Photoshop 2021 slow and laggy [LOCKED]

[adamt18510785]

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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. 

[Caterpillar Media]

I too am experience performance lag in Photoshop 2021.  For instance, there is a stuttery lag when using the hand tool to pan across the image.  I have an extremely powerful computer with the most updated drivers on NVIDIA's flagship GPU.  System specs:

Windows 10 / Intel i9 18-core  /  128Mb RAM / NVIDIA TITAN RTX / NVMe SSDs (dedicated Scratch, OS, Storage)

[mglush]

Hi!

Have you tried turning off your Graphics Processor Card and restarting? Here is a help doc with some of the workarounds while the engineers are trying to fix the issue: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/known-issues.html#ProgramErroropeningfiles\

Let us know if that helps, or if you are still experienceing the lagginess.

Michelle

[adamt18510785]

if you mean turning off graphic acceleration off. Yes, I've played with all states of the gpu

[mglush]

Thanks for the reply.

I do have another question. Did you also check to see if you card has an update? I know it sounds obvious, but I have to ask!

Thanks!

Michelle

[Caterpillar Media]

Hi Michelle, I'm not sure who you're asking, but I have indeed updated my GPU to the latest firmware. It is the NVIDIA Titan RTX

[Caterpillar Media]

D'oh! Not firmware.... I meant latest studio driver.  I've also updated to the latest CUDA developer's toolkit as of today.

[digiguru]

Hi Michelle,

Any update on this?

Still an issue in March 2021.

Cheers,

Rob

[lindac59935593]

I've also been having TERRIBLY SLOW performance from the newest versions of both Photoshop and Illustrator. Adobe, why haven't  you  fixed this problem. The previous versions I had were not like this, on  the same machine. And don't tell me to do all sorts of [removed by moderator] work arounds! Not a problem on this end, as ususal.

[rudym93290445]

My wife’s PS POS keeps losing the layer section. She has to quit and restart in order to see them. Takes me over an hour for what used to take me 5 minutes.

Sent from my iPhone

[Jane needs help]

Hi!

The problem with turning off the graphics processor card is that PS loosed functionality–as it things are just not available. Photoshop 2021 is unbeleiveably buggy for me on two separate machines running catalina-really, the last version that worked well was 2019.

Catalina has been a nightmare for me–all my printer profiles are broken, Photoshop 2021 routinely crashes 30 minutes into a sessions, etc, tools just stop working, etc. Will installing Big Sur help? I'm trying with apple to go back to Mojave, but it looks like I'm not able.

[KiwiYankee]

Worse under Big Sur was my experience. --

[MKSA]

You can go back to Mojave. First do Internet Recovery to restore the OS that your mac came with, then after that upgrade it to Mojave. I found Big Sur to be a total and utter mess and Mojave with both Photoshop 2020 and 2021 seems the most stable.

[rudym93290445]

Both my wife and I are running Big Sur on our 2019 MBP. 

2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9

64 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

And when we try to enlarge an image or shrink and image it never stops going large or small over and over again. The only temporary fix is to not use the track pad but to maually type the percentage in the lower left corner. If we try to move the image it just moves up and down. It worked great on CC2020 but 2021 sucks big time. Adobe has got to stop hiring Hi School kids. If they can't get it fixed soon we may have to look for another software provider for photo imaging. Same with Apple with Pages and iMovie. The very old versions (≤2014) worked great and were easy to use. Then they hired some college kids who thought they knew more than we that used the programs and screwed it all up. At least that's my opinion.

[Dinesh5D1E]

I am facing the same issue. I think i will be stop using photoshop. It service is not good. problem is not fixed .

[rachel_christiansen]

I'm losing my mind.  Saving images takes up to 10 minutes, actions that pre-update took 1 minute are not taking 15 minutes.  My workflow is dead and I'm falling so far behind in my work.  I've tried to get help three times in the past two days.

[mglush]

Can you migrate back to the older version of Photoshop so you can keep working while they fix the issues?

[Paula Shin]

Hey @mglush , is there any way to roll back to CC 2019? It was working flawlessly for me and since I upgraded to CC 2020 it has been nothing but problems. 

I can't find CC 2019 to download in creative cloud, has adobe already dropped support to a stable photoshop version?

[maahhkus]

Totally agree.  2020 and 2021 have been a disaster. The glitches don't get fixed! Everything is slow.  Do they realize how much we pay for this shi

[MKSA]

They've removed all versions except last 2 from Download.

2020 is a disaster at least 3-4 times slower across the board than 2019. Absolutely nothing productive about it but Adobe doesn't seem to design anything for users anymore.

[MKSA]

I spent almost 2 hours with support including a remot desktop session to try and install Photoshop CC 2019. Support sent me a link to the download but for love or money it will not install at all. Keeps giving Error Code 41 "Unable to Access a Critical File/Directory". Permissions were checked, SIP is disabled but no matter what we try 2019 will not install at all. Support guy made a change to the Cache Levels (8) and Cache Tile Size (1028K) and turned the GPU use back on, so far seems OK but will only know once I really start working if it keeps behaving itself. Holding thumbs.

Anyone know why 2019 won't install? 

[CUIDan]

the long and short of it it, we shouldn't have to install 2 yo versions of the program. Shouldn't have to mess with a bunch of drivers and backend files. this is stuff that needs to be done in almost other software because they're STABLE. Adobe continues to push out garbage products because they know the alternatives are few and far between.

[paul15C3]

I just made the mistake of getting a Photoshop subscription. Companies that release P.O.S. like this are criminal.  Do it right or don't do it at all. I'd expect all of this lag while I use any PS tool from a bootleg version. I spend 50% of my time working and the other 50% watching the rainbow wheel of death spin as Adobe charges my credit card. We might as well grab CS3 from Chinatown.

[mglush]

Hi Paul,

We are so sorry you are having these issues! The engineers are working on getting these fixed, so if you could give us a little more information about the issue it would be really helpful.

If you have the beach ball of death, it sounds like you are working on a Mac, is that correct?

Have you checked your system requirements for the new version? Here is some information that might help: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/system-requirements.html

Also, have you checked the requirements for you Graphics Processor Card? Here is the newest information about what is needed to run the latest version of Photoshop: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cc-gpu-card-faq.html

And, have you read the link above earlier in the thread about the known issues that engineers are working on? That will give you the steps to turn off your GPC and see if it's the culprit. 

Please let us know if these help, or if you are still having issues.

Michelle

[bills51183154]

Yeah everything is worse - slow glitchy with black blocks squares temporarily covering the images as I look at color or tonal changes on images of every size - I am updated on an up to date imac with over 60GB of memory / RAM - with over 40 dedicated to PS , Previously I had been running PS 2019 with almost no issues - and this update has really really dragged down all general performance. Is it possible to go back to PS 2019 ? please let know how if possible would like to do it ASAP - it worked great , and the 2021 has just been a significant downgrade in performance, and a time waster  - thanks BestBiLLS