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perrybrus
Inspiring
January 7, 2020
Answered

Files always open in oldest PS version

  • January 7, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 5180 views

I have two PS version installed. PS 20.0.8 (CC 2019) and 21.0.2 (CC 2020) When I open image files from either local drives or external drives they always open in the oldest PS version. When I'm able to right click and define another PS version to open the files (Choose another app) it lasts just for that single file. The next time I open an image file (PSD, jpeg, png, gif) it goes back to the old default. When I choose PS 2020 from my system to open files they just open it directly, I'm not able to choose that app as default in W10. When I open files from external devices where I'm not able to choose another app it also always open in the old PS version and not the newest. However, when I already have the CC 2020 version open then my image files opens there when opened from file explorer, Bridge or external drives. But it's very annoying that they never open in CC 2020 when that application is not opened. On my desktop I only have the CC 2020 version.

Must I delete the PS CC 2019 version from my CC membership in order to get my files opened in PS CC 2020 by default when the 2020 version isn't open? Must I loose the ability to roll back to older version in order to "force" windows to open my files in PS 2020 in any circumstances?!

 

 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Tristan5FC8

    I fixed this issue by doing the following:

    1. add shortcut of newer version of Photoshop to your bottom Task Bar (you are pinning it to the bottom task bar)

    2. go to older PSD file and click and drag it over the Task Bar Icon for your new Photoshop; it will show a popup message regarding that you want to "Pin" that file to that version of Photoshop.  Just go ahead and do that (drop the file onto that Icon)

    3. Now, if you right-click the PS icon on the Task Bar you will see that the file you just dropped is pinned. You no longer need that, so go ahead and unpin it.  We just needed to do this so that file would become associated to the new version of  Photoshop

    4. Now, go back to your old PSD file and right-click it, go to "Open with" and you will now see that it is defaulting to your newer version of Photoshop.  Not only that, but it has adjusted that for all PSD files!

    You should be able to double-click any of your older PSD files and they will now default to opening up with your newer version of Photoshop.

    Cheers!

    4 replies

    T
    Tristan5FC8Correct answer
    New Participant
    March 4, 2022

    I fixed this issue by doing the following:

    1. add shortcut of newer version of Photoshop to your bottom Task Bar (you are pinning it to the bottom task bar)

    2. go to older PSD file and click and drag it over the Task Bar Icon for your new Photoshop; it will show a popup message regarding that you want to "Pin" that file to that version of Photoshop.  Just go ahead and do that (drop the file onto that Icon)

    3. Now, if you right-click the PS icon on the Task Bar you will see that the file you just dropped is pinned. You no longer need that, so go ahead and unpin it.  We just needed to do this so that file would become associated to the new version of  Photoshop

    4. Now, go back to your old PSD file and right-click it, go to "Open with" and you will now see that it is defaulting to your newer version of Photoshop.  Not only that, but it has adjusted that for all PSD files!

    You should be able to double-click any of your older PSD files and they will now default to opening up with your newer version of Photoshop.

    Cheers!

      A
      AlbeyB833
      New Participant
      July 24, 2022

      Thank you, thank you ,thank you. I did it with PSD files and also jpg and it works just fine.

      D Fosse
      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      January 7, 2020

      I agree, this particular problem is a mess. I tried to escalate this to engineering level a while back, but it was just met with silence. It hits a lot of people and the forum is full of posts like this around every upgrade cycle.

       

      This has nothing to do with subscription or cloud. It's been around for a long time before that. I first ran into it around CS3 in 2008 or so. Since then I've been careful and it hasn't been a problem since. All it takes is to keep the ducks in the correct chronological row.

       

      But again - first of all try to uninstall and reinstall 2020. There's a very good chance that's enough.

        P
        perrybrusAuthor
        Inspiring
        January 7, 2020

        Thanks for the input D_Fosse.

        D Fosse
        D Fosse
        Community Expert
        January 7, 2020

        You probably updated the 2019 version after the 2020 version. Latest installer activity takes over the file associations.

         

        This is a fundamental installer problem so far unacknowledged by Adobe. If you don't follow strict version order in everything you do, file associations tend to get messed up.

         

        Don't uninstall 2019 now, that will probably make it worse. First try to uninstall the 2020 version, 21.0.2, and then reinstall it.

         

        If that still doesn't work, you may need to do it this way, in this order:

        • uninstall 2020
        • uninstall 2019
        • run the CC cleaner tool to remove all leftover files and registry keys
        • reinstall 2020

        That may not be worth the trouble, though. It should correct itself with the next version, in a year or so. For the future, always observe version order. Install (and update!) in sequence, uninstall in reverse sequence.

         

        There is a way to edit the Windows registry (which is where the problem resides). It doesn't work for everyone though. See this:

        https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/file-associations-broken-uninstall-applications.html 

        P
        perrybrusAuthor
        Inspiring
        January 7, 2020

        Jisses, what a mess!! I don't think it's wise to mess this up even further by trying to fix it. I'm justa gunna accept that having more than one version is a recopy for catastrophy and dedicate a week or two to fix this later in life. I just don't have the time to deal with stuff like this anymore. Perhaps just killing my CC membership is the best deal here. It's just too many issues with this cloud concept. Never had them back in the day of hard copies, when the software was more stable as well.

        Marianne-Deiters
        Marianne-Deiters
        Participating Frequently
        January 7, 2020

        So this may help: https://www.ghacks.net/2016/02/16/how-to-make-any-program-the-default-on-windows-10/

        P
        perrybrusAuthor
        Inspiring
        January 7, 2020

        I have but the only PS version available in the program list is PS 2019. The PS 2020 is not listed there. As you can see I have the same issue with InDesign as I also have two versions of that in order to be able to roll back. This thing seems like a major issue for all Windows users.

         

        John Waller
        John Waller
        Community Expert
        January 7, 2020

        Have you tried selecting Choose another app and pointing Windows to Photoshop 2020?

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