloads everything in in the My Photos file onto my pc. You can never just work with one photo, or folder of photos. It's all or nothing have to be stored on the pc at all times. For now I have kind of given up and accepted it because I don't want to wear out my hard drive freeing up space, only to have it reappear 10 times a day.

         

        So anyway, my question is: if I stop the backup, I am not really sure what that will do. Since it seems to backup from local files to the cloud? Iwant to keep everything in the cloud and off my pac except what I am working on, but photoshop will not allow me to do that.

        martir68364484
        martir68364484
        Inspiring
        July 22, 2020

        Okay. After the last major upgrade (which I hate by the way), I turned off onedrive. After all that effort, I noticed that when I turned onedrive back on, it did install the offending folder in My DSocumets, but it did not seem to trigger the usual avalanche.

         

        However, the update seems to have really effed things up in terms of "moving the furniture around on me": jist when I was finally satarting to get it.

          martir68364484
          martir68364484
          Inspiring
          March 26, 2020

            R
            Rawi
            New Participant
            June 28, 2020

            I have EXACTLY the same issue with OneDrive. The Adobe folder is breaking OneDrive sync. I looked everywhere on how to move the Adobe folder out somewhere but there is no way to do that. I tried to do it from OneDrive to exclude the Adobe folder but it leads to conflict. Probably Microsoft will be faster to fix this than Adobe.

            I really need OneDrive for work. Adobe engineers please look into a way to allow us to put the folder out of Documents.

              martir68364484
              martir68364484
              Inspiring
              March 26, 2020

                kglad
                kgladCorrect answer
                Community Expert
                January 18, 2019

                you can't change the preference file locations:

                acrobat:  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1595848?start=0&tstart=0

                adobe media encoder: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1713540 and https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/using/preferences.html

                after effects:  http://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/preferences.html

                animate: Re-create preferences

                audition: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1079494

                bridge:  https://helpx.adobe.com/bridge/kb/troubleshoot-errors-freezes-bridge-windows.html

                captivate: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/975032

                dreamweaver:  https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/restore-preferences-dreamweaver-cs6-cc.html: 

                fireworks:  https://helpx.adobe.com/fireworks/kb/restore-preferences-fireworks-cs5.html

                illustrator:  http://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html

                incopy:  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/526990

                indesign:  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/526990

                lightroom: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/setting-preferences-lightroom.html

                muse: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1127564 (message 7)

                photoshop:  https://forums.adobe.com/thread/375776

                photoshop elements:  https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/preference-file-locations-photoshop-elements.html,  http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/Photoshop_Elements/troubleshooting/1_delete_preferences_file.htm

                prelude: https://helpx.adobe.com/prelude/using/prelude-set-preferences.html

                premiere elements:  https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/preference-file-locations-photoshop-elements.html

                premiere pro: http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/premiere/pro/troubleshooter/trash-preferences.html

                P
                pittpt
                New Participant
                October 23, 2019

                I mean change location like move from documents folder to be stored in somewhere else. Forexample, applications or a folder inside documents. Everytime I move it, it just keeps recreating new foler called "Adobe" in the document.

                  D
                  danielbmusic
                  New Participant
                  February 13, 2020

                  I would love an answer to this, too!  I'd like to move my Adobe folder out of iCloud so it won't start synching every time I work in an Adobe app and create work files.

                   

                  Any ideas on this, anyone?

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