Solving "Scratch Disk Full" Error in Photoshop

[SmartTech]

Hey Photoshop users! Have you encountered the dreaded “Scratch Disk Full” error? It can seriously slow down or even crash your workflow. I’ve compiled a few tips to fix it:

:white_heavy_check_mark: Free Up Space – Delete unnecessary files to clear storage.

:white_heavy_check_mark: Change Scratch Disk Location – Go to Edit > Preferences > Scratch Disks and select a drive with more space.

:white_heavy_check_mark: Clear Cache Files – Use Edit > Purge > All to remove temporary data.

:white_heavy_check_mark: Limit History States – Reducing undo steps in Preferences > Performance can free up memory.

:white_heavy_check_mark: Upgrade to SSD – If possible, an SSD dramatically speeds up scratch disk usage.

Have you found other solutions that work for you? Drop your thoughts below!

[Ged_Traynor · Accepted solution]

@SmartTech the above looks like it was just copied and pasted from somewhere

[jasmine_alexandra_8736]

I know, right? I try to do what he said in the direction and I can't seem to unlock the Macintosh HD option on the scratch disc. I have an iMac.

[frazzlesnap]

In my over 25 years of using Photoshop, I have never experienced this problem. For the last 7 years, I have been working primarily on many-layered individual area color corrections for high-resolution artwork, now up to 12GB in size, with a pretty hefty amount of history states. I don't mean to be rude, but how common is this problem? Even my coworker's 10 year old iMac has sufficient storage for him to have never run into this issue. It seems that adding external drives for caching is just begging for trouble. I know that I must be wrong, but... I am genuinely confused. Are people running on sub-1TB drives?

[jasmine_alexandra_8736]

I also have the same issue. I'm trying to change the scratch disk location in Photoshop from Macintosh HD to my external SSD, but the option is LOCKED and won't let me UNCHECK the Macintosh HD drive. How can I unlock this option and set my external SSD as the new scratch disk location?

Please there must be something I can do. I just can't seem to change it. I was able to do that with Illustrator and the PremierPro, but I can't seem to do it with PSD. 

[Ged_Traynor]

@jasmine_alexandra_8736 you can only uncheck it if there's another disk available, how is the external SSD connected and formatted

https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/scratch-disks-preferences.html

You should really try to free up space on your main disk

[rudo123]

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/scratch-disks-preferences.html

Your startup disk is locked here, because no other drives are available. Is your external SSD connected, and formatted to APFS?

(sorry, i read ps help, then I added the same answer as ged to unrefreshed thread...)

[Srishti Bali]

Hi @jasmine_alexandra_8736

Sorry to hear about the issues you're experiencing. In addition to the suggestions already shared, I’d like to add that supported drive formats for scratch disks differ between macOS and Windows:

• macOS: APFS or macOS Extended (Journaled)

• Windows: NTFS, exFAT, or FAT32

Also, the following types of drives are not recommended for use as scratch disks:

• Thumb drives

• Any USB 2.0 drives

• NTFS-formatted drives on macOS

Could you please confirm the current format of your drive? Also, does the SSD work fine outside of Photoshop — for example, are you able to save files to the external drive without any issues?

Regards,

Srishti