I cannot associate files with Adobe Photoshop CC

[BTJ]

Since installing Photoshop CC, I cannot associate jpg's or psd's with Photoshop CC. I have used the "open with..." dialog box (something I have done a million times, so I know what I'm doing), but after choosing Photoshop, it does not appear in the list of recommended or other programs and will not open the jpg or psd file in Photoshop.

FYI, I installed Photoshop CC while Photoshop CS6 was still on my computer. I then deinstalled Photoshop CS6 and that is when I noticed the problem.

Please help...this is extremely frustrating.

Thank you!!!

[middle.aged.hack]

Astuoth, thank you for joining the discussion. Please see post #6. Photoshop does not show up in the list of programs that can be associated, and attempts to add it fail.

To be as plain as possible, it is not possible to associate a file type with Photoshop CC because it is not possible to add Photoshop CC to the list of programs.

I would appreciate if we could move past these types of suggestions and to a deeper discussion of why it isn't possible to add Photoshop CC to the list of programs.

[Guest]

I do not have CC.  So this is just a statement and a question.

Up until CC Bridge was always a part of PS and Bridge set the File Associations or PS.  Now that Bridge is a separate download, which means it is not a requirement to have on the computer. 

1.  So it a person does not download Bridge where is the File Assoiciation for Photoshop?

2.  If one does download Bridge is this program the controllong factor in file association?

NOTE:  For CC users with Bridge, if you click on edit/preferences/file type associations is it there, and if so is the default program CC?

[middle.aged.hack]

Within Bridge, the file type associations are correct, and if you open a JPG or PNG from Bridge it opens in Photoshop.

[Guest]

If in CC Bridge again controls the file associations, where are the controlled if Bridge is not installed?

[middle.aged.hack]

re: 15

I did try ContextEdit (as the simpler options did not work before and I don't expect them to work now) and it failed. Just gave me an error when I tried to add an association.

*HOWEVER* it gave me a possible insight into the issue; it seems that .png files are associated with the master file type PNGFile which itself is associated with Quicktime. It may be possible after removing Quicktime to remove this file type association.

This is hardly an end-user friendly solution however, and I would prefer to see some movement from Adobe in identifying this issue and patching it appropriately.

[warethis]

Now, that is interesting to me, as png files simply associated themselves to CC as soon as I installed it. Jpg and PSD did not, however. I had to right click and change the default for those. No doubt, this is an issue between the software (probably the installer itself) and Windows - it's existed a long time, well before Win7, and is hit-or-miss so it can't be reliably replicated. Just as a note, I did install CC with CS6 still installed, in fact CS6 is still on my machine now. I don't actually believe that's made any difference though.

[pbody01]

May I add...

If I create a new local user on machine, they can set file extensions with no issue. Though, the original user has local admin rights, they still cannot add photoshop in there. It's only photoshop too. you can set dreamweaver as the default program, just not photoshop.

so, for those who HAVE this option available to them, you can recreate your local machine user account and get access back, but it's a lengthy fix for an issue that should be a bug.

[middle.aged.hack · Accepted solution]

***I BELIEVE I HAVE FOUND THE ROOT CAUSE AND SOLUTION***

After looking at a new user's registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER and comparing it to the one on the original user, I found a registry value which was not changed, and should have been.

I found a key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Applications\Photoshop.exe\shell\open\command

This key was set to the path for Photoshop CS6 when it should have been set to Photoshop CC.

In other words, in my case, it was set to:

"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64 Bit)\Photoshop.exe" "%1"

When I changed the CS6 to a CC, in other words, so the whole key reads:

"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC (64 Bit)\Photoshop.exe" "%1"

Everything now works perfectly.

There's no question this is an installer bug and I imagine it's going to hit anyone who upgrades from CS6 to CC. The fix is easy if you are comfortable with editing the registry but it should be fixed in the installer. This is an Adobe bug, plain and simple.

If you create a new user, since it has no keys for HKEY_CURRENT_USER it creates them properly.

I would like to thank pbody01 for pointing me in the right direction and I am curious to see if this fix works for other people.And hey, just 'cause... make sure you do a backup and especially export the registry before you go in there.

[pbody01]

I'm not sure it's an installer bug. I just updated 6 people from CS6 to CC and only one of them had the issue. If it was the installer, wouldn't it affect everyone?

Is it a permissions issue? Maybe only users without admin rights? What would prevent them from changing just that one key?

[middle.aged.hack]

Of course I mean a bug in the automated installation routine, not the human involved

And to be clearer I mean the the automated installation routine should properly change the file location and it doesn't, at least sometimes it seems. As to why in some cases and not in others, seems to me that Adobe should probably do an analysis of that now that the root cause has been identified.

For the one person with the issue, did changing the key value help them?

[pbody01]

hahaha, I meant the Windows Installer or the Adobe Installer, not the human who is performing the installation.

I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. The user is leaving in 15 minutes and then I'll have her computer to myself so I can try this out. If this works, I'll be such a happy IT guy.

[pbody01]

A happy IT guy I am! Your fix fixed it. Thanks a ton.

[warethis]

Pbody01, this is why I believe it's either an incompatibility issue on the part of both the installer and Windows, or a Windows issue altogether. It works, but intermittently fails - and it's not just Adobe software, the same issue exists for other software installations so there's an issue on the Windows side somewhere, even if an issue exists with Adobe's software.

[EricofShaw]

After fighting with WIndows/MS for 30 minutes, it occurred to me to maybe blame Adobe. So after a quick Google search, this forum being the first hit of many, I arrived at your post with the solution to my issue (identical to that described by the original poster and others here).

I'm happy to report that your regedit fix did indeed work for me.

thanks!

[rodlaird]

Yep worked for me; I found the pointer on the cross-referenced post. And, sure enough, the reg keys were not updated. Quick fix indeed. Apologies for not posting this immediately; it was a 60 second fix...

[BTJ]

Yes, it worked!!! Thank you all!!! Boo to Adobe!!!!!!!

[Guest]

middle.aged.hack wrote:

There's no question this is an installer bug and I imagine it's going to hit anyone who upgrades from CS6 to CC. The fix is easy if you are comfortable with editing the registry but it should be fixed in the installer. This is an Adobe bug, plain and simple.

This is a fix suggested a year ago when one uninstalls a previous version and fouls up file associations.  Look similar?? 

So I went into the Registry, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\Photoshop.exe\shell\open\command, and changed the (Default) from "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64 Bit)\Photoshop.exe" "%1" to "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64 Bit)\Photoshop.exe" "%1" (so changed CS5 to CS6) - and now I see 'Adobe Photoshop CS6' in my 'Open with' list when right-clicking an image...

Adobe investigated this issue but it seemed to be random.

[kmalm57]

Originally I had PSCS6 installed. When I moved to the cloud and installed PSCC, both CS6 and CC would show up in the "open with" command in Explorer. I left CS6 installed "just in case." Recently, when an update for CS6 would not install (repeated failures), I had to delete it, then reinstall a very old version from disk, then update it from within the app. After that, PSCC no longer showed up in the "open with" dialog. It also did not show up in the default program manager as others here have described, so no way to manage it there. Unfortunately, when looking into RegEdit, the HKEY described by middleagedhack didn't appear *at all* ... therefore no way to edit it there. I was, however, able to find and edit the key described by Curt Y and now PSCC shows up in the "open with" dialog. It doesn't bother me that PSCS6 no longer shows up because it would be rare that I'd use the program, but this all seems a bit convoluted. My odds are on the Adobe installers as the culprit, but maybe knowing the sequence of installation events might help Adobe figure out where it all started. Thanks for the solution help everybody!

[trpierce]

Ditto here "kmalm57"... same results as you. Didn't find the registry key that "middle.aged.hack" described but found the one that "CurtY" described and that one worked for me!   On another note, I lost my Illustrator filetype associations as well but it turned out that Illustrator CC did in fact show up in the list of available programs when right clicking on files so relinking those filetypes to AI did not require a registry edit.  Thanks everyone for sharing your help!

[Brian_from_Hove]

Thank you very much. This one worked for me in Photoshop CC. I previously uninstalled CS6. The one I altered in the registry pointed to CS4!

The first answer which used HKEY_CURRENT_USER did not work. I followed the links but the only program in there was Excel.

We really should not have to go into the registry to repair this, and I wonder if I am going to have the same problem with other upgrades.

[grantimus]

For those who cant get the existing regedit hack to work (thanks for that middle.aged.hack, btw)...you may be edited Photoshop-node.exe key with no existing Photoshop.exe key.

I tried the regedit hack as well but that entire Photoshop.exe key was not even in the registry. I could only see Photoshop-node.exe. So I created a new key, patterened exactly after the Photoshop-node.exe key, and applied the path reccommended by middle.aged.hack. See image below.

Detailed Instructions (for anyone who needs it):

Open Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Start Menu search box.

Go to this location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Classes > Applications

In Applications: Create new key: Photoshop.exe

          In Photoshop.exe: Create new key: shell

               In shell: Create new key: open

                    In open: Create new key: command

                         Change string value to: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC (64 Bit)\Photoshop.exe" "%1" (with surrounding " ")

[mdshahidullah]

Thanks Buddy ! This Work for my Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 also

But the Icon is Changed ! Any Suggestion ? Special Thanks to middle.aged.hack

[bretdouglas]

Thanks for the solution.  I had been using CS5 and my file associations would always default to the 32-bit version of the program no matter how many times I attempted to change it.

[Alan_VeryPC]

Thanks middle.aged.hack - your regedit fix got my files opening correctly again.

I was having the same problem as the OP but with InDesign CC this time. No matter how many times I used "open with..." and pointed the dialogue box to indesign.exe, the program would just not show up in the list, but after your regedit, up it popped.

I still have a minor gripe (with Adobe or Windows mind, not you). Because these are after the event associations rather than the original install default, the icon that shows up in windows file manager is the "I'm only an associated filetype" with the smaller logo inside a document icon, rather than the full blooded, "I am this applications proprietary document type" icon (see comparison of Illustrator equivalents below):

associated filetype (not full icon)

application specific file (proper icon)

So my .psd and .indd files are using the associated filetype icon not the proper icon you'd normally get.

It's minor to be honest, but it niggles me as I'm used to looking for a certain kind of logo for a ccertain kind of filetype.

But mainly, thanks for the helpful post middle.aged.hack

Al

[middle.aged.hack]

I have seen the same behavior with older versions of Adobe software. My suggestion is to uninstall Illustrator and reinstall it. Now that the registry is fixed perhaps it will also restore icons. I mean, you can hope, anyway.

It seems like CC is much friendlier to uninstall/reinstall than the older programs were.