(mac) Everytime I install Photoshop Beta and delete it, my hard drive loses about 4GB.

[Rd5E28]

How do I manually delete whatever files are taking up space? Is there another way to resolve this lost hard drive space? Mac Sonoma 14.6.1 

[Noel Orridge]

HI @Rd5E28, Thank you for reaching out and welcome to the community!

Please share more details, such as: Did you use the Creative Cloud Desktop application for the uninstallation? If so, did you click remove when it asked you whether to keep the preferences? 

I'd suggest using the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool for a thorough uninstallation next time. Please refer to this Helpx article for steps and more information: Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool to solve installation problems.

Cheers!

[Rd5E28]

I'm using a mac. I took your advice and used the creative cloud cleaner tool to delete photoshop beta. it didn't delete the program. but now if i go to the creative cloud app it does not recognize that it is installed. so do i manually delete it from applications? i'm worried that since it wasn't properly uninstalled that if i manually delete and try a reinstall that it won't work and i need this program for work so this is important that this is resolved. my issue right now is that it has to be reinstalled because the remove tool says it needs to be downloaded but it keeps failing. the program is also not recognized when i run the cleaner tool again. i'm begging you to not give me a copy pasted answer. please give me a specific answer for this specific problem.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

@Rd5E28 if you used the Cleaner tool, everything should have been wiped. You shouldn't have to manually delete anything. 

The larger root issue still remains- you have an undersized hard drive for running this software. Have you tried moving files, etc. off this drive to free up at least 100 GB?

[Rd5E28]

At the time I ran the cleaner tool I had about 75GB of free hard drive space. Either way, what happened happened. I just ran it again to double check and the tool still does not recognize photoshop beta and neither does the Creative Cloud app. I noticed that in the Applications folder on my mac that there is still an uninstall file. Should I just delete it that way? I know that might seem obvious but again my concern is that since the cleaner tool failed to delete it properlu that deleting it an incorrect way now might lead to me not being able to reinstall which obviously would be bad. Since the creative cloud app has an install button for Photoshop Beta, do you think I could install a new second copy and see if it works and then manually delete the copy that seems to be broken? Or might that make things worse?

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

The issue at hand right now is 75GB is not enough HD space so things are failing. You can try running that uninstall file first before trying to reinstall. At this point Id focus on getting the public release installed and running and avoid the beta with such limited resources. 

75 GB may not be enough to complete an install altogether. Recommendations are at least 100 GB to account for the temp installer and the app itself. 

[Rd5E28]

i used the uninstall file in the applications folder but that won't delete photoshop beta. do i just manually drag it to the trash and delete it that way? just to reiterate, i have to get a new copy on here because the one i have isn't recognized by the creative cloud and photoshop won't allow me to use the remove tool.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

Im concerned that both the desktop app and CC Cleaner tool is not recognizing this app. Did you download from the CC desktop app orginally?

[Rd5E28]

I downloaded photoshop beta via the creative cloud that is accessed through the infinity looking icon on the top bar of my mac. Is there another way to install photoshop? Is this the first time you've heard about this specific problem? googling my problem has shown me that people constantly have problems with adobe product installations and removals. i'm still a bit confused as to why adobe doesn't have a simple and reliable way to completely delete their products. it seems strange that their recommended method involves the user manually force quitting applications in the acitivity monitor and it didn't even work.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

Photoshop is always installed using the Creative Cloud desktop app. It's been this way for years. 

[Rd5E28]

Here's the order of things that happened. All done within creative cloud app.

1. Photoshop Beta kept telling me I needed to update so I did but it failed. I hit retry and it worked but there were 4GB less than expected. I used creative cloud app to remove photoshop beta and it went back up to expected free space of 49GB.

2. I reinstalled Beta but it took 12GB off my hard drive which doesn't make sense since the app says 6GB in the applications folder. I removed it but now I was at 45GB. I reinstalled again hoping it would fix the issue but I wound up deleting again and it dropped to 41GB.

If I run the cleaner tool will it give me back this space?

[Noel Orridge]

Hi @Rd5E28, Thanks for sharing more details — really appreciate it!

To clarify, the Adobe Cleaner Tool is designed to go beyond a regular uninstallation. It performs a deep and thorough cleanup of Adobe software components and related files from your system. This can be especially helpful when you're facing issues like:

• Conflicting or leftover files
• Permission Issues
• Corrupted or incomplete installations

If an Adobe app like Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, or Lightroom Classic isn't installing, updating, or uninstalling properly, it often leaves behind broken or residual files. That's where the Cleaner Tool steps in — it helps clear out those remnants so you can start fresh.

I'd suggest running it once. Please let us know how it goes!

Cheers!

[Rd5E28]

I ran the cleaner tool and this did not resolve the issue. I was looking around and still was able to find folders with adobe names, one of which had over 4GB in it. Please just tell me the physical location where failed installation files are located so I can manually delete them. Is there a reason why no one from Adobe will tell me the location of the files? Please at least tell me why you won't tell me. I want to update Photoshop but I don't want to lose yet another 4GB of hard drive space.

[Rd5E28]

I ran the cleaner tool and this did not resolve the issue. As I can't be the first person this has happened to please just tell me where I can manually find these files that failed to auto delete. It's at least 8GB that I know of. They must be two roughly 4GB sized files or folders hidden somewhere. Can you give me a possible name for the files or folders? I want to keep using Photoshop but I can't if it's going to keep stealing hard drive space.

[Rd5E28]

I ran the cleaner tool but I just found an adobe folder in Library/Application Support with 4.22GB. Why is this still on my computer? What is the point of the cleaner tool if it doesn't clean out the relevant adobe files?

[Kevin Stohlmeyer · Accepted solution]

@Rd5E28 The larger issue is your main HD only has 49 GB of storage. Installer deployment packages are normally larger than the final installed application and do clear out after a successful install. With only 49 GB available I would expect failures across the board as the recommended (not miminum) is 100 GB. 

You can try running Onyx (free) to clear out any remaining cache files that could be taking up space even after the Adobe Cleaner Tool. Mac OS is notorious for hogging space for caches. https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html