How to Fix Freezing Issues on Adobe Photoshop

Do you encounter freezing issues on Adobe Photoshop?

Adobe Photoshop is on top of the competition when it comes to image processing. It offers more features than any other software out there and has support for multiple file types and image formats. 

While Adobe Photoshop is arguably the best, it’s not safe from downtimes and occasional errors. 

If you’re reading this, you are probably experiencing one right now. 

One of the main complaints about Photoshop is that it may feel sluggish at times. While there are a handful of factors that can affect its performance, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed right away. 

Unfortunately, even users with high-end hardware, encounter freezing issues on Adobe Photoshop. 

To help out, we’ve decided to make a guide on how to fix freezing issues on Adobe Photoshop. 

Let’s get right into it!

1. Restart Your Computer. 

One of the first things you can do if you encounter performance issues with Adobe Photoshop is to restart your system. This clears your system cache and eliminates errors that might be affecting Photoshop’s performance. 

For Windows users, see the guide below to restart your system: 

1. On your keyboard, hit the Windows key to open the Start Menu. 
2. Next, access the Power Options tab. 
3. Finally, click the Restart button. 

Once done, go back to Photoshop to check if its performance improved. 

2. Close Unused Programs. 

Third-party programs are the most common cause of freezing issues on Adobe Photoshop. As you work on your projects, Photoshop’s use of your resources increases as well. If your system runs out of memory or threads, it will cause performance issues. 

To avoid this, we suggest closing down unused applications on your computer to dedicate more resources to Photoshop. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

1. First, press the CTRL + SHIFT + ESC keys on your keyboard to launch the Task Manager. 
2. Now, go to the Process tab. 
3. Click on the Memory tab to sort your applications based on their RAM usage. 
4. Lastly, identify the apps you’re not using and close them. 

Restart Adobe Photoshop afterward and check if the problem is solved. 

3. Re-Open Your Project. 

After a while, Adobe Photoshop will accumulate temporary data on your system. This will affect your system’s performance if you’re using mid to low-end hardware. To fix this, you just have to close Photoshop and re-open your project. 

Save your progress, close Adobe Photoshop and wait for at least a minute before relaunching it on your computer. 

Use it as you normally would and observe if the performance has improved. 

4. Update Your System. 

Outdated or faulty versions of Windows could also be the reason for freezing issues on Adobe Photoshop. Your current operating system might have an underlying issue that affects the performance of your programs. 

To rule this out, follow the steps below to update your OS: 

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows + I keys to open Windows Settings. 
2. Next, go to the Windows Update tab at the bottom of the side menu. 
3. Finally, click on Download & Install if there’s an available update. 

Restart your computer after the update to apply the changes. Go back to Adobe Photoshop to check if the problem is solved. 

5. Update Your Display Drivers. 

For heavier workloads, Adobe Photoshop takes advantage of your graphics card to render images and layers faster. If you experience freezing issues on the program, it may indicate a problem with your graphics card. 

To fix this, see the steps below to update your graphics drivers: 

1. Access the Quick Menu on your computer by pressing the Windows + X keys on your keyboard. 
2. Next, click on Device Manager. 
3. Look for the Display Adapters tab and expand it. 
4. Finally, right-click on your graphics card and choose Update Driver. 

Once done, restart your system and work on your projects to check if Photoshop’s performance improved. 

6. Update Photoshop. 

If you haven’t updated Adobe Photoshop for a while, we recommend doing so. There might be an issue with the version of Adobe Photoshop you’re using or some of its files have gotten corrupted. 

Check out the steps below to update Photoshop: 

1. First, open Adobe Photoshop on your computer. 
2. On the menu bar, click on Help. 
3. Lastly, choose Updates and follow the prompt to update Photoshop. 

Restart Photoshop afterward and check if the problem is solved. 

7. Reinstall Adobe Photoshop. 

At this point, the last thing you can do is reinstall Adobe Photoshop on your computer. Some of your installation files may have gotten corrupted and the update can no longer fix them. 

Here’s how you can delete Adobe Photoshop: 

1. On your computer, launch the Control Panel. 
2. Next, click on Uninstall a Program. 
3. Finally, right-click on Adobe Photoshop and choose Uninstall. 

Once done, go to Adobe’s website and download the latest installer from there. 

That wraps up our guide for fixing freezing issues on Adobe Photoshop. For your questions and other concerns, please leave a comment below, and we’ll do our best to respond. 

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂