Problem Statement
Currently, on MacOS, Adobe Creative Cloud applications (such as Adobe Media Encoder, After Effects, Photoshop, etc.) create and store application preferences in subdirectories inside: ~/Documents/Adobe/
For example:
- ~/Documents/Adobe/Adobe Media Encoder
- ~/Documents/Adobe After Effects 2025
- ~/Documents/Photoshop Cloud Associates
- ~/Documents/Lumetri
This is problematic for several reasons related to both MacOS platform conventions and user workflow.
1. Violation of MacOS Best Practices
According to Apple’s MacOS Human Interface Guidelines:
- The ~/Document directory is for user’s personal documents.
- The ~/Library directory is for containing application settings, preferences, and other system resources that are specific to the user. Should not contain user data. Check the Apple's Library Directory guidelines.
In general the Unix-based system principles, user configuration and application support files should not be stored in the Documents folder. Instead, the following directories are recommended:
~/Library/Application Support/ for app data and configuration files
~/Library/Preferences/ for user preferences
~/Library/Logs/ for logs
~/Library/Caches/ for cache files
Using ~/Documents/ for internal app data violates this convention and results in unwanted clutter.
2. Conflicts with Cloud Sync (iCloud Drive)
Apple consider the ~/Documents as a directory for user's files. And they build features within their ecosystem following that principle. At WWDC 2016 they announced a new feature that when enabled, MacOS automatically uploads the contents of the ~/Documents and ~/Desktop directories to iCloud Drive.
This has been a default suggested option during MacOS setup for many years, meaning many users unknowingly enable it and then face unintended syncing of app created folders like ~/Documents/Adobe.
This bechavior leads to multiple issues:
Application data and logs are synced unnecessarily across machines, causing instability and sync conflicts. In the way MacOS resolve conflict is to keep both files, which is unpleasant experience.
It’s not possible to maintain different app states/preferences on multiple devices because they are constantly overwritten by iCloud sync.
- Ambiguity of how Adobe use the ~/Documents/Adobe directory. I was not able to find documenation how Adobe use the directory and is it safe to put my own content under that directory.
3. Obstructed File Organization
I rely on ~/Documents for real project files. Adobe’s hardcoded usage of the Documents folder prevents me from safely using logical folder structures like:
This is not safe or predictable given that Adobe Creative Cloud may overwrite this folder during updates or runtime.
Community Feedback
This issue has been raised multiple times over several years, yet remains unresolved:
Suggested Solutions
Option A (my own prefference and best operation system practices)
Adopt the MacOS native directory conventions. Move preferences, config files, and logs to appropriate paths within ~/Library/Application Support/, ~/Library/Preferences/, ~/Library/Logs/, etc.
Option B (safe alternative)
If change might break legacy workflows or it is considerd as higer risk to change the default bechavior, at least provide a user configurable option within Creative Cloud App for all apps to:
• Set a custom directory for app preferences and logs
• Disable creation of ~/Documents/Adobe entirely
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