Photoshop keeps creating temp files

[tolyaasch]

Hi everyone! After reinstalling one of the PCs in our company, Photoshop has started acting strangely. We process images using custom actions and scripts across four PCs (all running the same updated Windows 11 Pro and updated Photoshop). The three older installations work perfectly, but the newly reinstalled one keeps generating temp files and rapidly filling up the hard drive.

These temp files are PNG masks of selections (see attached). Even after closing Photoshop, the files remain in the temp folder. The exact same action set behaves normally on the other PCs, so I’m not sure where to begin troubleshooting this.
Any ideas?

[creative explorer]

@tolyaasch how frustrating!?! The issue is certainly a configuration difference on the problematic PC, despite the reinstallation. The files you're seeing, named like PhotoshopTempXXXXXXXXXXX.png, and appearing to be masks , strongly suggest that an operation within your action or script that uses a selection (or creates a temporary channel/mask) is running differently on this machine, perhaps due to a setting causing the temporary file to be saved rather than cleaned up.

I would clear Photoshop's preferences, which I hope would clear up this weird glitch. By reseting the preferences will forces Photoshop to start with default settings, potentially removing any lingering, incorrect preference that might govern how temporary files are handled. Quit Photoshop on the problematic PC.  Open Photoshop and immediately press and hold Control Alt Shift until a dialog box appears asking if you want to delete the Adobe Photoshop Settings file. Click Yes.

Let me know by tagging me if that works or not! 

Another try would to check permissions on the computer too, , as the issue may stem from Windows 11's security settings on the newly installed PC. Specifically, you must ensure that the user account running the Photoshop script has Full Control permissions for two key locations: the Windows Temp folder (which Photoshop often uses, typically located at %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp) and the destination folder where the final processed images are saved. The underlying reason is that Photoshop might be able to create the temporary mask files (like the PNGs you've shown) but is then blocked from deleting them once the script or action finishes, leading to their rapid accumulation and hard drive fill-up.