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Question

Photoshop 2025 for Windows freezes when opening any image and has issues when creating new ones

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
April 14, 2025
4 replies
1464 views

Hello,

Up until maybe a week ago, Photoshop 2025 for Windows desktop was working fine, but after trying to load a particularly large file I had been working on for a while, it started behaving oddly. Now, whenever I try to load an image (be it by dropping it on the start up, using Open File, or just opening a Photoshop file) it locks up and can only be closed down via Task Manager. And if I try to start a new image, it starts having all sorts of problems, such as not showing selections or not refreshing.

So far, I've tried the following, but none have fixed the issues:

-Clear cache

-Reset all preferences

-Uninstalled and reinstalled the software

-Deleted all Temp files related to it I could find

-Renamed the CameraRaw file to CameraRaw.old (saw a few posts that were fixed with this)

-Made sure all drivers are up to date

-Disabled antivirus (I use Kaspersky)

I'm running it on a Windows 10 desktop with 32 GB RAM, a GeForce RTX 4060, Intel i7 9700K @ 3.60GHz, and until recently Photoshop had been working perfectly.

Do you guys have any idea what could be causing the problems and how to fix them? All other Adobe softwares from the suite seem to be working perfectly, only Photoshop is behaving like this.

Windows

C

Cristian27702968trfeAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hello. I've tried everything indicated so far, but I'm still having theese issues. I don't know what else to do to fix it.

NB, colourmanagement

Community Expert

@Cristian27702968trfe

Perhaps try a thorough reset of Photoshop preferences?

(read this entire text before acting please)

Unexpected behaviour of Photoshop may indicate damaged preferences, which are saved when Photoshop closes.. Restoring preferences to their default settings is a good idea when trying to troubleshoot unexpected behaviours in Photoshop.

When preferences become corrupt, then various issues can occur.

Here’s some info from Adobe about preferences:

Learn how to access and modify Photoshop preferences and customise according to your frequent workflows

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#reset_preferences

According to Adobe, manually removing preferences files is the most complete method for restoring Photoshop to its default state. This method ensures that all preferences and any user presets which may be causing a problem are not loaded. More here: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually

The process:

Quit Photoshop.
Navigate to Photoshop's Preferences folder.
macOS: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
Windows: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings

Note: The user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS. To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see How to access hidden user library files.
Drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe for a backup of your settings
Open Photoshop.
New preferences files will be created in the original location.

You may want to back up your settings and custom presets, brushes & actions before restoring Photoshop's preferences.

Here is general info about that: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#BackupPhotoshoppreferences

And here’s an Adobe Quick Tips link as an aid to overall understanding

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/quick-tips-how-to-reset-photoshop-preferences/td-p/12502668

Thanks to Digitaldog for this quick and simple method:

Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift (Windows) or Option+Command+Shift (macOS) immediately after launching Photoshop. You will be prompted to delete the current settings.

You can also reset preferences on quit, if Photoshop is running, by going into General Preferences>General>Reset on Quit.

This action only affects the items found in the preferences dialog box. Numerous program settings are stored in the Adobe Photoshop Preferences file, including general display options, file-saving options, performance options, cursor options, transparency options, type options, and options for plug‑ins and scratch disks. Brushes (and lots of other settings) are not affected by the above instructions for deleting preferences.

You may wish to make a screen capture of the settings in the Preferences dialog to reset them prior to deleting this file.

Before you reset your preferences, in case of future issues, I suggest you make a backup copy as Adobe may need one to check problematic preferences.

Quit Photoshop.
Go to Photoshop's Preferences folder

Preferences file locations: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/preference-file-names-locations-photoshop.html\

[on MacOS see: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings

Note for those on macOS: - Be aware that the user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS. More on that here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

In the Finder, open the “Go” menu whilst holding down the Option (Alt) key.

"Library" will now appear in the list - below the current user's “home” directory. ]

Now you can drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe as a backup of your settings.

Note for macOS:

Preference preservation is affected by macOS permissions,

You’ll need to allow Photoshop ‘Full Disk Access’ in your Mac OS Preferences/Security and Privacy

If resetting preferences doesn't fix your issue:

Go to Preferences > Performance... and uncheck Multithreaded Compositing - and restart Photoshop.

Is Photoshop still hanging?

Go to Preferences > Performance... click Advanced Settings... and uncheck "GPU Compositing" - then restart Photoshop.

It may even be time to reinstall Photoshop.

It’s recommended that you use the Adobe CC cleaner tool to remove all traces first.

(See above about preserving preferences first, though! It’s worth preserving them unless they are corrupted.)

How and when to use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool | Advanced steps

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

Uninstall Photoshop BUT make sure to choose the option “Yes, remove app preference”.

Once that process finishes, start the installation process and look into the “Advanced Options”. Uncheck “Import previous settings and preferences” and choose to “Remove old versions”.

neil barstow - adobe forum volunteer,

colourmanagement consultant & co-author of 'getting colour right'

See my free articles on colour management

Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.

Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts

C

Cristian27702968trfeAuthor

Participating Frequently

Dear NB,

Thank you for your response.

I've been trying the aforementioned tips, but none have worked. So I did the last step (unistall Photoshop and removing the preferences), but I cannot find the Advanced Options you mention to uncheck "Import previous settings and preferences" nor choose "Remove old versions." Where are they located?

I've yet to use the Creative Cloud Cleaner, however, as I noticed it would also delete my other Adobe Apps, and none of them have presented any issues, only Photoshop.

PECourtejoie

Community Expert

In addition to the pertinent questions by Shishti Bali, If you just open Ps, the recent documents list is empty?

How large was the document that caused the initial issue?

C

Cristian27702968trfeAuthor

Participating Frequently

Dear PECourtejoie,

Thanks for the question.

-Recent Files: If I go to Open -> Open Recent, the option is grayed-out, as if there were no Recent Files. The main display on the PS opening dock (the Your Files section) shows recent files normally, however. But if I try to open files by clicking on them there, it freezes the same way as before.

-File Size: The file is about 690mb (it's a large cartography project). I've been working on it for a couple of years and it usually takes a minute or two to load, but this is the first time I've encountered issues with PS. One thing I just remembered is that, a few days before this issue happened, I had a weird instance of trying to load that file and PS saying there were issues with layers, and then proceeding to show me an error pop up that looped infinitely mentioning all layers. I closed PS and was able to reopen the file normally after, and then a week or so later PS started freezing with any file (other than the cases I mentioned to Srishti above, such as the first small file I try to open after starting in Safe Mode). Otherwise, the file opens normally if I use the web app, but if I load it that way and then click Open in Deskop App, PS opens and freezes.

A

Aleke

Community Manager

Hi @Cristian27702968trfe! 😊 Welcome to the community!

When it freezes, do you get a crash report dialog from Adobe? If you do, please click on sending the report to us. Could you also share your System Info? You can find it in Photoshop under Help > System Info. Just copy the info to a text file and attach it to your response, or share it with us through Google Drive, WeTransfer, or another file-sharing platform.

Thanks a lot!

Alek

*(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*

C

Cristian27702968trfeAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hello Aleke, thank you for your response.

Regarding crashes: no, there's nothing. I can open Photoshop but, if I try to load an image in any way, it just freezes; I'll be able to move the cursor, but Photoshop will be completely frozen, and it can stay that way indefinitely unless I force close it via Task Manager.

Here's the System Info you requested: https://pastebin.com/2vBVG8SB

C

Cristian27702968trfeAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks so much for sharing those details, @Cristian27702968trfe . Before we move forward, I’d like to confirm a few more things with you to better understand what might be going on:

Could you please try turning off GPU Performance in Photoshop? To do this, go to Edit > Preferences > Performance (on Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > Performance (on macOS), and uncheck Use Graphics Processor. After that, try loading the images again and let us know if you notice any difference.
You mentioned that everything was working fine last week—were there any changes made to your machine recently? This could include system or app updates, antivirus updates, or installation of any new applications or extensions.
How does Photoshop behave when you launch it in Safe Mode?
Also, where are the files you're trying to load currently saved? Do you see the same behavior with a newly created file saved directly to the Desktop?

We appreciate your patience as we troubleshoot this. We want to make sure we cover all possible angles to resolve this quickly.

Regards,

Srishti

Dear Srishti,

Thanks for your response. I tried all the methods indicated, but PS keeps freezing.

-Processor: I disabled Use Graphics Processor and it still freezes when I try to open any file.

-Changes: None. I changed my graphics card about 2 months before the issues began, and had no trouble with PS or anything else. Regarding software updates, outside of the same automated updates that happen regularly to things like Windows and Kaspersky, I can't identify any particular change.

-Safe Mode: I started Windows in Safe Mode and, while it lets me open one file if I try with a small one, it freezes again if I try to open a second file or immediately if I try with a large one.

-File Location: Both on Adobe Cloud and locally. I just tested with an older version of the first big file I saw the problem happen that I had on my HD (the current version I'm working on is on Adobe Cloud) and PS freezes the same way.

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