What would cause my preferences to disappear?

[dougsooley]

For the second time in as many weeks, when I launch PS2023 all of my preferences are gone. What could be causing this issue???

[Nancy OShea]

1. Restart your computer.

2. Go to Windows Start Menu.

3. Right-click on PS 2023 icon.

4. Select More > Run as Administrator.

NOTE: If Windows prompts for permission to edit files, select YES.   That's the UAC (user account control) doing it's normal thing. 

Hope that helps.

[dougsooley]

I'm sorry, but I fail to see how starting as Administrator is going to get all my preferences back. Isn't there some way to store all these on the cloud so that this issue doesn't happen in the first place? My only solution is to retrieve my backups and replace the Adobe folder(s) to get the settings back. I don't know why I am suddenly lossing the entire workspace twice in two weeks?

[dougsooley]

Also. could you tell the specific Windows folder I need to get from my online backups to replace all the preferences and settings??

[Trevor.Dennis]

Photoshop preference file functions, names, locations (adobe.com)

Could be a permissions issue, but that does not generally happen with Windows.  I only have a moment, but I am sure someone else will be along

[Nancy OShea]

"I'm sorry, but I fail to see how starting as Administrator is going to get all my preferences back."

============

Did you try it?

[Abambo]

What sometimes happens with Windows are buggy user definitions. I had that once on my Windows 7 workstation. The solution was to simply create a new user from scratch. You will need to restore the standard Windows directories, like the document folder and you may experience rights issues on old files. 

If it is something like this, Windows is the culprit, not Photoshop.

[dougsooley]

After further digging, here is what is going on. I was suddenly launching the 2022 version...for which all my settings (plugins, actions, brushes etc) are all gone. However, when I manually launch 2023, all of my workspace items are in place as they should be. I guess what I most need to know is where in Windows this is stored and--can I store this in the cloud so I could retrienve just in case of another messup?