gradient file is bad or corrupted

[pete424]

When I open PS (latest version) I get an error, "gradient file is bad or corrupted." I checked on this a while back and there were othe people having this same issue but now I can't find any post that refer to a fix. Does anyone have a fix? Will uninstalling and re-installing it fix it?

[GIRO]

SO! just like that, not a single reply from Adobe? Mi PS now for no reason says  "gradient file is bad or corrupted." as well.
WHY!???

[Bojan Živković]

Have you tried to reset preferences? 

[NeilMac]

I have Photoshop Elements 15 and started to get the same message:  "gradient file is bad or corrupted."

Resetting preferences did not solve the problem. I also checked for updates under "help" and I'm up to date.

[NeilMac · Accepted solution]

Solved?

So I opened up GRADIENTS in the Preset Manager (under EDIT), dragged one of the presets to a different location in the window, clicked SAVED, and DONE, and the error message no longer appears when PS Elements is loading.  (Save button didn't seem to work, so not sure why this got rid of the error message but it did.)

[Pelegrinus]

This solved the problem for me. I had to go to the second step (open file, use a gradient preset), but problem solved! Thank you very much.

[acquoi_0514]

This inspired me, though I figured out another way to solve the problem: I click on Gradients in the upper right corner after COLOR & SWATCHES, then on the four horizontal lines on the far right. I select New Gradient Preset, then reposition any preset by dragging either upward or downward to change the position. After that, I quit Photoshop and reopened it; the error message stopped popping up.

[alwood123]

I just lost a file to "the gradient file is bad or corrupted."  I then updated Pshop and now it says "file cannot be loaded because of program error."  

This is the 3rd time in a few months I have lost a file  - and there's nothing to be done...............

You say "have you tried to reset preferences." \ Exactly what do you mean?

[BobWylliePhoto · Accepted solution]

Solution for "Gradient File is bad or Corrupted."

Exit Photoshop.

Locate your Gradients.PSP file.

In Windows, it's located in C:\Users\**Username** \AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2020\Adobe Photoshop 2020 Settings

Copy it to a temporary folder. You probably won't need it but save it, just in case.

Delete the Gradients.PSP file from the Adobe Photoshop 2020 Settings folder above. Photoshop will regenerate a new Gradients.PSP file when launched.

Launch Photoshop. If you still get the error, create a new document and use a gradient preset. Then quit and reopen Photoshop.

That should resolve it.

[mohanadb74199333]

Thank you.
Solved

[peter007]

Thank you. But as a "just in case" I just renamed the .psp file.  My normal renaming convention is to place "_old" in front of the original filename.

[peter007]

I have been using tht cnventionfor many years, andnot just for Adobe. Iteliminates a lot of possiblec onfusionm. Others may se a difrent method, but renaming a file "_old...." works  for me, 

[defaultu6ptnuspqodn]

I have tried all the suggestions and I'm still getting the error and photoshop will not run correctly.

[khaledwageeh]

thanks alot

Solved

[Guest]

Thank you so much

My problem solved 😬

[phanik3315973]

Thank you, Problem has solved.

[JamesWalkowiak]

This doesn't work, still getting error message

[McFuwad]

thanks 

Solved

[Hashara5ED3]

@BobWylliePhoto Thanks a bunch, Step one did not do the trick, but Step two worked like a charm. 

[TC Ata5DE7]

How can I locate gradient.PSP file?

[Bojan Živković]

If you are on Windows machine take a look below at screenshot

[Kuldeep98A1]

Plz Solved.....this gradient file is bad or corrupted