Open the Preferences dialog and do one of the following:
Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences and choose the desired preference set from the submenu.
macOS: Choose Photoshop > Settings and then choose the desired preference set from the submenu.
Last updated on
Mar 22, 2024
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Topics in the article:
For Photoshop to run as smoothly as possible, customized for your particular workflow, you must set up your preferences to your liking.
Numerous program settings are stored in the Adobe Photoshop Preferences file, including general display options, file-saving options, performance options, cursor options, transparency options, type options, presets, and options for plug‑ins and scratch disks.
Most of these options are set in the Preferences dialog box.
Preference settings are saved each time you quit Photoshop. If Photoshop crashes or is force quit, any changes to preferences, presets and your workspace will be lost.
- By default, Preferences are migrated from the prior version when you update to a new version of Photoshop.
- You can choose whether to Keep or Remove Preferences when you uninstall a version of Photoshop.
Pro tip: Currently, preferences are not preserved when you do a rollback to a prior version/update. Prior to performing a rollback, make sure to back up your preferences.
The new Preferences Search option offers relevant search and suggestions to help you find preferences in Photoshop.
With the August 2022 release of Photoshop 23.5, you can now easily locate what you're searching for using the preferences search capability within the Preferences dialog.
To access the search panel in the Preferences dialog box, follow these steps:
- Use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + K to launch the Preferences dialog.
- Now use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + F to use the search option in the Preferences dialog.
How to use the new Search bar
The new search bar is available near the upper-right corner of the Preferences dialog. Use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + F or click inside the box and type a keyword that you want to search within the preferences.
A dropdown will appear with suggested search phrases, which are updated as you enter text in the search box. Once you've finished typing, hit Enter or select "See all results". The results will be displayed in a dropdown beneath the search field. Click your desired option to navigate to the corresponding section, which will appear with a temporary highlight that is dismissed after a few seconds.
Photoshop now supports the native full-screen mode in macOS.
To enable or disable this support on macOS: Go to Photoshop's Preferences > Workspace and check Enable Native Full Screen.
With the October 2022 release of Photoshop 24.0, you can use a new preference setting to improve the stability of the Object Selection tool, Select Subject, and Sky Replacement for Windows users with an NVidia GPU.
Some Photoshop desktop users on Windows were experiencing slow performance, crashing, or unexpected selections due to NVidia Windows Display drivers. We have made changes to improve the app performance for Windows users who were facing such issues. Additionally, we have introduced a preference to help improve selection stability.
To access the new preference on your Windows device, go to Preferences > Image Processing. Toggle the Selections Processing from Faster (default) to More Stable.
Use Preferences to set a neutral color scheme for Photoshop
Change the color of elements on the interface, such as the blue Share button, to a selected neutral color mode when in the editing mode.
To enable the neutral color mode, navigate to Preferences > Interface and select the checkbox under the look and feel section for Neutral Color Mode.
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To switch to a different preference set, do one of the following:
- Choose the preference set from the menu at the left of the dialog box.
- Click Next to display the next preference set in the list; click Prev to display the previous set.
Note:
Detailed information about specific preference settings appears in task-specific topics. For example, search Help for “Transparency preferences” to see those settings discussed in the context of related features such as layers.
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Quit Photoshop.
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Navigate to Photoshop's Preferences folder.
macOS: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
Windows 10: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
Note:The user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS. To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see How to access hidden user library files.
Also, the AppData directory is hidden by default on WinARM.
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Drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe for a back-up of your settings
Unexpected behavior may indicate damaged preferences. Restoring preferences to their default settings is a good idea when troubleshooting unexpected behaviors in Photoshop.
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Quit Photoshop.
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Navigate to Photoshop's Preferences folder.
macOS: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
Windows 10: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
Note:The user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS. To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see How to access hidden user library files.
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Drag the current Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe for a back-up of your settings
Before resetting your preferences, make sure to back up your preferences.
Using the keyboard shortcut or delete on quit preference to reset your preferences permanently deletes a subset of preferences files including settings from the preferences dialog, custom shortcuts, workspaces, and color settings. For a list of specific files that are deleted see these tables for preference file functions, names, and locations for macOS and Windows.
Manually restoring your preferences is a complete method for resetting Photoshop to its default state by ensuring plug-in preferences and any user presets causing a problem are not loaded.
To learn how to quickly reset preferences in Photoshop, check out the video below.
Using a keyboard shortcut
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Quit Photoshop.
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Hold down the following keyboard shortcut and launch Photoshop:
macOS: command + option + shift
Windows: ctrl + alt + shift
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Open Photoshop.
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Click Yes in the dialog that asks "Delete the Adobe Photoshop Settings file?"
New preferences files will be created in their original location.
Using the Preferences dialog
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Open Photoshop's Preferences:
macOS: Photoshop > Settings > General
Windows: Edit > Preferences > General
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Click Reset Preferences On Quit
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Click OK in the dialog that asks "Are you sure you want to reset preferences when quitting Photoshop?"
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Quit and relaunch Photoshop.
New preferences files will be created in their original location.
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Quit Photoshop.
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Navigate to Photoshop's Preferences folder.
macOS: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
Windows: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
Note:The user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS. To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see How to access hidden user library files.
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Drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe for a back-up of your settings
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Open Photoshop.
New preferences files will be created in their original location.
Sometimes you will see messages containing warnings or prompts. You can suppress the display of these messages by selecting the Don’t Show Again option in the message. You can also globally redisplay all messages that have been suppressed.
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Do one of the following:
Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences > General
macOS: Choose Photoshop > Settings > General
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Click Reset All Warning Dialogs, and click OK.
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