2026 Photoshop Crashing during Launch

[DThomas97]

I keep trying to open photoshop but crashes right after the illistrasion screen appears. I tried the other versions of photoshop I had downloaded (2024 and 2025... havent had any issues with them all downloaded before). I made sure all were up to date and still had issues. I ended up uninstalling all the old ones but didn't solve and keeps crash during launch

Photoshop 27.1

MacBook Pro 16inch 2021 32gb memory

Tahoe 26.1

[MarekMularczyk]

Have you tried resetting Photoshop preferences?

[DThomas97]

Yes, I first uninstalled without removing prefrences but after I kept having issues I did remove my prefrences and still having issues.

[Claire H.]

Hi @DThomas97, thanks for confirming you already tried resetting Photoshop preferences and reinstalling. Let’s try a few things to see we can find the issue.
1. Hold Shift while launching Photoshop and choose Yes to skip optional or third‑party plug‑ins. If it opens, update or remove plug‑ins and add them back one at a time to find the culprit.
2. Clear the font cache. 
3. Temporarily disable the GPU. If you can open Photoshop, go to Preferences > Performance and uncheck “Use Graphics Processor,” and relaunch.
4. Verify macOS permissions. System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access. Ensure Photoshop has Full Disk Access. Toggle off and on if already enabled, then relaunch.

If the crash persists, please provide your Photoshop System Info so we can investigate the issue further. Open Photoshop and go to Help > System Info, copy all text into a .txt file, and attach it here. I hope this helps! ^CH

[DThomas97]

I was able to get it to load by pressing shift and skipping loading the plug-ins but when i then go to look to uninstall the plug-ins on photoshop I dont have any currently installed. 

[Claire H. · Accepted solution]

That is strange! I recommend checking your plug-ins folder. You can learn more about the troubleshooting plugin problems here: https://adobe.ly/4rCyWrx. Please let us know how it goes and if the issue continues to occur. Thanks! ^CH