Reset preferences should back them up, include sys info.

[PECourtejoie]

Many times, there is a suggestion in the forum to have a user reset the preferences, as it is known to cure many issues. Unfortunately, it sometimes does not work, and the user has to recreate them manually.

In addition, the preferences file, once deleted, is not available for troubleshooting by the Ps team.

(in the forum, I now suggest the manual method of copying the folder to the desktop to keep a copy.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually

thanks to a post by @J453 )

I think that it would be beneficial to every user if the reset preferences function, either by shortcut, or via the preferences, would instead zip the existing preferences folder (or maybe just suffix it with "old" (or the beloved "legacy" term used all over the app.) In addition, it could also include the system information text.

This way, it would be possible to troubleshoot preferences and have system information in one go, and the user would be able to revert them easily.

Another idea would be to create a backup at startup, to get a last known working preferences file and a way to revert them, like we can use a backup firmware in some cameras.

EDIT Thanks to @Stephen Marsh he has coded a script, that, IMHO, should be integrated in the application itself!

[Stephen Marsh]

@PECourtejoie – All good ideas!

[davescm]

Excellent suggestion Pierre - I've voted

Dave

[jane-e]

Voted

[Stephen Marsh]

@PECourtejoie 

Until Adobe potentially implements your ideas... Here they are in a script.

The system info will be written to a text file on the desktop titled "Adobe Photoshop #### System Info.txt", (with #### being the version number).

The settings/prefs files will be copied to a new folder on the desktop titled "Adobe Photoshop #### Settings", (with #### being the version number).

/*
Backup Photoshop Settings and System Info.jsx
v1.0, Stephen Marsh - 25th September 2022
With inspiration from:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-ideas/reset-preferences-should-back-them-up-include-sys-info/idi-p/13216667
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually
https://github.com/MarshySwamp/Backup-Photoshop-Settings-Universal

The system info will be written to a text file on the desktop titled "Adobe Photoshop #### System Info.txt", (with #### being the version number).
The settings/prefs files will be copied to a new folder on the desktop titled "Adobe Photoshop #### Settings", (with #### being the version number).
*/

#target photoshop

try {

    var os = $.os.toLowerCase().indexOf("mac") >= 0 ? "mac" : "windows";
    if (os === "mac") {
        sysInfoLF = "Unix";
    } else {
        sysInfoLF = "Windows";
    }

    var appPath = app.path.fsName.replace(/^\/.+\//, '');
    var sysInfo = new File("~/Desktop/" + appPath + " System Info.txt");
    sysInfo.open('w');
    sysInfo.encoding = 'UTF-8';
    sysInfo.lineFeed = sysInfoLF;
    sysInfo.write(app.systemInformation);
    sysInfo.close();

    if (os === "mac") {
        // alert("It's a Mac!");
        var userSettingsDir = '~/Library/Preferences/' + appPath + ' Settings';
        var userSettingsDirOpen = Folder(userSettingsDir);
        //userSettingsDirOpen.execute();

    } else {
        // alert("It's Windows!");
        var userSettingsDir = '~/appData/Roaming/Adobe/' + appPath + '/' + appPath + ' Settings';
        var userSettingsDirOpen = Folder(userSettingsDir);
        //userSettingsDirOpen.execute();
    }

    var backupDir = new Folder("~/Desktop/" + appPath + ' Settings');
    if (!backupDir.exists) backupDir.create();

    /*
    Folder and file copy by r-bin
    https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/a-script-to-clone-copy-a-folder-that-contains-multi-folders-and-files-to-another-folder/m-p/12121520
    */
    var ret = copy_folder(userSettingsDir, backupDir);

    function copy_folder(src_path, dst_path) {
        try {
            var f = (new Folder(src_path)).getFiles();

            for (var i = 0; i < f.length; i++)
                if (!copy_file(f[i], dst_path)) return false;

            return true;
        } catch (e) {
            alert(e);
        }
    }

    function copy_file(full_path, new_path) {
        try {
            var file = new File(full_path);

            var folder = new File(new_path);

            if (file.length < 0) {
                if (!create_path(new_path + "/" + file.name)) return false;
                if (!copy_folder(full_path, new_path + "/" + file.name)) return false;

                return true;
            } else {
                if (!create_path(new_path)) return false;
                if (!file.copy(new_path + "/" + file.name)) return false;

                return true;
            }

            function create_path(path) {
                var folder = new Folder(path);

                if (!folder.exists) {
                    var f = new Folder(folder.path);
                    if (!f.exists)
                        if (!create_path(folder.path)) return false;

                    if (!folder.create()) return false;
                }

                return true;
            }
        } catch (e) {
            throw (e);
        }
    }

    alert("A backup copy of your Photoshop Settings folder and System Info has been created on the desktop.");

} catch (e) {
    alert(e);
}

The script can be automated from the Script Events Manager:

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2021/10/photoshop-script-events-manager.html

Info on saving and using this script:

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

[Gixxxa75]

I like the way the Wacom desktop center works, you can back up your tablet preferances, either saving them on the wacom server via your account or locally to your PC. Could they do something similar with creative cloud app? Or just being able to save the workspace layout seperate from the preferances would be a major improvement. Everythings not quite in the right place after a reset!

[jane-e]

@Gixxxa75 wrote: Or just being able to save the workspace layout seperate from the preferances would be a major improvement.

Resetting preferences does not remove saved workspaces. They are already separate. Or maybe I misunderstand what you are saying?

Jane

[PECourtejoie]

@Stephen Marsh Stunning!

I am always in awe in front of scripters' work.

Now the Ps team just needs to use your code to replace theirs in the application!

[Stephen Marsh]

@Stephen_A_Marsh Stunning!

I am always in awe in front of scripters' work.

Now the Ps team just needs to use your code to replace theirs in the application!

By @PECourtejoie

@PECourtejoie – thank you for the kind words. At least half of the script credit goes to @r-bin – it would have taken me a lot longer and it would have been far more work to implement a recursive file/folder copy function on my own. So thanks to you for the idea and to r-bin. This is what the community is about.

[PECourtejoie]

As useful this community is, I really wonder if the scripts and scriptlets should not be placed in a reposity, similar to github?

I saw, a few versions ago, that the Indesign team had made a panel with useful community scripts, a similar idea would be useful in Ps, Br, etc. : https://helpx.adobe.com/be_en/indesign/using/scripting.html#community_scripts

[PECourtejoie]

Cross-post to two other preferences-related ideas:

 https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-ideas/preferences-safe-mode-start/idc-p/13568992#...

and 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-ideas/preferences-check-at-exit-during-use-export...

[Rick Adams]

Thank you for starting this thread. I am always frustrated when Adobe support's first step to troubleshoot an issue is "reset your preferences", straight to the nuclear option. I am not technical however, I will look at the script below to see if it will help me.

If I could, my suggestion would be for Adobe to have a method that would create a text file that shows and compares default preferences and current preferences. With a list in hand, I could quickly see what my settings were before a preference reset and what I must change to get back to where I was and the way I had the settings set.

There are things I have changed throughout the years of my use of the app and I have no idea what I have modified in the past, the app works the way I want until it doesn't. I have been told by Adobe that the preferences file is the most susceptible to corruption. So, I must ask, if you know this, why is there not a better way of managing something that you know can be responsible for problems with the app and make it easier to "fix" something that is easily corrupted?

With only ten upvotes, I won't be holding my breath.  

[D Fosse]

The problem here is that actual user prefs is only a small part of it. It's the full app configuration, including lots of things you as a user never touched. And that's where the weird symptoms can happen.

The reason it's prone to corruption is that it's rewritten on every exit.

[jane-e]

@Rick Adams wrote:

I am always frustrated when Adobe support's first step to troubleshoot an issue is "reset your preferences", straight to the nuclear option.

Rick, the preferences file contains more than what is in Photoshop menu > Preferences panel (Windows: Edit menu). There are other settings that are used internally by PS and these settings can become corrupted, especially after a crash.

Adobe staff recommends a manual reset by renaming the preferences file instead of deleting it so it can be restored. Details here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

For comparison, when Microsoft Word gets corrupted, it involves editing the registry and deleting a file. I don't think that's better!

Any changes from Adobe won't be immediate. What you can do for now is:

• Back up your preferences file when it is working (see above link)
• Take screen shots of your panels in Preferences (or take notes)
  I've reset Preferences so many times in three decades that I don't need notes
• Use Stephen's script

I hope this helps,

Jane

[jane-e]

@D Fosse 

I didn't see your post when I was typing.

Jane

[TheDigitalDog]

I voted too. In addtion to the script, I can tell you what I've done which at least on the Mac is simple: Make a Symboic Link making it really easy to get to the preference file (from the Dock, the desktop, whatever), then make a backup of the original as well. 

This is free and works really well:

https://github.com/nickzman/symboliclinker/releases

[D Fosse]

But as always, @jane-e , your answer is more complete than mine (so naturally it takes a couple of seconds longer to type 😉 )

Oh, and I voted for Pierre's suggestion.

[Stephen Marsh]

Another option is to create an action or script to set various preference settings to your desired settings, then run after reset:

[PECourtejoie]

@Rick Adams @Indeed, the hardening/checksum of the prefs is something I suggested in another thread, linked earlier. (Different ideas should have different discussion, so that the team knows on which suggestions other users agreed an voted upon)

And by all means, without dismissing your excellent suggestions, @Stephen Marsh if scripts and actions are good for power users, my suggestions aim to cover users of the entire proficiency range. (But please keep the scripts coming!)