P: PS 26.5 Droplets Could not complete the Create Droplet command because the file was not found.

[hadi_9157]

When I create a droplet in Photoshop 2025, it creates a folder instead of an EXE file. What is the solution?

[Scott_BFAR]

Adobe is busy working on new broken AI features that don't work so they can't fix the things we professionals actually use. It's super frustrating to see.

[M-H]

"Cant open because.. its damaged" is a Mac OS alert and has nothing to do with Adobe/Photoshop.

Its also a false alert and  you can thank Apple for that - its MacOS Gatekeeper, software which prevents you from opening/running ANY .app which was not codesigned with Apple Developer Certificate. (i.e. apps just downloaded from online or created locally, i.e. droplet)

So the .app is totally fine you just dont have permision to run - you can allow it via Settings->Security & Privacy or via "Open" from right click menu (google for detailed steps how to do it)

PS Not 100% sure, but system admin account might be needed for it

[Lea274729453wlg]

@M-H It’s a wrong answer! The Problem is about creating a droplet not about the using! 

[ExUSA]

There are two problems. One is a permissions/gatekeeper issue with existing droplets, the other is a failure to properly create a new droplet.

The best workaround is to run batch operations from Bridge.

[M-H]

For Mac users, if for some reason Photoshop creates folder with another "Contents" folder inside, just add ".app" extension to the first folder name and Mac OS is going to treat it as "executable" which you can then just double-click/drag images onto (of course once the app is allowed in gatekeeper)

[ExUSA]

This doesn't work.

[Aaron Tipton]

As @ExUSA said, this doesn't work. But to expand, you can turn the folder into what appears to be a droplet by changing the extension. You then would have to view package contents and put everything into a folder named contents. However the new droplet is missing the "Droplet.8BDR" file which appears to be the acual code for the droplet. If you steal that file from the contents of an existing droplet, it will now simply be a copy of the other droplet, not the new one you were hoping to create. Close but no cigar, sorry!

[Scott_BFAR]

I don't accept this answer at all. It's not lost on me that this is due to OS changes with Apple, but Adobe is one of the largest SW mnufacturers in the world. Adobe and Apple developers work together on many issues. It's up to Adobe to see that this gets resolved. I don't want to hear the two 900 lb gorillas in the room blame each other. I want them to work together to resolve issues like this. Period.

[M-H]

My bad, ive assumed your "Contents" folder actually had stuff like Droplet.8BDR etc in it and the app just wasnt packed into .app. Not sure how it happened exactly but I kinda feel like it happened to me before literally like 2-3 weeks ago when I've also learned the hard way about the gatekeeper thing but for me it that's the main issue, it creates droplets for me just fine. Also .exe droplets on Windows are working without any issues/permissions/approvals

Would you mind zipping that folder it created for you (droplet with some basic action for testing) and uploading it here? Or is just totally empty folder/subfolders?

[M-H]

@Scott_BFAR  I totally feel your pain man! Cant understand how user experience can be so much different for a single app just between systems:/ Droplets are quite archaic thing tho, for what it does/needs to do I would strongly recommend just using Bridge and tools available there

[Aaron Tipton]

Droplets fill a particular niche in our workflows that batching in Bridge or Photoshop simply doesn't replace. In my case, I've used Automator to open print PDFs with a droplet to make a JPG proof, now I use the Shortcuts app to do the same. And I have several other droplets I use daily to convert images via drag and drop. Yes, there's workarounds, but they're not as efficient and involve extra manual steps.

But as far as Adobe's responsibilities here, they have a widely used feature that has been broken in macOS for months now. Nothing has been added to the Known Issues page, no one from Adobe has replied in this thread other than Sameer K back in April. Adobe is ignoring our needs here, not acknowledging the problem and not telling us if they're going to be able to fix it or not, so it's incredibly frustrating all around.

[M-H]

they have a widely used feature that has been broken in macOS for months now

By @Aaron Tipton 

I've just created droplet on Sonoma 14.7.6 and PS 26.7, had to do alt+right click&open to allow it in gatekeeper but after that it worked fine & as intented so its not really broken...

[M-H]

I've just updated PS to 26.8.1 on Sonoma 14.7.6 and it also worked in exact same way

[Aaron Tipton]

The issue started with macOS Sequoia 15.4. Droplet creation works fine up through 15.3.

[M-H]

Based on the screenshot from @jonathantabensky it kinda looks like its somehow skipping a "/" in the path of the final app it creates. It should have created "Image Finish TEST.app" with "Contents" folder inside which then contains what you see below:

Below is how my droplet "style feed - crop top" looks like when i remove .app extension:

Try manually creating "Contents" folder inside the current one and moving current files&folder inside it and then rename the main folder so its got .app extension.

[Lea274729453wlg]

once again, this is a proposed solution that doesn't work.

Again: it's a problem with macOS Sequoia 15.4. and PS

• when you create a droplet in PS you get a folder:
  [name].appContents and the message:
  "The command "Create Droplet" could not be used because the file could not be found."
• then open the folder, put all contents in a Contents folder and rename the parent folder to [name].app
• the result is an executable app, if you use this, in PS the message appears:
  "The process could not be executed because an unexpected EOF (end of file) occurred."

Compared to a working Droplet, the file Droplet.8BDR is missing.

[M-H]

@Lea274729453wlg  thanks for trying out my idea! my company has blocked Mac OS 15.x updates (thankfully!) so i wanst able to test it myself. Sorry it didnt work as i imagined it would:/ Since Adobe doesnt seem to care much about it I think having some additional older version of Ps installed just for this sounds like best workaround

[ExUSA]

Blocking OS updates is a REALLY REALLY bad idea. They not only have bug fixes but deal with security holes that are known and in the wild. Its best practice to keep systems fully patched and up to date.

[Scott_BFAR]

When you're in a production environment you often need to block updates to maintain a controlled working environment to avoid bugs created by the OS. I currently have updates turned off now because of things like this, but this one got past me. 

looking at the results of renaming the folder to .app and it almost working, it looks like users have made more progress on understanding this than Adobe, and it would suggest this is in fact an Adobe issue that could be resolved if Adobe cared enough about its professional user base to address this.

crickets from Adobe. This needs to be fixed.

[ExUSA]

I'm a long time Mac tech (from back in the System 7 days), a developer, and used to work for Apple, as well as being a working pro photographer. You almost never need to NOT update your Macs. My advice is to update.

[Hewitt_Darrell]

attn Adobe: Please fix this. It has been months. The answer to getting all your PS super users should not include rolling back to previous versions, or sneaking around to the Bridge batch function, or whatever all the other workaround suggestions are that have come up. Building droplets that users processing enormous images batches can drap and drop to are VITAL to keeping up our production needs is absolutely vital. They have worked for years and now just don't. Pick up a phone and call the apple OS people if you have to, but get us back up and using droplets the way we need to. You know, it's actually hard enough to keep up with the constant tech changes in our lives. So it is really disappointing when a time saving tool we've finally learned how take advantage of just starts failing us--and only because we are keeping up with tech updates. Adobe, get us working faster/smarter again please.

[M-H]

I'm a long time Mac tech (from back in the System 7 days), a developer, and used to work for Apple, as well as being a working pro photographer. You almost never need to NOT update your Macs. My advice is to update.

By @ExUSA 

Totally agree but im not in IT dept and they tend to ignore advice from non-IT people. It's a mission to obtain admin privilges so I can't imagine length I need to go to bypass update embargo:D I only said luckily as I didnt get to experience that issue myself (yet)

Is it really Adobe issue tho if the same version of software works for me but not for you? Not Apple thing to sort out too?

[Scott_BFAR]

I hate bridge with a passion. I want Adobe to fix this. Period. I also want Adobe to answer. Honestly this has been so poorly managed by Adobe I'm just sick of it. 

[M-H]

moderators, any idea why when I click reply under Scott_BFAR's comment im replying to the first, orginal post and not to the one where i've pressed to reply?

@Scott_BFAR any specific reason for that hate? I'm getting it aint perfect but the recent versions had some major improvements and imho its much more convenient for image management than plain Mac or Win OS, especially with the "new" content tabs, custom keyboard shortcuts. I've added some custom ui panels with extra functionality specific to my work and that wasnt rocket science to do so I recommend you maybe give it a go?:)

[Aaron Tipton]

This discussion is about how a widely used feature of Photoshop is now broken. We are all aware of batching and Bridge and other workarounds, but they simply do not have the same functionality as a droplet. Please try to stay on topic here. Thanks!