How to disable auto-recovery BEFORE opening photoshop?

[Briester]

I have a corrupted file that photoshop is trying to auto-recover on opening. This kills the photoshop. The dead photoshop is entirely unresponsive, rendering me unable to discern the location of the corrupted file. (As the normal course of action would be to delete the broken recovery file such that photoshop never tries to load it in the first place.) I've deleted all temp files and folders that I know about, but I've been unsuccessful in finding the offender.

Is there a command-line argument I can use to disable auto-recovery when loading photoshop?

[Stephen Marsh]

I would have suggested to remove the auto-recover file from the auto recover folder, which I am not sure if you have done or not?

If you can't find it, this script can:

/* Open Photoshop Auto Recovery Folder - Universal */

#target photoshop

app.bringToFront();

openAutoRecoverDir();

function openAutoRecoverDir() {
    var os = $.os.toLowerCase().indexOf('mac') >= 0 ? "mac" : "windows";
    if (os === 'mac') {
        // alert("It's a Mac!");

        autoRecoverMac();

        function autoRecoverMac() {
            var appPath = app.path.fsName.replace(/^\/.+\//, '');
            var autoRecoverDirMac = '~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/' + appPath + '/AutoRecover';
            var autoRecoverDirMacOpen = Folder(autoRecoverDirMac);
            autoRecoverDirMacOpen.execute();
        }

    } else {
        // alert("It's Windows!");

        autoRecoverWin();

        function autoRecoverWin() {
            var appPath = app.path.fsName.replace(/^.+\\/, '');
            var autoRecoverDirWin = '~/appData/Roaming/Adobe/' + appPath + '/AutoRecover';
            var autoRecoverDirWinOpen = Folder(autoRecoverDirWin);
            autoRecoverDirWinOpen.execute();
        }

    }
}

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

[Briester]

Unfortunately, running a script requires photoshop to open. I cannot open photoshop, due to the corrupted auto-recovery file.

I've deleted all files in known temporary folders, this may just be a ghost somewhere. If I can open photoshop in a way that skips the recovery step outright, I'm golden. I can just move on with my day. The file in question was a doodle from weeks ago with zero relevance outside of it having metastasized into something that inhibits me job.

[Briester]

Thanks for reaching out, by the way! I'm really stumped xD

[Michael Bullo · Accepted solution]

Could resetting the preferences as you launch Photoshop help?

Press and hold the following keys while launching Photoshop...

• Windows: Alt + Control + Shift
• Mac: Option + Command + Shift

[Briester]

Michael,

Whatever was causing the crash was indeed associated with a setting that reset upon launching with Alt + Control + Shift! Thank you so much for that keyboard shortcut - it allowed me to close the offending file 😄

[Michael Bullo]

Hey that's great. Happy this helped you out.

[Stephen Marsh]

Getting the timing correct used to be hard for many people, so Adobe eventually added a button under general preferences to "Reset Preferences on Quit" – which would not have helped if you couldn't get Photoshop to open! :]