Photoshop 2021 slow and laggy [LOCKED]

[adamt18510785]

This thread is now locked by a moderator and you are welcome to continue a civil discussion in a new thread or add to the bug report that goes to the product developers. See the link in the answer marked "Correct".

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https://community.adobe.com/t5/using-the-community-discussions/adobe-support-community-guidelines/td...

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I'm going to start this new thread for the new version of photoshop. 
There are hundreds of comments about 2020 being slow and laggy and not a single adobe rep has even acknowledged it. I was hoping the upgrade would solve everyone's issues but alas that isn't the case. 

So this thread is for all you old and newcomers with new and old machines where photoshop runs like crap to complain about. Maybe their newest software might be seen for them to do something.  

I'll go first: 
Ryzen 9, 64 gigs of 3200 ram, 1080 ti gfx, 1nvme 3200mb.s ssd for programs, 1 tb sata sdd cache drive, 2 tb WD black for files. 

Photoshop takes almost 3 seconds to do simple things like changing to a shape pen tool to make shapes. 
Lags on anything pen tool, and type tool
Played with every setting in the performance and went through their pages on optimizing. 
I even went through the Nvidia setting but only gained a slight boost in performance. 

[cjgarrison]

Why is 2021 so buggy and almost useless?!?!?   I’ve got Big Sir on an iMac 2019 with Radeon Pro Vega 48 8 GB and 64GB ram and it’s constantly slow and giving me errors when trying to open files etc if not crashing completely!  The Graphics Processor Settings had to be turned off completely, where you set it to use the Graphics Processor, to be able to get past errors to open files and now it doesn’t even show a processor or advanced settings, it’s all grayed out, to be able to use my [removed by moderator] processor!  Adobe is what I prefer but this is not worth my subscription working like a three legged chair!  

[Guest]

ONCE AGAIN... we are here with Adobe breaking their software and then the only help we get (if any at all) is... update your drivers. EVERYTHING WAS WORKING FINE UNTIL YOUR NEW USELESS UPDATE HOW IS THIS OUR FAULT OR ANY OTHERONES FAULT?

SO SICK OF THIS. [removed by moderator].. whats the point of new features if nothing works. 

[SnowSultan]

Yeah this is really ridiculous. I've used Photoshop since you could buy it in an Electronics Boutique and it's never been this laggy and slow. Is anyone else also getting a "boioioiong"-like effect when you zoom in or out? That and brushes just losing their pressure sensitivity mid-stroke are forcing me to use Clip Studio Paint to touch up 3D renders now.

I got excited when I saw there was an update to Photoshop today (1/14), but nothing seems to have been fixed on my end. Really hope more fixes are coming around the bend or I might have to consider ending my subscription.

[SebKaine]

Guys, i have acceptable perf, by

- uninstalling all CC apps 

- i delete all the [profanity removed by moderator] generated by CC in Windows AppsData folder, CC cleaner on registry, i delete all adobe folders in order to do a fresh install 

- then for each app i reinstall it by going in the creative cloud desktop panel, then instead on clicking on < install >, i click on < . . . > then other versions , and i install all the oldest version possible for each app. ( PS 21.2.4 at the moment )

- then i go to my preferences , then go to < Apps > tabs and i disable all auto update for all apps. 

- i also go to the PS pref i reset pref on quit one or 2 time to be sure all pref are erase, then disable all the new [profanity removed by moderator] they add at startup ( disable home screen, use old transform etc ... )

=> and now i have a usable PS. 

But really have a problem in the PS dev team, cause they are just transforming one of the most stable program i have ever use, to a clunky mess of useless eyecandy stuff. Affinity is not on the same level for the moment but if things go worse , one day or an other i will be forced to switch. We are payed for delivering work , and the last version of PS is NOT USABLE in a pro environment.

[Guest]

Yeah it's probably your outdated drivers. Or maybe your amazing computer..
it's probably too powerful to use the Adobe suite properly. Maybe try it on
your phone? /Sarcasm

[Jerry5DBB]

adding to this. why can no one from Adobe on an Adobe support site help people with what is obviously a major problem. they are happy enough to take your money. but hopeless at helping you fix their software so people can make money to pay them

[TheArtofSantana]

I dont even know where to begin to explain my frustrations!! In almost 15 years of using Photoshop this is byfar THEE most horrendous experience I have ever had. I can even name the glitches from lagging lasso tool, lagging hand tool, spinning beach ball for simply selecting a new layer! Are you kidding me?? lol Wow. The list goes on also I have random paint brush/dot marks all over my canvas because my paint brush lags and the pressure sensitivity comes in and out. Theres so much more. Ive been spending countless hours with apple thinking it was my new laptop, I called Adobe, I've spent hours searching for a new Painting software. Does anyone else in here think this is the end of Photoshop? I mean this really really sucks big time!

[MDamiani57]

I think it's not our laptops or the program that is the problem I think it
is their servers online are lagging in bandwith too much traffic for it to
handle all the computers online all the time
DangersTeez Digital Art

[Website removed by moderator]

[Guest]

I feel your pain. I've even reformatted and reinstalled windows and only the Adobe suite on both my laptop and tablet (both i7, laptop has 32gb ram and both have nvme ssd's) to see if it's the same as on my AMD based desktop... And guess what... No surprise it runs like a fat kid at the beach. Capture one absolutely flies on all mybsystems., Can't wait for them to fully catch up to most of the core features I use. 

[CRembold]

Same boat , my iMac I have taken for granted cause it has been flawless perfection for 7 years

ive bee reluctant to blame Adobe with a fusion drive and multiple iOS installs, however after clean installing Big Sur and only loading latest photoshop , it actually is running worse with multiple crashes and disabling graphics hardware acceleration. 

it's primarily texture clarity sharpen and noise reduction sliders in ACR that is grinding my business to a halt. Each slider movement can take 30-90 seconds before cursor becomes active again and still will occasionally crash after waiting the eternity

[eclecticrose]

Is there any way to install the 2019 version? I can't get the newer one to even load. I've uninstalled all the apps and creative cloud and then reinstalled them, but it will not load (though I'm able to force quit with no issues). Running Mojave on a 15-inch McBook Air,  2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB, 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3.

Had ZERO problems before and would really like to just get the old version back.

[MDamiani57]

I don't think so it updates automatically but contact tech support they
would be able to assist you.
DangersTeez Digital Art

[Website removed by moderator]

[bhop73]

If you go to your CC app, there are three dots to the right of the apps, next to the "open" button. One of them says "other versions" 2019 is the 20.0.8 version. You can re-install from there.

[smackmick]

They are not offering it, 21.2.6 is the last older version.

[smackmick]

Actually I may have to delete that version to go back further.  But I am finding 21.2.6 does not have the several minute start up delay.  I am not using much but to size and crop photos at the moment, so all the other issues are not an issue today.

[bhop73]

Strange, it's available on mine.

[janepettigrew]

I'll add to this.

MacOS Big Sur 11.1 iMac (Retina 5K, 2017). 3.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, 16GB 2400MHZ DDR4

Graphics Radeon Pro 580 8 Gb.

No tablet or touchpad - using Magic Mouse 2. 

It's been laggy for me since 2020, but in 2021, not only is the brush laggy, it never fits the size of my cursor. I have set it to full size brush tip. This is so frustrating. I'm having to use paint on a pc to do stuff that is so simple!

[TheArtofSantana]

I've already commented in here but I have a question for anyone else experiencing this frustration. I find myself wondering..."Is it my Mac Big Sur update, is it my Wacom Cintiq driver update, is Adobe or is it ALL of these things combined?" I've been on the phone with tech support Apple, tech support Adobe and tech support WACOM and guys NO one has been able to make this issue any better. Its been like this for months now 😞 

[SebKaine]

I am on PC with Windows 10,
I don't have any wacom,

And i do have an unusable PS 2021. Adobe silence about this, lead me to the belief that they just have no idea where the problem comes from. 

If you look closely they are complain from Mac/PC people and with AMD/Intel CPU. I bet the PS core haven't change in one release, so i guess the problem come from the additional stuff they do , my bet would be :

- poor GPU acceleration code 

- poor Cloud base connection code 

Adobe Silence about all this is just unreal. God know how much bad things i have said against Autodesk, but at least they are now answering every piss-off users on their forum , and try to find solutions :

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-forum/the-new-update-4-sucks/td-p/9935589

I couldn't believe that Adobe has become worst than Autodesk regarding customer service. 

They are now definning the new Bottom !

But i think they should pay attention , cause monopoly never stay for long ... yeahhh i'm looking at you intel .

[MDamiani57]

I think it's in the cloud service itself like the bandwidth is low too much
traffic the slower it gets I could be wrong but they have been looking into
this for a while with out finding anything wrong with software itself can't
be apple either cause it happens on both mac and Windows so that leaves the
server

[SnowSultan]

I was able to narrow down most of my Photoshop problems to something having to do with how it interacts with a tablet (with a screen, like a Cintiq, I'm using an XP-Pen 24"). Pen strokes do not get interrupted when drawing with a mouse on my main monitor, but they suddenly stop mid-stroke when using the tablet, regardless of size, speed, or whether pressure sensitivity is on.

I've tried just about EVERYTHING one can do to fix this, including reinstalling Photoshop, the XP-Pen software and drivers, removing PSConfig, doing the old PSUserConfig pressure fix, connecting the tablet via USB-C and USB/HDMI, reverting to an older nVidia Creative driver (and it's for a 2080ti, which should have no problem with Photoshop), and adjusting virtually every performance and graphical setting and preference within Photoshop. The fact that I can run Affinity Photo or Clip Studio Paint immediately after on the tablet without brush strokes ever getting interrupted only leaves me with the assumption that the problem lies with these recent Photoshop updates.

[TheArtofSantana]

Wow yes! I tried similar things as well! I noticed that the glitcy interrupted brush strokes didnt happen when I paint in Autodesk Sketchbook pro. Wow this really sucks its completely ruining my workflow with my job. 😞 

[SnowSultan]

You too? Can I ask what kind of tablet you're using?

Yeah, it's messing up my workflow too. I've got a ton of images I need to fix up for someone and while this isn't the most critical problem in the world, it sure makes things more frustrating (especially when paired with the weird zooming, panning, and how long it takes everything to save and load now).

[TheArtofSantana]

Oh this totally feels like the most critical problem in the world for me haha. Or at least super critical to my work. I'm a 2D concept artist and all this has slowed me down quite a bit. I'm working off of a Cintiq Pro 32 inch. My only backup is a 9X12 intuos so I'm really praying Adobe fixes this issue soon. 

[SnowSultan]

OK yeah, I can definitely see this being a critical problem for a 2D concept artist then.  😞  You have one of the best tablets around too, so that probably rules out the issue being the tablet brand. So it doesn't lag for you if you use the Intuos (meaning the issue has something to do with screen tablet displays)?