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P: How to fix Photoshop Scratch Disks Full Error?

New Here ,
Jan 19, 2018 Jan 19, 2018

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I am running Photoshop CC on my MacBook Air with macOS Sierra. Every time I attempt to open Photoshop through any means, the following message appears: "Could not initialize Photoshop because the scratch disks are full", and Photoshop does not open. I tried clearing space from my Mac in general including several GB worth of apps and removing several cache files, but nothing seems to work. I also tried holding down the command and option keys to reveal the Scratch Disk Preferences, and it lets me select the Startup and MacIntosh HD. Again, nothing worked. Anyone know how to fix this message, and/or clear scratch disk space?Screen Shot 2018-01-19 at 8.36.51 PM.png

 

{Moderator note: Edited the thread title PS-65057}

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correct answers 2 Correct answers

New Here , Dec 02, 2017 Dec 02, 2017

This is super late, but for anyone else who runs into this issue...Similar thing happened to me. Do you make new files by pixel size or by inches? I usually go by pixels (ex: 2500x3000 or something like that), but I apparently I had accidentally switched to inches and it would only let me max the numbers to 1000. Went back to pixels and it all worked out!

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Adobe Employee , May 05, 2021 May 05, 2021

Hi all,

 

We're sorry for the scratch disk issue. Take a look at the following troubleshooting article which can help you to resolve the "Scratch disk is full" error: Troubleshoot scratch disk full errors in Photoshop

 

Please have a look and let us know if that helps.

 

Thanks,

Mohit

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replies 335 Replies 335
Community Expert ,
Sep 20, 2019 Sep 20, 2019

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While you are working, Photoshop saves temp files on the scratch disk. Purge will clear them out, potentially freeing up enough disk space to allow the saving process to occur.

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 20, 2019 Sep 20, 2019

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great, i will give it a go thanks!

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 20, 2019 Sep 20, 2019

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LIFE SAVER, documents saved, now time to clean out the disk, thanks again!

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Guest
Sep 20, 2019 Sep 20, 2019

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You only have 3.8 GB of Free space

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LEGEND ,
Sep 20, 2019 Sep 20, 2019

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You need to buy an external hard drive pronto.

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 06, 2020 Jan 06, 2020

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Hi all.

 

I am trying to change the scratch disk to my external hard drive by going to preferences> Scratch disks etc but my External HD isn't showing as an option and it won't allow me to de-select the Mac HD option either. Even when I launch PS and press Command + option it doesn't show my external HD as an option.

 

I had to spend ages deleting a load of files from my HD in order to free up space, but I have an ext HD with tons of space so I would like to use that instead.

 

I'm using Photoshop CC 2020 - Macbook Pro Catalina v 10.15.2

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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Community Expert ,
Jan 06, 2020 Jan 06, 2020

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Try restarting Photoshop while holding option and command (Mac) or CTRL and Alt (PC)

See if you can choose your drive.

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People's Champ ,
Jan 06, 2020 Jan 06, 2020

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For windows, you can do this
Untitled-1.png

For Mac, I don’t know where the registry analog is, where you can specify the parameters for Photoshop.
 

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Community Expert ,
Jan 06, 2020 Jan 06, 2020

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Hi check following video hope it helps you ..... Regards

 

Fix! Scratch disks are full in photoshop 2021

Ali Sajjad / Graphic Design Trainer / Freelancer / Adobe Certified Professional

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New Here ,
Apr 23, 2020 Apr 23, 2020

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hey, i had the same problem - the external drive just won't show up in the list of possible scratch disks. what i found is that your external drive shouldn't be fat32 but os-x-extended, that's the reason. so you're left with two options: you either format your drive into mac's file system or give up. x

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Community Beginner ,
May 01, 2020 May 01, 2020

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Done and done.  Solved it for me right there ^^^.  Thank you.

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New Here ,
Jan 30, 2023 Jan 30, 2023

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Both of my external disks are exFAT for my Mac and PS still won't recognize them to use as scratch disks no matter what I try.

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Community Expert ,
Jan 30, 2023 Jan 30, 2023

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You can't use exFAT with the newer versions of MacOS. You need to use APFS.

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New Here ,
Jan 30, 2023 Jan 30, 2023

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Good to know, thank you so much.

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Adobe Employee ,
May 05, 2021 May 05, 2021

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Hi all,

 

We're sorry for the scratch disk issue. Take a look at the following troubleshooting article which can help you to resolve the "Scratch disk is full" error: Troubleshoot scratch disk full errors in Photoshop

 

Please have a look and let us know if that helps.

 

Thanks,

Mohit

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 10, 2021 Jun 10, 2021

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HI,

 

I am running PS 2020 on a Windows 7 and I seemed unable to select my scratch disk from the edit> Preferences>Scratch Disk. I even tried to rename the PS settings folder in the user roaming profile and did a clt-alt keystroke before launching the program, but alas to no avail. 

 

Anyone has any suggestions?

 

Appreciate any help.

 

Thanks

newbie here 

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2021 Jun 10, 2021

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Do you actually have another disk? If so, what kind, how is it connected? How is it formatted? If external, are you reconnecting it so that the drive letter changes? (that can be avoided by assigning a high letter).

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 10, 2021 Jun 10, 2021

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HI ,

 

To refurish more info, my W7 has 1 SDD and 1 SATA. I am planning to use the SATA disk as scratch disk since it has > 800 Gb of free space. This disk is formatted as NTFS and as admin, I have full rights to the disk, meaning I am able to read/write and even format the disk. This SATA disk is a 2nd disk meant for storage and it is not holding any system files.

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Adobe Employee ,
Jun 15, 2021 Jun 15, 2021

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Hi there,

 

We're sorry for the trouble. What is the external drive format that you are trying to use as a Scratch disk?

 

Do you see the drive is listed under Scratch disk in Photoshop preferences? The drive format should be one of these NTFS, exFAT, FAT32 to use as Scratch disk in Photoshop.

 

Thanks,

Mohit

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 15, 2021 Jun 15, 2021

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Hi,

 

I've managed to resolve my issue. Apparently, I need to change the Enviromnet variables under the Advanced system settings to route TEMP and TMP to my secondary disk and do a reboot before I get to see the scratch disk is routed to my desired drive.

 

Thanks

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Contributor ,
Jun 20, 2021 Jun 20, 2021

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I have no idea what you are talking about! Evironment variables? That's a new one on me.  And just to clarify, I don't have any issue with scratch disks. I simply wanted to add another external drive to the list. It has Macintosh HD as #1 and I have a LaCie that is listed 2nd. but it's not showing my additional LaCie which is 5TB and I wanted to list it as #3, but photoshop doesn't see it. (I'm sure it's formated the same as the other, so that can't be the problem). My iMac sees it fine. It's photoshop 2019 that doesn't see it. (I can't use Photoshop 2020 or 2021 cuz I'm using macOSCatalina -- which pissses me off to no end)! Why didn't Adobe warn us of this before Catalina came out???!!!  Why do I keep payng this damned $52 every month when I CAN"T EVEN USE IT!!!!! It's extortion!

 

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 20, 2021 Jun 20, 2021

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@KokoBlue...I am just sharing my findings and managed to resolve the issue I have. Obviously, you didnt read what machine I am using which the solution I managed to get somewhat solved the issue. As for your Mac, good luck to you. I am a user and not Adobe staff. I understand your frustrations but you should direct your anguish to the relevant group of people , instead of the communites where users sharing ideas/solutions to help each other.

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Contributor ,
Jun 21, 2021 Jun 21, 2021

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Okay. So, to whom do I write a letter or send an email to where it will get actually get read by a person with any influence at all??!!

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Community Expert ,
Jun 21, 2021 Jun 21, 2021

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The best place would be Adobe Photoshop Family

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New Here ,
Oct 06, 2024 Oct 06, 2024

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You have to be joking with this answer??? Everything on that video is not working. Can you please tell us how we can change the scratch disks on photoshop, when it does not show any of the drives I have plugged in as an option to choose..

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