Photoshop forgets font favorites

[Bob at IndigoHealth]

Really annoying bug. I spend 10 minutes going through my list of fonts in Photoshop, clicking the star next to fonts I want to remember as "favorites". Many of these fonts are installed via fonts.adobe.com.

But Photoshop keeps turning off the "favorite" star for many (but not all) of my font selections. I think I've figured out the cause: If I start Photoshop shortly after logging in, before the Adobe Creative Cloud magic has had time to activate all my fonts, the fonts that are not yet activated don't exist yet (as far as Photoshop is concerned), and they lose their "favorite" star.

Once the star is turned off by this bug, it stays off until I go back into Photoshop (after the fonts have all been loaded) and turn the star back on again.

[TechByter]

Photoshop forgot all of my favorite fonts recently, so I selected them again. When I restarted Photoshop, the Favorites were once again missing.

Note that this is NOT a case of the typefaces being uninstalled. They are still present, but they are no longer marked as being Favorites.

FURTHER OBSERVATION (26 February 2023 at 17:36:16):

I have tried running both Photoshop 24.2.0 and Beta as Administrator. The problem persists.

[J E L]

Hi @TechByter, I'm sorry to hear about the trouble with your favorite fonts not sticking. It's strange, alright, since it's happening in Beta, too. I can't duplicate this issue using Windows 10, Photoshop 24.2.0 Release. To test, I changed favorites, closed and started Photoshop several times, made a mix of cloud and system fonts as you have done, but my favorites remain as they should. Thanks for confirming you are running as Administrator as one elimination.

It was suggested here that this is due to Preference settings. If you haven't done a manual Preferences reset, you might try that. Instructions are here: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually. If that doesn't make any difference, you can quit Photoshop and put the Settings folder back. Let us know if you have any luck.

Other than this fix, some people reporting this problem said they waited a few minutes or even days, and they magically started sticking again, lol. Maybe?

[TechByter]

Thanks! I had tried resetting preferences last night:

• Renamed Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings as _OLD_Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings.
• Started Photoshop, opened an image, marked one typeface as favorite, saved the image, and closed Photoshop.
• Opened Photoshop.
• No favorite fonts.
• Closed Photoshop, deleted Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings, and renamed _OLD_Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings as Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings.

I guess I'll have to wait for the magic to occur.

[TechByter]

I still haven't found WTF (where the fonts), but I did clean the computer by reinstalling Windows. I had hoped that the problem with disappearing Favorite fonts was something dumb that Microsoft had done, but it turns out that it's something stupid Adobe has done. 😞

[J E L]

@TechByter, that's too bad. Well, you can rule out Windows at least. @J453 from Adobe confirmed that font favorites are stored with Photoshop's preferences at that link I shared. So, this is an Adobe feature that isn't working for some users for some reason. If resetting Preferences doesn't fix it, you could try using the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool and then reinstall Photoshop. https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html.

By the way, did fonts ever stick as favorites for you with any previous Photoshop version? If you use InDesign, Illustrator, or another Adobe app with fonts, will your favorites stick?

[Trevor.Dennis]

Font favourites are reset (lost) when you reset Preferences. So are your other Preference changes sticking? 

We know that custom shortcuts, menus and Toolbars can be saved with custom Workspaces.  It doesn't mention fonts, but I would experiment to eliminate it as a factor.

But most important is to check that Preferences changes are being saved.  If not, then check permisions.

Photoshop preference file functions, names, locations (adobe.com)

[TechByter]

Because I just reinstalled Windows, the PS installation is new and the problem persisted. This feature did work previously and other Preferences are being maintained. I tried creating a Favorite in Illustrator and that is retained after closing and re-launching PS.

[TechByter]

The other preferences are sticking and Favorites works in Illustrator.

I added a couple of Favorites and they were still present when I reopened Photoshop. So then I added the dozen or so favorites. When I restarted Photoshop, they were all gone.

Might it be a specific font, I thought rehetorically, so I started adding faces one at a time. On the second addition (one that had been retained previously) all Favorites disappeared after I closed Photoshop.

So it seems that Photoshop sometimes retains Favorites and sometimes loses Favorites with little or no predictability.

My user is the owner of "C:\Users\willi\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2023\Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings" and I have full control. The system also has full control, as does the Administrators group.

One more test:

1. I renamed Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings as OLD_Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings.
2. Then I copied Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings from a backup. The Favorites were present.
3. I created a new document, saved it, and closed Photoshop.
4. When I opened Photoshop again, the Favorites were gone, but my workspace was still active.
5. I guess I could create a batch file to copy the preferences file into place each time I want to use Photoshop.

[TechByter]

Unfortuntely, copying the old directory doesn't realiably fix the problem. It works sometimes and fails sometimes.

This. Is. Nuts.

[Trevor.Dennis]

I was going to suggest looking at the fonts.  Is there a font tester for Windows?  I believe Mac OS versions have one.

There is a font troubleshooter for Photoshop

https://helpx.adobe.com/nz/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-fonts-photoshop.html

Does the issue happen with specific fonts? i.e. can you reliably Fave Arial?

OK, I was thinking that I didn't remember seeing this issue before, but looking back it seems that plenty of other people have had the same problem

https://community.adobe.com/t5/adobe-fonts-discussions/all-favorited-fonts-suddenly-missing/td-p/123...

Well try tagging the people from that thread, including an Adobe employee @Molly Doane @Jack Brannen  

@jackbrannen_pl  @summerlover18  @blajblu  @jhannel   Blimey, there's a zillion of them.  Depending on how these people have notifications set, they will be notified and hopefully respond.  If Molly does not respond, PM her directly. 

It will be fixable if we keep at it.

[TechByter]

The Favorites are sticking now, but I don't know what fixed it because the steps I took make utterly no sense.

1. Uninstalled Photoshop and confirmed that the Preferences directory was empty.
2. Reinstalled Photoshop and set up the Favorites.
3. Closed Photoshop, opened Photoshop, and determined that the Favorites were not present.
4. Gave up for the day.
5. Decided to live with having to select faces manually, opened Photoshop, and noticed that the Favorites I had created yesterday (the ones that didn't stick then) were back.

Since then I have shut Photoshop down several times and reopened it. The Favorites have been there every time.

So far.

[J E L]

@TechByter “I guess I'll have to wait for the magic to occur.”

You waited for the magic and it happened, lol. So glad to hear favorites are sticking for you now!

[TechByter]

PROBLEM UNRESOLVED.

Eleven days later, Photoshop forgot all of my favorites. Again.

[Trevor.Dennis]

I have to say I thought you were tempting fate saying that the problem was resolved, and down right poking fate with a sharp stick by saying it in big bold red characters.  

We know that resetting Preferences loses font favourite.  Does it follow that Preferences is the only file involved in storing that information?  I'm inclined to say yes, but I would only be guessing.

Let's go back to basics and do a clean reinstall of Photoshop.

Go to C:\Users\[you]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2023  and make a copy of :

Adobe Photoshop 2023 Settings

.. so that you have your workspaces.

Do the same with the 

C:\Users\[you]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2023\Presets  folder so that you have yyour brush presets etc.

BTW  I notice there is font info in the location below, and the contents in mine are dated a few days ago.  

OK...

Uninstall from Creative Cloud.

Use the CC Cleaner Tool 

Check Appdata\roaming to see if anything has been left behind and delete it.  (I hope that is going to be OK)

Make sure the Preference file is gone.  (A normal reinstall does not remove the Preference file)

Photoshop preference file functions, names, locations (adobe.com)

Reinstall and see what happens.

[TechByter]

Sorry, Trevor.Dennis; I didn't see this until 5 Apr 2023. I had already uninstalled and reinstalled. Overall the problem is "resolved" except when the Favorites disappear. I've found that closing and reopening either the file I'm working on or Photoshop (sometimes several times) usually causes the Favorites to reappear from wherever they've gone. Sort of like playing peek-a-boo with a three year old.

[Weblett1971]

I have had the same issue. Tech Support refuses to acknowledge this could be a potential bug in recent patch/version/whatever, so they won't even take it seriously, let alone fix it. 

If you go on Google and search, there are dozens/hundreds of help inquiries about this, with no resolution in sight.

I'm glad Adobe believes in magic rather than coding. Sigh.

[Sameer K]

Hey, @Bob at IndigoHealth!

I've shared this with the team to review.

Thanks for the details!

Sameer K

[ktaki]

@Bob at IndigoHealth Thank you for the posting the issue.

You are correct by saying that "before the Adobe Creative Cloud magic has had time to activate all my fonts, the fonts that are not yet activated don't exist yet."

After adding fonts from Adobe Fonts using "More fonts" tab in Font Browser, you can use them in Photoshop immediately, but it sometimes takes time to complete background tasks for adding fonts for subsequent use. This process depends mostly on the server condition and cannot be controlled by Photoshop. The fonts added exist within the current Photoshop session. If you quit and restart Photoshop, there is no guarantee the the fonts are immediately available. They will be available eventually though.

When you assign favorites to the fonts you recently added, before quitting Photoshop, please make sure all the background tasks involved in adding fonts are completed. To do this, open Adobe Creative Cloud application, and click "f" icon near the top right corner of the application. It will show all the fonts added with which background tasks have been completed.

If you do not see the fonts you recently added, the background tasks to adding them have not been completed. It may take some time to complete all the tasks. You still can use the fonts in Photoshop, but assigning favorites will not be persisted over quitting and restarting Photoshop application. Keep Photoshop running till you see the fonts listed in Adobe Creative Cloud application.

[raf.]

Bonjour

depuis ce matin, malgré une réinitialisation du logiciel, une réinstallation et une tentative avec des versions ultérieures, quand je mets des polices en favoris dans photoshop, elle se réintialise à zéro à chaque redémarrage.... 

je ne sais pas trop pourquoi et c'est très ennuyeux, avez vous une solution ?

merci 

[Bob at IndigoHealth]

Hi @ktaki,

Everything you say (about making sure Photoshop is initialized before setting font favorites) is true, but that's not the problem I'm having. I set font favorites. They hang around for several weeks. Then some (but not all) of my font favorites get un-set. Once un-set, I need to find them and again set them as font favorites.

I haven't spent the 10 minutes it would take to verify my hypothesis, but assume this problem is caused when I open a document in Photoshop that uses fonts before the Adobe Creative Cloud environment has enabled all the fonts I've installed from the Adobe cloud.

From Photoshop's perspective, if a font is not (yet) available, that could be because the user uninstalled the font OR because the font just isn't yet available because CC is still getting its brains sorted out. Today, Photoshop assume the former. When a font isn't available, it assumes the user made the font go away, so it removes its "favorite" status. When the font becomes available some time later, it doesn't restore the "favorite" status.

Photoshop needs to understand that it may run before fonts have been made available by background processes. Those background processes need to supply a signal that Photoshop (and all the CC aps) can use to understand when background initialization has completed. Until that signal is present, all CC apps (including Photoshop) should refrain from assuming that missing assets are, in fact, gone.

[mrsdollyparton]

I've reset, reinstalled, logged out, logged in, and anything else you could imagine but this god forsaken program will not save my favorited fonts. I see so many posts about this but never any solutions, have they ever attempted to fix this issue?

[jasminet88]

yeah this bug has been here since like 2021 from what I can tell and it just happened to me once again, its crazy it hasnt been fixed yet. fingers crossed someone gets a hold of the right people to finally solve this once and for all

[kathydannelvitcak]

I've been having the same festive font fun for months, if not longer. I've trying (hahaha) to be more patient and giving Photoshop time to get themself sorted for the today, but today has ruined that idea. I've been working a couple of hours in photoshop and had the silly idea to change a font and I'm back behind ground zero. Not only are Favorites not accessible (greyed out), but I can't add or edit anything. If I try to add a font it pulls in every font in the Adobe catalog and that shuts the party down! So, I cannot access fonts that have been favorites and selecting new fonts is too cumbersome to deal with! Same as ya'll, I've reset my Fave Fonts numerous times and Favorites works for a bit and then stops.

ideas? Are there any font manager apps or anything to add to sort this? My whole idea was to use all Adobe fonts, except the scant handful I'm stuck with for product labels. This is definitely not a lot easier! Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[TechByter]

This has happened before and I move a bit closer to abandoning Adobe every time it happens. I have approximately two dozen typefaces starred. Occasionally Photoshop loses them. I keep a list so that restoring them takes only a few minutes.

Usually I have to reset preferences, which makes the process take a lot longer.

This time, nothing seems to work: I have reset preferences. I have renamed three directories so that Photoshop will recreate them: Adobe Photoshop 2025 Settings, CT Font Cache, & FontFeatureCache.

I have wasted about 2.5 hours so far and still Photoshop will not retain any number of starred fonts.

I am nearing the end of my patience and hope that someone has seen this issue and has found a way to resolve it permanently.

I’ve been around the barn several times before. Example: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/favorite-fonts-repeatedly-disappear-i... Every time around it a little more frustrating.