Photoshop CC 2020 MacOS Catalina - Cannot Overwrite File

[pppeepo]

Hi 

Ever since upgrading to Catalina, Photoshop when saving a file, will not overwrite the file, just creates the same filename with _copy appended. I have to manuually delete the original then save - very annoying!

Please could you suggest a workaround ahead of a permanent fix?

Thank you!

[Gerhard_Draws]

Hi, is this somehting that they will fix at some point? 

I find it ridiculous that they think this is fine. We've been doing it this way for decades and it's part of many people's workflow.

I work in animation and I edit frames in sequences on many occations.

Really dissapointed with Adobe's lack of listening to their users.

[pppeepo]

I found a workaround by accident - not sure if this was intended by Adobe, but once discovered, this made this process a LOT easier:

On a Mac:

+ click on 'Save As' as normal to save your file.

+ when the file save dialog box appears, right click on the name of the file (all still within the file save as dialog box) you want to overwrite

+ a small dialog box appears which has the option "Move to Bin", which you can select to remove your old copy

+ click the Save button in the file dialog box, and the file gets saved with the intended filename

I can live with this, but not sure if Adobe intended this, or if it's just a happy co-incidence. If they intend this behaviour, then why?

[Gerhard_Draws]

Hey thanks that's a cool workaround... helps to skip the whole navigate-to-file-delete-then-rename-new-file exercise 😛

[spiky]

Thanks @pppeepo great little workaround. It saves quite a bit of time over a day

[defaulth9ratfjncg4p]

Thank you, this is the best workaround yet!

[Sterphy]

Have you found a way to get the old behaviour of replacing the file back?  I really hate the way it works now 

[Warren Heaton]

It's not about Adobe listening or not listening.

Something introduced in macOS is causing this, so the known issue falls under the "Adobe is working with Apple to addrrss this".

These kind of issued are indeed frustrating, but we should have an update to macOS or Photoshop or both that addresses this.

Of course, with most of the macOS team and the Photoshop team working from home, it may take a bit longer than it would have otherwise.

[Gerhard_Draws]

Thanks Warren. OK that's good news. 

There was an Adobe Community Pro who commented on one of these threads saying "That's how it's supposed to work" so it looked like they thought it was fine.

But if they're working on fixing this it will be much appreciated. 

Cheers

[jimmarz60]

I'm not buying the blame it on Apple excuse. I spoke to an Apple tech recently and he told me the same thing I've been saying for a while. If it's Apple's problem why does it only happen in Photoshop? I use a lot of other programs that don't exhibit the same beahavior. It seems to me that if it was an OS problem there should be a lot of other programs with the same issue and I have yet to find one.

[pppeepo]

Thank you Warren for posting - at least we know that Adobe are aware of the issue. However, this has been an problem since before this thread started on Feb 2020, and also as jimmarz60 points out, the issue only happens on Photoshop - all my other apps can overwrite files. 

Im sure a quick resolution to this would be appreciated by all your Mac users...Each day, then month that goes by without a fix (or even response from Adobe) has weakens your brand

[nickl57516707]

Any update here?  We're going on nearly a year of this problem, as best I can tell going through these forums.  Where are you at, Adobe? 

This is literally slowing down workflow for paying customers for a year.

How are we still waiting on this?

[kgarzo]

I have the same problem, which is tedious when revising Photoshop files in a Premiere Pro project. I've learned to delete the original Photoshop file before saving the revision so that it immediately updates the file in my Premiere project...which requires having several open folders on the desktop at once.  I really don't appreciate the program making non-overwrite decisions for me. I've been doing it long enough to know if I overwrite a file, it is permanent! Obviously, whomever made this decision does not use the program.

[pppeepo]

I've got a workaround for this - (I don't know if this is a MacOS issue or not, but not other app's seem to showing the same behaviour as PS on my Mac).

+ If you have a fie saved, say my_file.jpg and want to overwrite it, go to File > Save As to get the to list of files.

+ Click on my_file.jpg in the file list to load the name as that to be saved.

+ Keep the cursor on my_file.jpg and Mouse Right Click to get a little OS dialog box, from which you can select "Move To Trash"

+ You can now save the file

It's not ideal, but it's easier than having to delete and rename manually afterwards. 

Hope this helps!

[Warren Heaton]

Great tip!

For macOS users who do not have right-click enabled ("secondary click" in the Mouse System Preferences pane), they can command-click the file that they want to replace to bring up the menu options while in the Save dialog box as well.

[jimmarz60]

I find this to be annoying and a waste of time as well. I frequently work in Illustrator and go back an forth to Photoshop. When I work in a layered file and save a flattenend file to put in Illustrator I must remove the old file and rename the new file each time I do an edit. I've been working with Adobe products for over 25 years and find it really a pain when they arbitrarily change a workflow that has been working just fine for literally decades. Just give the warning about the overwrite and let it happen if chosen. To give the warning and then NOT overwrite the file not only doesn't make sense it's a waste of time. TIME IS MONEY ADOBE!

[Daizy 18]

I am having the same issue since upgrading.  Have granted my username the right to read and write the whole adobe folder, does not help. Adobe! Please. This is hilariously annoying.

[nickl57516707]

Bumping this thread again.

Seriously slows work flow, increases disk usage, and leaves liability for incorrect files being shared.

Common problem has been identified by clients here.

[default6ar1u82phfxv]

This sure is a frustrating new bug. It is ironic, Adobe Photoshop asks if it is okay to overwrite the exisiting file. I click yes, overwrite, it then saves a " copy". I uploaded the wrong files to the web server, ugh. 

[PedalGeoff]

+1 with this bug. Please fix, Adobe.

[matt1549]

Just upgraded to PS 2021 (22.0.0) and guess what?? No fix to this issue. Still asks to replace original but saves with "-copy" anyways.  But thanks for the Neutral Filters... 

[nickl57516707]

Bumping this thread, again, because this exact issue likely caused an associate to share incorrect file today (the original, not updated, non-overwritten version -- even though Photoshop confirms you're sure you want to overwrite, just to restate).

More workflow issues. Still not updated. This post marks 1 year and 2 days since the first post identifying this bug.

[Gerasymchuk5FD8]

I am having same issue with the latest Catalina and Photoshop. 

It creates a copy of a file instead of overwriting it. And its so confusing because it also warns you before that it will overwrite it, but it doesn't!

[rd0236]

Bumping this thread again. It's absolutely embarassing and beyond frustrating that this is still an issue. Apple shouldn't send constant notifications for you to update your OS if its going to break every app.

[chenenid]

have the same issue for almost an year now. it's frustrating when the software ask you "do you want to overwrite the file" and you hit yes, but just seeing a copy of that file created instead of overwrite it as you asked. It's quite annoying honestly since then images cannot be auto-updated when working across between indesign, illustrator and photoshop, which creates much more redundant work. 

[azurga]

Same thing happening to me, this was one of the things that kept me from updating to Catalina. But it's also happening in Big Sur. It's so disappointing and frustrating...