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Photoshop 26.8.x get freeze very often and makes my computer extremely slow until I reboot - iMac M4

Community Beginner ,
Jul 15, 2025 Jul 15, 2025

Days ago I upgraded from 26.7 to 26.8.1, after a couple of edits Photoshop get freze and very slow making the machine unresponsive until I reboot, I did a downgrade to 26.8.0 and the problem is less but still present

 

This is my sys info 

 

    System Software Overview:

 

      System Version: macOS 15.5 (24F74)

      Kernel Version: Darwin 24.5.0

      Boot Volume: Macintosh HD

      Boot Mode: Normal

      Secure Virtual Memory: Enabled

      System Integrity Protection: Enabled

  

 

Hardware:

 

    Hardware Overview:

 

      Model Name: iMac

      Model Identifier: Mac16,3

      Model Number: MWUV3LL/A

      Chip: Apple M4

      Total Number of Cores: 10 (4 performance and 6 efficiency)

      Memory: 16 GB

      System Firmware Version: 11881.121.1

      OS Loader Version: 11881.121.1

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Adobe
Adobe Employee ,
Jul 17, 2025 Jul 17, 2025

Hi @josemlvega, thanks for sharing the details, and I’m really sorry to hear about the performance issues after updating to Photoshop 26.8.X on your iMac M4. We’d like to investigate this further and help you get back to a smooth editing experience.

 

To assist you better, could you please share a few more details:

  • Go to Photoshop > Help > System Info and copy-paste the full system info here.

  • Does this freezing happen with specific files or tools, or is it random across projects?

  • Are your files saved locally, on an external drive, a network drive, or in the cloud?

  • Please also share a screen recording of the issue when it happens.

Meanwhile, I’d recommend reviewing our official performance optimization guide here: Optimize Photoshop Performance.

 

This might help reduce some of the lag in the short term while we dig deeper.

 

I’m looking forward to hearing back from you!

 

Best,

Anshul Saini

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Community Expert ,
Jul 22, 2025 Jul 22, 2025

@josemlvega if the forthcoming advice from @Anshul_Saini doesn't fix your problem, you may have to jump some hoops and appreciate a bit of detail on the process -  

Perhaps try a thorough reset of Photoshop preferences?

- its fixed a lot of issues for a lot of users here

(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:

  1. Quit Photoshop.
  2. 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.
  3. Drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe for a backup of your settings
  4. 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-pre...

 

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

 

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Community Expert ,
Jul 22, 2025 Jul 22, 2025
LATEST

@josemlvega How much free HD space is available on your iMac? 

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