Saving PSD Files in Photoshop Suddenly Very Slow — Even Small Files

[SC-Agency]

For the last few weeks it seems whenever I save Photoshop PSD files it can take a minute or two, very slow.

In preferences I do NOT have "Disable Compression of PSD and PSB files" checked.

Saving files to my machine, not an external drive. Used to be very fast.

Can be on very small files.

Thanks for any ideas to solve.

[DeanUtian]

Here's one suggestion:
* Go to - Edit > Preferences > File Handling...
* Then look for 'Disable Compression of PSD and PSB Files' (as below). Make sure it is unchecked and press OK

If the above does not help, share what version of Photoshop you have, OS and your computer specs.

[SC-Agency]

Thanks, but perhaps you did not read my entire original post where I indicated that item is unchecked?

Windows 11 PC
PS 26.3.0

[DeanUtian]

Apologies. After reading your post, did some checking on my end and thought if the Disable Compression of PSD missing that it was in your post. 

Has this issue been happening just recently? 

How big is the PSD (file size)?
Does the file save quickly if you save to a PDF? 

[D Fosse]

Not to press home an obvious point - but if you want faster saving, you have to check this box. Compression can be extremely slow. It's on by default.

The difference in save times can be 3x - 8x depending. In particular, layers will slow the compression down. If you have more layers now than you used to have, you will notice that difference.

For really big files, say, a GB and up (which, ironically, is where you could use some size reduction), save times can be unbearably long, to the point of being completely unworkable.

I always check this box to disable all compression. I simply don't have time to wait for it.

[Bojan Živković]

I do not see any issues when saving 3-4GB files. I have some templates that I use on a daily basis, and everything works fine; it's not super fast, but it's not painfully slow either. I have a fast SSD drive; if you have a spinning disk, that could be a problem. Otherwise, try resetting your preferences; it may help sometimes when strange issues arise.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @SC-Agency!

Thanks for sharing the details. I totally understand how frustrating slow saves can be, especially when they used to be quicker. However, it's not behaving the same way on my end, and experts have also tested and confirmed that it's working as expected for them, too. There might be something else.

To help us investigate further, could you please share the exact file path or location where you’re saving the PSDs (e.g., C:\Users\YourName\Documents or a synced folder like OneDrive/Dropbox)? Sometimes, certain locations or sync services can slow things down.

Also, if you’re comfortable, please share a sample PSD file (via DM in case it's confidential) so we can test it.

Lastly, it would be super helpful if you could go to Help > System Info in Photoshop and copy and paste that information here. This would give us a better idea of your system specs and environment.

Thanks again. We’ll get to the bottom of this together!

Best,
Anshul Saini