P: Preset Syncing - Recursive Multiple Copies Created

Hi @BrettSimms 

It may help if we could see your Photoshop System Info on both computers. Launch Photoshop, and select Help >System Info...and copy/paste the text in a reply.  

This has been an issue for years. I am constantly deleting duplicate folders. After updating yesterday I have a crazy pile of copies of copies of copies going on:

 I use Photoshop on 2 computers - named Desktop and SB7.  Both have had synch turned on for ages so this does not happen from toggling sync off/on. There should be one of brushes (Main_Set_Nov_2021) on both computers. Everything else is generated copies from synching.  

Yes please, for the love of God, look into this.

Trying to sync my presents between my work and home laptops, but everytime I open one or the other, I'm greeted with either a dozen "Something went wrong while syncing your presets. Please try to restart Photoshop to recover." error messages (that just keep popping up---had two just now that came up in the middle of my typing this.) or I see a "Cannot load more shapes / brushes / tools etc." errors, and then go to find my brushes preset has the following attached.

@ClaudiaR99  More information for you: 

"did you have Preset Sync turned OFF before upgrading?" - YES, I did have it turned OFF. I know this because the libraries sync error cropped up after I upgraded.

"Have you downgraded to an older version of Ps before upgrading to Ps 23.0.1 and if so, what version of Ps?" - I have NOT downgraded.

Additionally, I tried the following with these results:

1. Turn ON Preset Syncing again (after being removed from cloud)

2. Library Sync error recurs

3. Go through process on this web page to reset Creative Cloud and remove Creative Cloud library cache: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/creative-cloud-libraries-panel-doesn-t-load-in-desktop-products.html

4. Attempt library sync again

5. Library Sync error happens again

6. Duplicated folder also appears, see this image, in one of the panels only (Shapes)

7. Turn OFF preset syncing, and NO to keep in cloud

8. Libraries sync successfullly

A few comments

1. Folder duplication is still happening, and as I noted above, even for your own team, when they are doing livestreams (Paul Trani)

2. The Library Sync process is opaque, when preset syncing is turned on, it appears to go through several sync routines (0 - 100%) successfully, and then the last one has an error. I assume this is syncing different batches of presets, but I don't know. It would be very helpful if this process was  more transparent so we can understand what's going on.

I am now with Preset Syncing OFF and libraries sync successfully. Sending log file now, thank you for your help!

Hello @TDC3000 ,

Thank you so much for all the detailed information. It seems there is something else going on in your situation.

Can I please ask that you run logcollector on the desktop that is having the issues so we can analyze them? https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-log-collector.html

Please rename the extension of the zip file to something like .zpp and email it to me clrodrig@adobe.com

Some quick questions regarding a comment related to upgrading to Ps 23.0.1, did you have Preset Sync turned OFF before upgrading?

Have you downgraded to an older version of Ps before upgrading to Ps 23.0.1 and if so, what version of Ps?

Preset Sync is not suppose to be turned ON by default on installation or upgrade.

@ClaudiaR99 @J453 

I did as you said, and when I turned Preset Sync ON, I got this error in library syncing

This is interesting because right after the Photoshop 23.0.1 upgrade, I started getting the above error, which coincided with Preset syncing being turned ON by default with the new installation. I went through a few steps with Adobe Support and managed to make this go away, but now I think this error went away when I turned Preset Syncing OFF.

To test this, I then turned Preset Sync OFF, the libraries synced again (quickly rather than slowly this time), and now libraries sync without an error:

To me this looks like Preset syncing is causing a problem overall - can you please continue investigating? I will note that when sync was turned on (with the error above), the folders did not duplicate.

Right now:

1. Preset syncing is OFF

2. Presets are NOT saved in the Cloud

As I mentioned previously, this is challenging/frustrating to diagnose because unlike other assets like files and library items, there's nowhere to look in Creative Cloud to see where presets are sync'd and if there is a problem with them. They are synced with "libraries" which isn't actually what they are, correct?

Feel free to let me know what to try next.

Preset Sync is a feature that is meant to be left ON once it's turned ON. It will sync any changes to the cloud and sync them down to other desktop that have Preset Sync turned ON. 

If you turn Preset Sync ON after having turned it OFF and chosen to removed presets from the cloud, these folders should not be created.

The feature has evolved and the folder with local presets used to get created more frequently however, and unless there is something else happening, that should not be the case.

There is an open issue we are investigating that could cause a folder with local presets to be created, an error comes up saying that Something went wrong and asks to restart Ps. This is more frequent in Windows.

@ClaudiaR99 

I should add... 

Previously when settings sync was ON, I did exactly as you said (and as Paul Trani did on his live broadcasts) and deleted the redundant folders, and then allowing them to sync. They just came back recursively, so the removal in Photoshop didn't seem to remove them from the cloud.

Hi @ClaudiaR99 , 

• Thank you for confirming this is an issue
• I have done this in the past:
  • a. Turned off syncing
  • b. Hit YES to leave in the cloud
  • c. Turn it back on
  • - And the problem recurred
• This time, I have turned off syncing, and hit "NO" to save in the Cloud

Are you telling us that if we turn syncing back on we will not have duplication of folders?

I am reluctant to do this without more information from you as I seem to lose changes to my settings when this happens.

Thank you for your response.

Hello @TDC3000 , @vanfam 

The benefit of having Preset Sync ON is your presets live on the cloud and are available for all the desktop devices that have Preset Sync ON. When Photoshop is shut down, a copy of the latest state of the presets is saved locally to the Settings folder.

A scenario where a folder with your computer's name is created with a copy of the presets may have been more common in the initial phases of this feature.

With the recent upgrades, this scenario would happen when preset sync is turned OFF on a desktop, user chooses to keep the presets in the cloud when turning it OFF, and changes are made to the preset panels (Swatches, Gradients, Patterns, Brushes, Shapes, Styles) before Preset Sync is turned ON again.

When turning Preset Sync ON again, Presets in the cloud are downloaded to the panels and a folder is created with the intention of preserving a copy of your local presets and give you the option to reconcile them.

What you want to do is delete the duplicated folders and allow this action to sync across all the desktops where Preset Sync has been turned ON. If you only use one desktop, allow time for folders and presets to be deleted from the cloud.

To check is Preset Syncing is done, open the Creative Cloud Desktop app, click on the Cloud Icon (top right corner) and observe the Libraries Syncing status. When libraries are syncing, the progress will show as 'Libraries: xx%'.

I hope this helps. If issues still continue please let us know.

Thank you