How to Fix "Photoshop Not Responding After Opening"

If Photoshop freezes or becomes unresponsive immediately after opening, this can be due to various reasons, including corrupt preferences, outdated system drivers, or software conflicts.

To troubleshoot, first try to launch Photoshop in Safe Mode by holding the Shift key while opening the application.

This disables third-party plugins and extensions, which may be causing the issue.

If Photoshop opens in Safe Mode, it’s likely that a plugin or extension is the culprit.

Start by disabling any recently installed plugins and then gradually enable them to identify which one is causing the issue.

Another common cause is corrupted preferences.

Resetting Photoshop’s preferences can often fix unresponsiveness.

On Windows, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift while starting Photoshop, and on macOS, hold Command + Option + Shift.

A prompt will ask if you want to delete the preferences file.

Click Yes to reset it.

If the issue persists, check your system’s performance settings.

Photoshop relies heavily on system resources, so ensure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements and has enough RAM.

Check Photoshop’s performance settings under Edit > Preferences > Performance and adjust the amount of RAM allocated to Photoshop.

Another possibility is a conflict with your graphics card.

Update your graphics drivers to the latest version, or disable GPU acceleration in Photoshop’s preferences.

Go to Edit > Preferences > Performance and uncheck “Use Graphics Processor” to see if that resolves the issue.

If none of these steps work, uninstall and reinstall Photoshop, as a clean installation can often resolve deep-rooted issues.

Lastly, check your operating system for updates and run a full system scan to ensure there are no underlying system issues.