Photoshop plug-ins troubleshooting (2024)

How to identify and troubleshoot issues with plug-ins in Photoshop.

Overview of issues caused by defective or incompatible plug-ins
Third-party plug-in installation help
Troubleshoot your plug-ins

Plug-ins not found or cannot be verified
Locate plug-in folders
Camera Raw plug-in help

Overview of issues caused by defective or incompatible plug-ins

If you're experiencing any of the following issues, the cause could be a defective or incompatible plug-in:

Unexplained freezes or crashes on launch or while using Photoshop
Blank/empty filter dialogs
Error:"Could not load the [Plug-in Name] module because it does not work with this version of Photoshop"
Missing file formats in the Save or Save As dialogs.
Image rendering issues after running a plug-in
Slow performance while launching or using Photoshop
Plug-in commands don't show up correctly in Photoshop's menus
Video rendering stalls
Errors installing 3rd party plug-ins

You may experience an issue with a plug-in for any of these reasons:

The plug-in was designed for a different version of Photoshop and is not compatible with your current version
The plug-in was installed incompletely or incorrectly
More than one version of the same plug-in is installed
A plug-in file has become damaged

Third-party plugin installation help

To check if you have a plugin installed on your machine, do any of the following:

Check using Creative Cloud Desktop App, from Stock & Marketplace > Manage Plugins. To know more, see Plugins Marketplace for Photoshop.
Launch Photoshop and go to Window > Extension (Legacy) to find your installed plug-ins.

Here are some good general guidelines to follow with third-party plug-ins to avoid problems:

Never manually drag plug-ins from a previous version of Photoshop's plug-ins folder to your current version's Photoshop plug-ins folder.

Alwayscheck the plug-in manufacturer's website for the latest version of your plug-in. Downloading an updated version will often fix plug-in issues.
Always use the manufacturer's plug-in installer to install (or reinstall) their plug-ins.

For help installing or uninstalling 3rd party plug-ins, contact yourthird party plug-in vendor.

Note:

In the past, third-party plug-ins using their own installation mechanism weren't automatically moved or synchronized between major Photoshop versions.

In order to minimize the need for reinstallation between major versions, we've asked developers to start installing into a shared Creative Cloud location. Please reinstall/update your 3rd party plug-insto use the Shared Creative Cloud Locationso that third-party plug-ins are automatically loaded between major versions.

Troubleshoot your plug-ins

Up to date plug-ins | Identify problematic plug-ins | Disable or uninstall plug-ins

Ensure you have the latest updates for your plug-ins

Check the plug-in manufacturer's website for the latest version of your plug-in. Downloading an updated version will often fix plug-in issues.
Use the manufacturer's plug-in installer to install (or reinstall) their plug-ins.

Note:

Identify problematic plug-ins

To quickly determine whether Photoshop is loading a problematic optional or third-party plug-in, do the following:

Close Photoshop.
Hold down the Shift key and launch Photoshop. A dialog appears during launch that reads "Skip loading optional and third-party plug-ins?"
Click Yes to skip loading optional and third-party plug-ins.

Note:
This disables optional and third-party plug-ins only for the current session. If you quit and restart Photoshop without holding down the Shift key, the optional or third-party plug-ins will be enabled.
Try to re-create the problem.

If the problem recurs, an installed optional or third-party plug-in is not causing the problem. Close Photoshop and then restart it without holding the Shift key to re-enable all the optional and third-party plug-ins. Skip the remaining steps in this section.

If the problem does not recur, an optional or third-party plug-in is causing the problem. To identify specific problematic plug-ins:

Close Photoshop.
Move one plug-in from Photoshop's Plug-ins folder to a temporary location (for example, a new folder on your desktop).

Note:

See Locate plug-in folders for the locations of the Photoshop plug-in folders.
Start Photoshop and then try to re-create the problem.
Do one of the following:
- If the problem recurs, repeat steps 1 through 3.
- If the problem does not recur, the plug-in that you last removed is causing the problem. Remove or disable this plug-in permanently and then contact its publisher for support or for information about an updated plug-in version. Reinstall or re-enable the non-problematic optional and third-party plug-ins that you removed or disabled.
Start Photoshop and then try to re-create the problem.

See Also
How to Create a Windows Icon: 2 Easy Step-by-Step Methods

Permanently disable or uninstall the problematic plug-in

To permanently disable a plug-in, use one or more of these methods:

Follow the uninstall/removal instructions provided by yourThird Party Plug-in vendor.
Remove the plug-in from Photoshop's Plug-ins folder to a temporary location that is outside of Photoshop's Plug-ins folders (for example, to a new folder on your desktop).
Rename each of the problematic plug-in files so that the filename begins with a tilde (~). Photoshop does not load files that begin with a tilde.

If you currently cannot find the problematic plugin (example: Adobe Design to Print), but you had installed it some time back, please use these steps to clean the remaining files:

Close Adobe Photoshop, if running.
Do any of the following to deleteExtension:
- Go to /Library/ApplicationSupport/Adobe/CEP/extensions/and delete the specific plugin folder (for example: ‘com.adobe.designtoPrint’)
- Go to /Users/<username>/Library/ApplicationSupport/Adobe/CEP/extensions/anddelete the specific plugin folder (for example: ‘com.adobe.designtoPrint’)
DeletePlug-inandGeneratorfolder: Go to/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2022/Plug-ins/and delete the ‘Generator’ folder andAdobeDesigntoPrint.plugin
DeleteFBSfolder:Go to/Users/<username>/Library/ApplicationSupport/Adobe/Adobe Design to Printand delete ‘FBS’ folder

Plug-ins not found or cannot be verified

New to mac 10.15 (Catalina) is that plug-ins that are quarantined will return a Photoshop error that "the file was not found" or an OS error that says that the plug-in "can't be opened because its integrity cannot be verified.

This happens with plug-ins that are not notarized that are downloaded from the web or installed by other methods such as drag & drop.

Solution

Obtain updated plug-ins from3rd party developersthat are notarized for macOS 10.15. Photoshop will load plug-ins that have been notarized by Apple.

Additional Information

Customers that have plug-ins already installed and then update to macOS 10.15 should not see this issue.

Customers that upgrade to macOS 10.15 and then try to download and install a plug-in may see failures.

Determine whether a plug-in is quarantined

You can easily determine whether or not a plug-in is quarantined by using the Terminal.

For example, if plug-in is in the Photoshop application plug-ins folder:

% ls -l@ /Applications/Adobe\ Photoshop\ 2019/Plug-ins/<plug-in-name>/

For example, if plug-in is in the shared Creative Cloud location folder:

% ls -l@ /Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CC/<plug-in-name>/

Note: replace <plug-in-name> with the actual name of the plug-in you need to correct

Which returns the following result:

total 0 drwxr-xr-x@ 6 <username> wheel 192 Sep 26 15:11 Contents com.apple.quarantine 22

"com.apple.quarantine 22" means that the plug-in is quarantined.

Note: See Locate Plug-In Foldersfor help finding the locations of plug-ins.

Locate plug-in folders

Third-party and optional plug-ins can be installed to one of two locations:

Version specific location: Will only load the installed plug-in for a specific version of Photoshop (e.g. only Photoshop 2020).
Shared Creative Cloud Location:Will load the plug-in for all installed versions of Photoshop without having to reinstall the plug-in.

Version specific location

macOS:

If you installed to the Photoshop version-specific location, the Photoshop plug-ins folder is located here:

Hard Drive/Applications/[Photoshop version]/Plug-ins

Windows:

If you installed to the Photoshop version-specific location, the Photoshop plug-ins folder is located here:

Hard Drive\Program Files\Adobe\[Photoshop version]\Plug-ins

macOS:

If you installed to the shared Creative Cloud location, the plug-ins folder is located here:

Hard Drive/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CC

Additionally, the Camera Raw plug-in is located in a common plug-ins folder, which Photoshop, Adobe Bridge, and Photoshop Elements share:

Hard Drive/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/[Photoshop version number]/File Formats.

Windows:

If you installed to the shared Creative Cloud location, the plug-ins folder is located here:

Hard Drive\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins\CC

Additionally, the Camera Raw plug-in is located in a common plug-ins folder, which Photoshop, Adobe Bridge, and Photoshop Elements share:

Hard Drive\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins\[Photoshop version number]

Camera Raw plug-in help

Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop still does not recognize your camera?

See Why doesn't my version of Photoshop or Lightroom support my camera?

Not able to successfully update the Camera Raw plug-in?

See Camera Raw plug-in installer.