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Inspiring
February 3, 2018

P: Photoshop (v25.5.1 & v25.6) opening with black/blank home screen

  • February 3, 2018
  • 91 replies
  • 27181 views

Hey folks! 

I was working with photoshop and illustrator, then I went to lunch and closed both apps. 
When booting them up again, Photoshop "home screen" is black. I can't open recent files. 

When I open a saved .psd, the file opens correctly.

 

Already updated to the 25.5.1 version.

91 replies

Participant
April 24, 2024

I followed the steps suggested by Sameer for fixing this same problem but it was not corrected. Still getting only a black screen for every file I open in Photoshop 25.5.1.

 

NB, colourmanagement
Community Expert
Community Expert
April 5, 2024

@Stevaker try reset opreferences as I described above

 

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.
Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Participant
April 1, 2024

I tried this several time to no avail...is there an update coming soon?

Participating Frequently
March 21, 2024

Thanks. I learn something every day. 😉

Kevin Stohlmeyer
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 21, 2024

@sierdo hold down the Option key to show the hidden Library.

Participating Frequently
March 21, 2024

I don't have a Library folder.

Participant
March 21, 2024

Thank you for so much helpful information.  I have solved my black screen problem - it was an issue with Adobe Camera Raw.  So for others still having issues with Black/Blank screens might be worth testing if standard psd / jpg files can still be opened and whether it is the action of invoking ACR when opening RAW files that is causing the problem.  Thank you everyone for all your helpful suggestions and solutions.

Participating Frequently
March 21, 2024

I even changed my Creative Cloud Plan and after that reinstalled a complete new version 25.6 of Photoshop 2024. It didn't help I'm afraid.

NB, colourmanagement
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 21, 2024

If nothing else works perhaps try a thorough reset of Photoshop preferences?

it has helped many users here to cure strange faults

here's some background info: https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually

 

(read this entire post before acting please)

Resetting restores Photoshop's internal preferences, which are saved when Photoshop closes.

If they become corrupt then various issues can occur.

 

Here’s some info on how to do that:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

Manually removing preferences files is the most complete method for restoring Photoshop to its default state: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually

 

Manually removing preferences files is the most complete method for restoring Photoshop to its default state. This method ensures all preferences and any user presets which may be causing a problem are not loaded.

  1. Quit Photoshop.

  2. Navigate to Photoshop's Preferences folder.
    macOS: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
    Windows: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings

     
    Note: The user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS. To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see How to access hidden user library files.
  3. Drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe for a back-up of your settings

  4. Open Photoshop.

     New preferences files will be created in their original location.

 

 

Note re macOS: The user Library folder is hidden by default.

To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see here for how to access hidden user library files.

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

 

Unexpected behaviour may indicate damaged preferences. Restoring preferences to their default settings is a good idea when trying to troubleshoot unexpected behaviours in Photoshop. check out the video

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#reset_preferences

 

Learn how to access and modify Photoshop preferences and customise per your frequent workflows

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

 

And here’s an earlier forum discussion as an aid to understanding

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/quick-tips-how-to-reset-photoshop-preferences/td-p/12502668

 

You may want to backup your settings and custom presets, brushes & actions before restoring Photoshop's preferences.

Here is general info about that:  https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#BackupPhotoshoppreferences

 

 

Before you reset your preferences

https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preset-migration.html

 

in case of future issues, I suggest you make a copy as Adobe may need one to check problematic references. 

Quit Photoshop.
Go to Photoshop's Preferences folder

Preferences file locations: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/preference-file-names-locations-photoshop.html\


  [on MacOS see: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings

  Note for those on macOS: - be aware that the user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS.

  https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

  In the Finder, open the “Go” menu whilst holding down the Option (Alt) key.

  Library will now appear in the list - below the current user's “home” directory. ]

 

Now you can drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe as a back-up of your settings.

 

 

Note for those on macOS:

Preference preservation is affected by macOS permissions,

you’ll need to allow Photoshop ‘Full Disk Access’ in your Mac OS Preferences/Security and Privacy

 

If that doesn't fix the issue:

Go to Preferences > Performance... and uncheck Multithreaded Compositing - and restart Photoshop.

Still hanging? 

Go to Preferences > Performance... click Advanced Settings... and uncheck "GPU Compositing" - then restart Photoshop. 

Do you still have problems?

 

Here's a link from Myra Ferguson specificially for troubleshooting Photoshop if it crashes on launch (which includes resetting preferences) Troubleshoot crash or freeze in Photoshop

 

 

 

 

It may even be time to reinstall Photoshop.

 

It’s recommended that you use the Adobe CC cleaner tool to remove all traces first.

(See above about preserving preferences though! It’s worth preserving them unless they are corrupted.)

 

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

Uninstall Photoshop BUT make sure to choose the option “Yes, remove app preference”.

 

Once that process finishes, start the installation process and look into the “Advanced Options”. Uncheck “Import previous settings and preferences” and choose to “Remove old versions”.

 

I hope this helps

neil barstow, colourmanagement net  - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'

google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.

Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

 

Participating Frequently
March 21, 2024

I went back to the version of which I certaily remember it showd me the home screen (with all previous documents I worked on), but it now had the same issue. So, it is not version related. There is an overall glitch. Whay I also noticed is that the scroller does not work smoothly any longer. It is choppy and that is rather annoying when you are used to working pretty fast.