Photoshop 22.3.0 - Slow Opening, stuck on "Reading preferences..."

[blakehyggen]

I am having an issue with Photoshop taking over 3 minutes to open after restarting my computer. When opening immediately after a restart, it is taking 3-4 minutes to load to the welcome screen. It seems to be hanging at the "Reading Preferences" stage.

Steps I've tried, in order to correct:

1. Delete Photoshop preferences (Alt+Ctrl+Shift at app startup)

2. Uninstall/Reinstall Photoshop from Adobe Creative Cloud application

3. Do a complete re-image of my computer and re-install Creative Cloud; installing Photoshop through the app.

None of this has corrected my issue. When it opens once after reboot, it seems to open quicker if I close it and open it again; however, as soon as the computer is restarted, it hangs at the "Reading preferences" stage.

[S_Gans]

Hi. This seems to be a common problem in quite a few setups. You may find some resolution on this thread:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop/photoshop-v22-3-errors-loading/td-p/11935258

As for it starting quicker after you qut and restart it, that's because computer systems cache files they need after quitting an application. Some of the necessary data is stored in your system (mostly RAM), so it can be accessed more quickly. As soon as that data's overwritten by a new function or computer restart, the cache is cleared and the app loads fresh. I hope that's understandable...