How to Clean Up Photoshop's Scratch Disks on Windows/Mac

If you've been using Photoshop for a while, chances are you've encountered a “Scratch Disk Error,” one of the most frustrating issues you can come across. In this article, we'll discuss what it is, how it works, and how to troubleshoot some of the issues you might run into while editing.

Fortunately, clearing Photoshop's scratch disk is straightforward. By following a few simple steps, you can remove the files and free up valuable storage space. This tutorial will show you how to clean the Photoshop scratch disk on both Windows 10 and macOS.

My Photoshop scratch disk is full...

If your Photoshop scratch disk is full, you can clear items that are taking up extra disk space, such as Photoshop caches and temporary files. You can also upgrade to a larger hard drive or add more RAM to free up space on your scratch disk.

Programs like Photoshop use the scratch disk as temporary memory to store and access project files while they're open. If the scratch disk is full, Photoshop won't work properly, and you may experience other issues with your Windows or Mac computer.

Here are some possible reasons:

• There is insufficient space on the drive for the Scratch Disk location. • The drive has run out of space allocated to Photoshop.

If you accidentally deleted important photos or files from a Photoshop disk, how can you recover the data? Try using a professional data recovery software to scan the same drive where the data was previously saved. This is particularly crucial if you saved the photos on your computer and then inadvertently deleted them. With just three steps, by downloading the Data Recovery Wizard Pro tool, you can easily recover deleted files.

Step 1: Run the Disk Drill data recovery wizard on your computer. Select the drive with the lost files and click “Scan.” If your lost files were on an external storage device, connect it to your computer first.

Step 2: The software will quickly scan for deleted files and then automatically perform a deep scan to look for more lost files. When the scan is finished, you can use the "Filter" to quickly filter files of a specific type.

Step 3: Hit the “Preview” button or double-click on the files for a full preview. Finally, select the desired files and hit “Recover” to save all of them at once in another secure location.

Before we begin, don't forget to hit the share button on Facebook, Twitter, or your favorite SNS to bookmark this tutorial. Then, let's take a look at two different ways to clear the Photoshop scratch disk on both Windows and Mac.

How to Clean Up Photoshop's Scratch Disk on Windows 10

It's important to regularly clean your scratch disk in Photoshop, especially if you work with large files or have multiple windows open. Photoshop stores temporary data in the scratch disk, and when it fills up, it can cause your computer to run slowly or even crash.

You can locate the Scrub Disk utility by following these steps:

Step 1: Open the "Edit" tab in Photoshop.

Step 2: Scroll to the bottom of the list, and choose “Preferences.”

Step 3: From the side menu, choose “Scratch Disks.”

Step 4. The drives with check marks are selected. Photoshop uses any drive with a check mark as a scratch disk.

Step 5: Select the hard drive you want to use to create the new scratch disk.

This way, Photoshop can spread the load around, taking some of the pressure off the boot drive.

To remove previous data from the scratch disk, you must locate and delete these files manually.

If Photoshop is installed on your startup drive, you can find its temporary files here: **C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Local\Temp**. 1. **Open the Temp folder**. - Once inside, look for a file named "Photoshop Temp" followed by a series of numbers. This file stores temporary information that Photoshop uses when it launches. 2. **Delete the file**. - To get rid of it, simply delete the file.

Back up first, because deleting temporary files could remove any unsaved work.

How to Clean Up Photoshop's Scratch Disks on Your Mac

Photoshop's temp files are usually the biggest culprit for wasted space on your scratch disk. So why keep them around? Deleting these files might help you avoid “scratch disk full” error messages, but only if you can't clear Photoshop's cache files.

Make sure to save your work and quit Photoshop before you can safely delete the temporary files. You can continue now.

To find Photoshop's scratch disk:

1. In the Finder menu bar, click **Go**. 2. Select **Go to Folder** from the drop-down menu. 3. In the text field, type `/tmp`.

This will open a new window containing all of your Photoshop files and folders. You should now have a list; carefully go through each folder and delete any files that are taking up space in your Photoshop scratch disk. Make sure to only select temporary files that end in .tmp.

2023 Tips | How to Recover Unsaved Photoshop (PSD) Files on Mac

Learn four methods to recover Photoshop files on Mac from temporary files, auto-save locations, previous versions, and directly using a Photoshop recovery tool.

The bottom line?

Finally, you can perform tasks to free up enough space for Photoshop to use. The Photoshop preferences file can sometimes become corrupted, which can affect how the scratch disk is handled. You can resolve a full scratch disk issue by resetting your preferences and then changing your scratch disk options.

How do I clear the Photoshop scratch disk? Photoshop FAQs

If you have any other questions, you can refer to the quick answers below to help yourself:

Cleaning up Photoshop's scratch disk doesn't involve running Photoshop itself. Here's how to do it: 1. **Close all apps**: First off, make sure every program, including Photoshop, is closed. 2. **Find the Photoshop scratch disk files**: These are usually hidden system files located in the root folder of your main hard drive (often Drive C:) with names like "Scratch Disk," "Photoshop Scratch Disk," or .psd files. They may be numbered, like "Scratch Disk 1," "Scratch Disk 2," etc. 3. **Display hidden files and folders**: On Windows, hit `Win + R`, type `control panel`, then select "Appearance and Personalization" > "File Explorer Options" > "View". Under Advanced settings, tick "Show hidden files, folders, and drives." On a Mac, open Finder, then choose "Go" > "Go to Folder…" and type `~/Library/Caches`. This should reveal folders potentially containing scratch disk files. 4. **Delete the scratch disk files**: Right-click on them and select "Delete" or "Move to Trash." Double-check that these are indeed Photoshop's scratch disk files since deleting critical files can cause problems. 5. **Empty the Recycling Bin/Trash**: Once deleted, empty the Recycling Bin or Trash to free up disk space entirely. 6. **Reboot your computer**: Restart your machine to ensure all changes take effect. Remember, Photoshop makes new scratch disk files as needed. If you constantly run into full scratch disk issues, consider upgrading your hard drive space or optimizing your system performance.

How to clean up Photoshop's scratch disk space without opening Photoshop: 1. Launch Finder and navigate to the "Applications" folder. 2. Find and start the "Activity Monitor." 3. In the Activity Monitor's list of processes, locate any running processes related to "Photoshop." 4. If you find any Photoshop processes running, select them and click the "X" button in the top-left corner to force them to quit. 5. Clear temporary space: This won't directly clean Photoshop's scratch disk, but you can try emptying the Trash and deleting unnecessary files to free up hard drive space. 6. Reset Photoshop settings: Locate Photoshop's installation folder, usually in "Applications" > "Adobe Photoshop." Then find and delete a file named "Adobe Photoshop Settings." This will reset Photoshop's settings the next time you launch it. Please note that the most direct way to clean up Photoshop's scratch disk is still by opening Photoshop and using the "File" > "Purge All..." menu option. However, the above steps can help release some system resources and settings without running the software.

2. Can I clean up Photoshop's scratch disks?

Make sure you remove the temporary disk only when it's no longer needed, as this can be a time-consuming process. In short, you can delete the temporary disk in Photoshop, but only after you're finished using it, since rebuilding it can be time-consuming.

How do I clear my cache?

• Choose Window > Purge > Trash. • Press Edit > Purge > Trash. • Choose Window > Preferences > General > Delete Files on Quit. • To save a file to your hard drive, choose File > Save As.