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Zeeshan Liaqat
Participating Frequently
September 30, 2017
Answered

Scratch Disk Problem after macOS High Sierra Update

  • September 30, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 5417 views

After updating my MacBook Pro to macOS High Sierra launched my Photoshop and was working on it and I was notified that my SSD is full (I have 2 drives in my MacBook one is 64GB SSD which contains apps & macOS and the other one is 1TB SSHD aka fusion drive which holds all my data and home user folder). Now for some reason, Adobe Photoshop only uses startup drive as a scratch disk and it becomes full very fast because of only 10gb free in it. I went into preference to check my settings but there was no listing of drives + I was unable to change anything there. it only suggests me to relaunch the photoshop with holding option+command keys which I did but it only provides the choice of startup only screenshots are attached below. I have already reset my Photoshop preferences via holding Shift+Option+Command method but still the same. Adobe Illustrator is however not affected by macOS update only Photoshop... Strange! see screenshots attached below...

Please help me solve this. I will also chat with Adobe support about this issue but they are closed for today.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Jesper Storm Bache

Photoshop CC 2017 does not recognize APFS volumes as valid scratch disk destinations.

The exception is the boot volume, which you can set to be the scratch disk by holding down the command and option keys while you are launching Photoshop. In the "Scratch Disk Preference" dialog you can choose "Startup" and that will set the boot volume to be the scratch disk even when it is an APFS volume.

If you need further scratch disks, then you will need to point Photoshop to one or more HFS(+) volumes.

This is something that we are working on improving.

Jesper

3 replies

T
T5F9B
Participant
January 9, 2021

I still can't use my external SSD as a scratch drive for Photoshop 22.1.0 reguardless of the format.. APFS or OS Extended. It's a pain in the backside.

    T
    tymotaus
    Participant
    October 20, 2017

    This process allowed me to select the start up (an sdd) as the scratch disk but when I relaunch PS the disk does not show up in the scratch disk box so not sure if its using it or not at this point.

    Z
    Zeeshan LiaqatAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    October 21, 2017

    Hi Tymataus, which version of photoshop and OS you are using? if you are member of Adobe CC then simply update to Photoshop 2018 (Release 19.0) which will solve all the problem related to APFS formated drives in new macOS High Sierra.

    Zeeshan

    T
    tymotaus
    Participant
    October 21, 2017

    I'm still running CS 5.1 on High Sierra, I'm guessing thats not going be supported?

    gener7
    Community Expert
    gener7Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 30, 2017

    Is your scratch drive HFS+ Journaled? It seems Photoshop CC 2017 under High Sierra will not recognize any other format, even AFPS.

    While my AFPS SSD will be labeled  as the Startup in the First scratch, I can't assign it as a Second,Third, or Fourth scratch

    I'm using a flash drive as a scratch disk. OSX 10.13 on a mid-2012 MBP.

    Gene

      gener7
      Community Expert
      gener7Community Expert
      Community Expert
      October 1, 2017

      Conrad Chavez reports these irregularities in his blog:

      https://blog.conradchavez.com/2017/09/25/macos-10-13-high-sierra-will-adobe-software-work/

        gener7
        Community Expert
        gener7Community Expert
        Community Expert
        October 1, 2017

        The other thing I should point out, that Adobe apps are developed by different teams in different locations and what may affect Photoshop, might not affect Illustrator.

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