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GButch
Inspiring
September 13, 2022
Answered

Lost Actions

  • September 13, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 2462 views

Photoshop updated this morning.  Now all my custom actions are gone. The defaults are there, but I don't use any of them.  Some of the missing actions were created years ago.  What is the correct location for the actions I created?  have backups but I don't know the correct place to look for them.  Running Windows 10 64 Bit on a Dell XPS8910.  My actions were there earlier in the day before the update.. 

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Correct answer Stephen Marsh

If you can't find any saved .atn files, then as I previously mentioned, your only possible hope is finding an older backup of:

 

C:\Users\username\appData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2022\Adobe Photoshop 2022 Settings\Actions Palette.psp

 

Obviously changing the username and the version of Photoshop as required for your setup.

 

Good luck!

3 replies

G
GButchAuthor
Inspiring
September 13, 2022

I hate to seem quite so lame.  I find no reference to Actions under Presets.  I have had a preset group named "Postproduction" across any number of PS versions and across years.  It appears to be gone.  I am in a bit of a panic as I am doing a project that uses several of the actions I created.  I worked on the project and used some of the actions this morning.  Adobe advised of an update. I installed the update.  When I opened the updated version my actions were gone.  There was a brief flash on the screen about a file error.  What I need is to find my action collection in either my Carbonite or Acronis backup and attempt to restore it.
GB….

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Stephen MarshCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
September 14, 2022

If you can't find any saved .atn files, then as I previously mentioned, your only possible hope is finding an older backup of:

 

C:\Users\username\appData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2022\Adobe Photoshop 2022 Settings\Actions Palette.psp

 

Obviously changing the username and the version of Photoshop as required for your setup.

 

Good luck!

    G
    GButchAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 14, 2022

    First of all, Thank you.  I recovered "Action Palette.psp" from a recent backup and immediately saved the actions group that had gone missing.  My blood pressure is slowly going back to normal.  But if you will permit a short rant, I have been a PS user for about 20 years.  I have taken a good number of PS classes and have owned several PS reference books which I regularly used. Through all of that, I have no recollection of anyone suggesting I needed to save my custom actions separately from the Actions Palette.psp file. Apparently I have been on the high wire without a net for years and years and didn't fall until yesterday.  Again, to those whose posts saved my actions, Thank you.   GB.....

      Kevin Stohlmeyer
      Community Expert
      Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 13, 2022

      Did you save your actions after creating? If not, they were only temporary in the application with no resource files to recover.

      This may help:

      https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preset-migration.html

      Specifically:

      Save and load presets

      You can move actions and presets across different versions of Photoshop on same or different desktops by saving them and loading them into the target application.

      SOURCE COMPUTER: On the computer that has the presets you want to migrate, do the following:

      1. Open Photoshop.
      2. Choose Edit > Presets > Presets Manager.
      3. Choose the desired option from the Preset Type drop-down menu. For example, choose Brushes.
      4. Select the desired presets. For example, select the brushes that you want to migrate.
      5. Click Save Set and then, click Save. For a set of Brushes, then Photoshop creates a . ABR file at the following location by default:
      • (Windows) C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop <version>\Presets\Brushes
      • (macOS) Applications/Adobe Photoshop <version>/Presets/Brushes
        PECourtejoie
        Community Expert
        PECourtejoieCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        September 14, 2022

        Kevin, thank you, I'll send a message to the helpx team as this page needs to be updated, as the preset manager now only shows the contours and tool presets. Users can use Edit/Presets/Import Export Presets or Migrate presets.

        Stephen Marsh
        Community Expert
        Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        September 13, 2022

        Try here:

         

        https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/01/photoshop-custom-action-file-backup.html?m=1

         

        One should manually save out each action set "folder" individually to a .atn file using the menu on the upper right of the action panel window.

         

        Loaded .atn files or newly created and unsaved action sets are temporarily stored in the Actions Palette presets file (Actions Palette.psp). This file should be considered temporary and may be subject to corruption or loss, which is why making an explicit save to .atn file for each individual action set is strongly advised.

         

        The Actions Palette.psp file can often be used to migrate the entire panel/palette or to possibly retrieve unsaved actions. The location of the Actions Palette.psp file can be found in locations similar to:

         

        Mac:
        /Users/username/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 Settings⁩/Actions Palette.psp


        Win:
        C:\Users\username\appData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2022\Adobe Photoshop 2022 Settings\Actions Palette.psp

         

        (Replace “username” with your user account name and also replace ???? with your version name/number. On Windows OS, the appData directory is hidden by default).

         

        Good luck!

          F
          FrangipaniOz
          Participating Frequently
          June 27, 2023

          Hi Steven, I have also just lost all my years of personally made *.atn files as a result of a photoshop update. PS online support have been useless. I have found the file you mention in the support commentary below. Please excuse my ignore, but what do I do with it to recover my actions please? Thank you, Fran

          Stephen Marsh
          Community Expert
          Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          June 27, 2023
          quote

          Hi Steven, I have also just lost all my years of personally made *.atn files as a result of a photoshop update. PS online support have been useless. I have found the file you mention in the support commentary below. Please excuse my ignore, but what do I do with it to recover my actions please? Thank you, Fran


          By @FrangipaniOz

           

          If you backed up your .atn saved files, then reload them.

           

          If you never actually saved your files as separate .atn files, then there is a very slim hope that an older version of the Actions Palette.psp file will recover the actions.

           

          All paths are as above and at the linked blog post, there should be no need to repeat them yet again.

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