P: Application is blank. Start Screen doesn't load

[johnb49812654]

Yesterday afternoon, while using Photoshop 19.1.0, I opened the program and there was no start screen showing my previous work. So I opened a recent document and still no picture came up. The title bar indicated that the document was open, and indeed in the layers palate all the layers were still there. I played around for a few minutes, and discovered that in Full Screen Mode you could still see my work and indeed edit, but since this was not a satisfactory way to work I decided to uninstall Photoshop and the preferences, restart my computer and install it again. Still the same result: no picture came up, though the layers were still there. I don't know if I am missing something really obvious, but I can't see my work and I'm getting desperate. Please help. Thanks. 

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Perhaps the Start Screen workspace might be having a problem and not letting your own workspace load properly. Do you have a custom workspace? I've had the Start Screen open as a blank window, but whenever that's happened, it's responded to switching to my custom workspace as soon as I open a document from somewhere else. I've also once seen the layers panel with a document showing in it in my custome workspace, but no document in the window—however, quitting and restarting fixed that, and you did more than that, so it's not as temporary a glitch as mine was.

Perhaps if you disable the Start Screen in Prefs (you have to restart PS), you'll at least find out if there's some conflict with the Start Screen. You might also try creating a new workspace, or switching to another, in case the one you normally use became corrupted.

How do you edit an image that doesn't show up in the document window, btw? It sounds indeed miserable to even try.

Come back and let us know if shaking up workspaces helped, and if it didn't, Adobe will need to know what OS you're running to help you troubleshoot.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I'm having almost the same problem; the start screen is blank, showing neither recent work, LR files nor "new".   Other workspaces are almost  OK , I can open docs but cannot start a new document, it only results in a
blank window:


Only possibilty to start a new doc is to change the general preferences to : use Legacy "New Document" Interface. I've tried "reset start" and disabling/ re-enabling the start screen in the preferences, so far no result.  ( OS = WIN 10)

[johnb49812654]

Thanks for replying, Cristen. I tried disabling the Start screen (and restarting PS) but that made no difference. The only way I can currently edit and image is in Full Screen mode, which means endless switching back and forth to adjust layers and colours and so on - very frustrating as I'm sure you can imagine. I don't use custom workspaces so it can't be that that's the issue. I did try the other workspaces (and setting up a custom workspace of my own) but none of them made any difference. If Adobe would like to troubleshoot my issue (I'd be very grateful if they did) I can tell you that my OS is Windows 10 on a brand new computer (about a month old), the Dell Inspiron 15 7500. Thanks.

[Todd Shaner]

Two things to try:

1) Reset the PS Preferences file by holding Alt+Control+Shift (Windows) or Option+Command+Shift (Mac OS) as you start Photoshop. A new preferences file with default settings will be created.

2) If the issue remains try disabling GPU support in PS Preferences> Performance by unchecking 'Use Graphics Processor,' and then restart PS.

[johnb49812654]

Thanks Todd. Resetting the preferences file didn't work but unchecking 'Use Graphics Processor' did. Still no Start screen. It flashes briefly on and off when I close a document, but that's all. Is that also a graphics processor issue? Seems pretty rubbish that I spend around £800 (I guess around $1000) on a computer and I can't use the inbuilt graphics processor - it's a NVIDIA Corporation GeForce 940MX/PCIe/SSE2, by the way. 

[Todd Shaner]

OK, two more things to try.

1) In PS Preferences> Performance recheck 'Use Graphics Processor,' and click on 'Advanced Settings.' Select 'Basic' and check everything except '30 bit display.'

2) If the issue remains try updating to the latest graphics driver. If this is a Windows laptop you'll need to use the manufacturers support site since the graphics drivers are "customized" for each laptop. Check if other HW & SW updates are available. If this is a Mac laptop you can only update the graphics drivers using OS X updates. What model laptop are you using?

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

He said Windows with a Dell Inspirion, so he actually stands a chance of being able to update his driver, unlike us on a Mac. Since it's a brand new computer, it may have a card they haven't tested, or it may not meet the specs. I couldn't find it on the list. Here's the page to take a look at what it all is about, and maybe tomorrow someone from Adobe can provide more information about how the card is affecting the workspace. It seems odd, but then again, I'm constantly amazed by how many times the GPU is involved in problems.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cc-gpu-card-faq.html

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

We've been having this same problem for a while.  Same video card (NVIDIA Corporation GeForce 940MX/PCIe/SSE2) in Acer laptops.  Two separate laptops, same exact problem. Drivers are at their latest version. 

The only fix seems to be to force Photoshop to use the integrated graphics card, which is a crap experience compared to the Nvidia card.

[Todd Shaner]

There appears to be another problem that can cause this issue: With the June 2016 release of Adobe Creative Cloud the applications have migrated to using Visual C+...

At least one user has reported the same issue and reinstalling Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable Update 3 fixed it:

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/photoshop-cc-total-black-screen-solution-wind...

I suggest reinstalling Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable for Windows 7, 8, and10 from the below link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=48145

[johnb49812654]

I fixed it. I followed Todd's suggestion of going to the manufacturer's website (Dell) and downloading the graphics driver there. I downloaded  two, one by NVidia and one by Intel. Not sure which one worked, though I did notice that the NVidia driver was last updated on the 4th January which is a week after I bought my laptop. So perhaps their update was a fix for this problem. Anyway, thanks a lot for your help.

[Todd Shaner]

Good to hear! Just to clarify–The issue no longer occurs with the below settings when relaunching PS?

1) In PS Preferences> Performance recheck 'Use Graphics Processor,' and click on 'Advanced Settings.' Select 'Basic' and check everything except '30 bit display.'

Laptops are designed to use the lower-power integrated Intel HD GPU when operating on battery and the higher-performance Nvidia GPU when on AC power. More here: https://www.howtogeek.com/136123/htg-explains-what-you-need-to-know-about-nvidia-optimus/

[johnb49812654]

PS now works in both Advanced and Basic 'Use Graphics Processor' mode. But there is one option that it is greyed out and can't be checked in either mode: 'Use Native Operating System GPU Acceleration'. Not sure if that matters. I generally use my laptop on AC power, so that issue hasn't arisen yet. Will try to remember I have the option of the Basic mode when operating just on the battery.

[Todd Shaner]

But there is one option that it is greyed out and can't be checked in either mode: 'Use Native Operating System GPU Acceleration'.

It's greyed out on my Windows 7 system with Nvidia GPU. I think it's only available on systems with AMD GPUs.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

@john Barrel,  did you get PS to work 100% ?? i.e. does the start screen now show as normal.  As I wrote some days ago I have a similar problem: no start work space and I must set use legacy new document interface in order to be able to start a new project  but the "rest" of PS is working normal

[SG...]

Hi, Do any of you have firewall software installed?

regards,
steve

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Yes I have but deactivating the firewall doesn't make any change

[Himanshu2017]

Hi,

Please update your Creative Cloud Desktop App to 4.4.1.298 and re-launch the application.

Please check if the issue is resolved.

Regards,

Himanshu Kapoor

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Hi,

I did check that the CC desktop app was updated to 4.4.1.298 and did a re-launch,  no result 😞

Brgds
Esbjoern

[Himanshu2017]

Hi,

Thank you for sharing an update on it.

Please share your contact details on deshelp@adobe.com so that we can contact you and further troubleshoot the issue.

Appreciate your response.

Regards,
Himanshu Kapoor

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

A great thank to Himanshu for his efforts, PS is now working 100% including Start Workspace and Open a new document.  I hope he can be able to publish a workaround/solution  for others having the same problem.

Best regards from a happy user

Esbjoern

[Himanshu2017]

Hi,

Kindly follow the troubleshooting steps as mentioned below to resolve the issue:

• Sign out of the creative cloud desktop app
• Download the creative cloud desktop Uninstaller to uninstall it.

          Link to download the creative cloud Uninstaller:

        https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html

• Once the creative cloud desktop app is uninstalled. Please download it again from the link given below:

         https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/desktop-app.html 

• Install the creative cloud desktop app and sign in into it.
• Try launching the application E.g. InDesign, Illustrator & Photoshop and check if the issue is resolved.

Regards,

Himanshu Kapoor

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

thanks for the help!

[Jeffrey Tranberry]

If the Home Screen or New Document dialog are blank, please see this document for troubleshooting: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-home-screen-issues.html

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Woohoo!!! That's what I needed! I updated this morning and couldn't see at thing afterwards. Thank you!

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

My Photoshop, Creative Cloud, and illustrator all open up normally but are blank, And I have tried the steps listed above me to no avail. Does anyone have suggestions?
My Computer is a mac as well.