Upgraded to Adobe Photoshop 2025 and my color swatch library is gone!

[rgbnites]

I upgraded to Photoshop 2025, and now my swatch library is gone; also, the legacy swatches are not the legacy swatches I'm used to.

When I upgraded Photoshop, I clicked the button to restore/keep all previous settings.
I need to get my swatch library back. Swatches are labeled and organized with it's own title and name for each swatch.

Also, I prefer the old swatch library with the gradients and patterns with a good selection of colors. This new swatch thing is ridiculous. I don't have the time to re-make new unstable swatch libraries for RGB and CYMK. I want the old library back- how?

Mac Studio, Sequoia 15.1

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @rgbnites,

I understand how important it is to keep your organized swatch library intact, especially with the transition to Photoshop 2025. Here are some steps that may help you recover or restore your previous swatches:

1. Check Preferences Folder: Photoshop often saves settings and preferences for each version. Navigate to ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop 2024 Settings on your Mac, where you might find older preference files. If the folder exists, copy the swatch files from there into Adobe Photoshop 2025 Settings folder. Then, restart Photoshop to load these settings.

2.Transfer from Backup: If you have a backup  of the .ase file, you can load it through Swatches > Import Swatches.

Hopefully, one of these steps helps you restore your preferred swatch setup. Let me know if you need any more guidance on this process.

Best,

Anshul Saini

[ZappaJul]

Thanks for posting this. Unfortunately it didn't work for me; I have inexplicably lost all the swatches created a few months ago that were not in the 2024 file, and have since been overwritten on the backup.

As someone else said, Why, Adobe, why? Why does Adobe do this kind of thing? Users shouldn’t be put in this position in the first place. I do wish Adobe would leave what works alone, and concentrate on fixing real issues and bugs, instead of fiddling with things that don’t need touching.

(Now I have to go figure out why all of a sudden my workspace has changed, my saved workspace has vanished,  and I can’t move any of the elements back to the way I like them to be).

[ꟺƕᵻ§ꝉ£€ßɵɱß]

Why? Adobe?

I can't find my custom swatch panel. There is no way to add it, like the old menu. I hate this. Now I'm stuck trying to figure this out which will take time that I don't have.

Tired of the constant bugs Adobe releases.

[davescm]

@ꟺƕᵻ§ꝉ£€ßɵɱß From the menu drop down at the top right of the swatch panel, you can export selected swatches and import swatches. Did you export your custom swatches?
Dave

[pgtrain42]

the real question here is why does this (cursing removed) software force you to export the swatches? We're paying an outrageous price per month for a subscription service that constantly is updating.

[jane-e]

...for a subscription service that constantly is updating.

By @pgtrain42

This is not an update; it's how Photoshop has always worked with assets such as swatches, actions, and anything else you customize. An Adobe Swatch Exchange (.ase) file can be saved anywhere and used by Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

In addition, you can turn off automatic updates for applications in the Creative Cloud application.

Jane

[JaoJya]

Here’s what worked for me to get my swatch libraries back:

Check old presets folder

Go to:

Macintosh HD/Users/[YourName]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [previous version]/Presets/Swatches

Copy your old swatch files (.aco, .ase, etc.).

Move them to the new version

Paste them into:
Macintosh HD/Users/[YourName]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 2025/Presets/Swatches

Load inside Photoshop

In Photoshop: Window > Swatches

Open the panel menu (three lines) →Import Swatches → Select your copied .aco files

Legacy Swatches

You’ll have to manually re-import your old ones (from the step above) if you want the classic sets.

If you don’t have a backup, check Creative Cloud Files / Adobe Sync – sometimes your old swatch files are stored there.