Spinning wheel on every action since updating to Photoshop 2020 (Mac OSX Catalina)

Report · Nov 10, 2019

After updating to Photoshop 2020, pretty much every action I try on Photoshop (right clicking on a layer, moving mouse to "edit" menu, creating a new layer, after "save" or "save as", applying a filter, opening a file, closing a file) I get about 5 seconds, sometimes longer, of the spinning pinwheel during which time Photoshop hangs and is unusable. The only exception seems to be using a Plug In (Exposure X4) which works perfectly and with no delay at all. In the end, everything works fine, but being forced to endure an unwanted wait of 5 seconds every single time you try and do anything is incredibly frustrating.

This has only happened since updating to PS 2020, and I've checked all my preferences (performance etc.) and nothing has changed - they were all successfully imported to the new version. I've tried restarting (MacBook Pro and PS CC 2020) and deleted PS CC 2019 and Bridge 2019 in case those were interfering with it. I've also checked to see if it makes any difference using an external monitor, hard drive, mouse etc. and found none. Very strange.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) running macOS Catalina v 10.15.1

Any help / ideas much appreciated. Any others with same problem would be reassuring too!

Thanks in advance.

Photoshop CC 2020 v21.0.2

Update: The solution marked as correct, from manu_torres below, is only a temporary fix, sadly. After a few days it's back to the slowness, the spinning wheel on every action, and a version of Photoshop that is pretty much unusable.

So this problem is most definitely not solved, Adobe! Please can someone take a proper look at this?

Report · Nov 13, 2019

I need help with this same issue, in both illustrator and photoshop. I constantly have to force quit these apps, and sometimes I need to completely restart. It's killing my workflow.

Report · Nov 14, 2019

Hi irlyme,

In the end I managed to talk to someone at Adobe Support, and a couple of hours later (I know) it was fixed. But if you want a quick fix, all I can suggest is to go back to the 2019 version which still works fine. Very frustrating though, I feel your pain!

Report · Nov 24, 2019

Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? Or how to solve it?

I can't help feeling that the silence here is because we are all waiting for Adobe to fix a pretty fundamental problem with Photoshop CC 2020 and other 2020 versions.

Once again I've had to uninstall PS 2020 and go back into my Time Machine to find PS 2019. Please, Adobe, help me understand why I pay a subscription for this....

Report · Nov 24, 2019

Sorry to say this, irlyme, it's started to happen again, and it's killing my workflow too. So it's back to the 2019 version for me - I'm not going to go through hours of messing around chatting with Adobe Support on my MacBook for an issue that looks like it's just going to come back again and again. I'm very unhappy about this.

How can this be happening to software that I PAY A SUBSCRIPTION for? This is not acceptable, Adobe. It wouldn't be acceptable for any software, but subscription-funded software???

I just don't get it. Why no updates to resolve this yet? I thought the whole point of 64-bit architecture was to make apps like Photoshop work faster. Like Photoshop CC 2019 does. This new version is awful, a complete nightmare - sticky, slow, impossible to work with and very very frustrating.

Report · Nov 24, 2019

So you upgraded to newer version after installing Catalina IOS and the 64bit adobe apps are problems. That's what I'm gathering from this.. I cannot use Adobe because of the 32bit apps and 64bit not being compatible. I was about to upgrade, so would you need to go back to old IOS Mojave?

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[Personal info removed by moderator]

Report · Nov 24, 2019

I'm still on Catalina OSX (10.15.1), which works fine with everything else Adobe, including Photoshop CC 2019. Don't bother!! I don't think it's a 64 vs 32 bit issue, otherwise PS 2019 wouldn't work with Catalina either. It's an Adobe, not a Mac problem, in short. Adobe support somehow "fixed it" on my MacBook a few days ago, but it's now causing the same problems again.

So I would stick with Catalina, but wouldn't upgrade to PS2020 until this issue is resolved if I was you. Good luck!

Report · Nov 29, 2019

EXACTLY the same problem here!

Extremely frustrating, absolutely outrageous for subscription paid software!

As a professional Photographer / Retoucher this is costing me a lot of time, thus money...

Please @Adobe FIX THIS ISSUE, fast!

Report · Dec 04, 2019

Same problem here. Every action in Ps gets a wait of 2-3 sec with the spinning wheel. I´ve tried everything with no sucessfull. Looking for any help...

Thanks in advance.

Report · Dec 06, 2019

Sorry to hear that Manu_Torres. And wish I'd found an answer.

The only workaround that has worked for me has been to go back to Photoshop CC 2019. Which is a crazy thing to do when you're paying a monthly subscription for supposedly up-to-date software.

We need Adobe to fix the issue with the next update, and to do it ASAP. Perhaps we should all ask for our money back for the past month....?!

Report · Dec 13, 2019

This solution is the one that worked for me:

Uninstall Ps CC 2019 (I still worked with this version for some issues with blend if on 2020)
Reset preferences and quit Ps CC 2020
Open Ps CC 2020
Solved. No more spinning wheel

Regards!

Report · Dec 13, 2019

This worked for me as well!
Thanks for sharing Manu.

Cheers

Report · Dec 22, 2019

Thank you so much, Manu_Torres. This worked for me too. Unlike the "solution" that Adobe Support took me through. Although it's a bore having to go through all one's preferences all over again - I thought the whole point of software like this was that it enabled users to move seamlessly from one version to the next. And I have to add that there are still times when PS2020 runs very slow on me, and an occasional spinning wheel appears.

What a pity that it takes a kind and smart contributor to this support community to sort out Adobe's mess!

I still have that nagging question in my head though: why do I pay a subscription for this software, Adobe?

Thanks again.

Report · Dec 28, 2019

hi manu_torres,

i do this all the time, resolves the problem for a few hours / sometimes days and the wheel starts to spin again and again, tired of resetting prefs! very very frustrating... any ideas about how to solve this?

thanks, best, murat.

Report · Dec 28, 2019

hi manu_torres,

i do this all the time, resolves the problem for a few hours / sometimes days and the wheel starts to spin again and again, tired of resetting prefs! very very frustrating... any ideas about how to solve this?

thanks, best, murat.

Report · Dec 30, 2019

Maybe you could uninstall Ps and start with an install from zero. Do you have another version of Ps installed yet?

Report · Dec 30, 2019

i did almost everything, uninstall-reinstall included. and there is no
other version of PS included. this never happened before with any other
version.

Report · Jan 13, 2020

I too have this problem. 2020 Photoshop, MacOS Catalina 10.15.2

In an attempt to figure it out, I created a new user account on my Mac and am able to use Photoshop just fine in that fresh account (which has none of my main accounts plug-ins, backgroudn tasks, auto-tasks, fonts etc). Clearly there is a conflict with something, but I don't know where to begin looking.

Report · Jan 13, 2020

thanks for this feedback. which plugins do you have loaded by the way, nik collection by DxO for instance?

Report · Jan 18, 2020

Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know I'm having the same problem... both my iMac 2016 and my 2018 MacBook pro. Photoshop hangs at the simplest task like make a .jpg. I've noticed illustrator behaving funky also. Hopefully, Adobe comes out with a fix soon. Something is just conflicting. Best

Report · Jan 23, 2020

I don't see a "correct answer" or real solution anywhere... my Photoshop 2020 is freezing up, as well. It's having the same issue both with my personal Creative Cloud subscription on my laptop, as well as on my work provided iMac at the office with my CC account there. This is ridiculous.

Report · Jan 25, 2020

I have literally just bought a new MacBook and a subscription to all the creative cloud apps, I'm a new user to adobes apps and ever since I started using it it's constantly had problems, either with the the spinning wheel, crashing, deleting all of my 123 saved fonts, not loading work I've transferred from comp or express on my iPad, and illustrator freezes all the time on my brand new MacBook. I have work to do here adobe. Time is money. Fix the apps. Or at least give your customers who have complained compensation. All this subscription is doing is costing me money, way, way more than what I agreed too.

Report · Feb 10, 2020

I'm in worse shape. When I click on the LR icon in the dock, it pops up and shuts down. When I go to Finder>Applications> LR, I get a message that I must rebuild a catalog, that the "Update" is not backwards compatible, and that accepting the update is irreversible.

A new catalog and new thumbnails? For 96,000 images? OMG.

Suggestions?

Report · Jan 28, 2020

Hello again, I'm here to report that Adobe still has not solved this problem. Photoshop and the spinning wheel just save as a .jpg. I'm running the latest Catalina, latest adobe software, 2018 macbookpro loaded. It needs to be fixed, it's crippling. Best

Report · Jan 28, 2020

adobe released 21.0.3 very recently and the issue still remains, unbelievable...

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Spinning wheel on every action since updating to Photoshop 2020 (Mac OSX Catalina)

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