Did your computer suddenly lose important PSD files for no reason? Or did the PSD file get corrupted, making it inaccessible and showing you an error message like this:

    • This document contains what appears to be damaged Adobe Photoshop data.
    • This file contains one or more apparently damaged layers.
    • Your request can't be completed because this isn't a valid Photoshop document.
    • The PSD file can't be opened because it's not a valid Photoshop document.

Is there any way to recover and fix a corrupted PSD file on your PC or Mac? There are several methods you can try to repair a PSD file.

Repair Corrupted PSD File

Method 1: Repair a Corrupted Photoshop File with a File Repair Tool

When you come across situations where you can't open or repair a corrupted PSD file, don't worry! We've got your back! We offer the most effective photo recovery software – the Fixo Photo Repair Tool. If your lost or damaged PSD file is less than 2GB, you can directly use the Photo Repair Tool for PSD file repair.

By using a powerful PSD Repair tool, you can quickly restore lost, deleted, formatted, or even corrupted PSD files with just a few clicks on all Windows systems, including Windows 10/8/7, and so on. This file repair software will greatly assist you in effortlessly recovering all lost Adobe Photoshop CC 2019/2018/2017/2016 files or any other images, videos, audios, and documents.

Moreover, Fixo excels at file repair. You can use it to efficiently fix corrupted videos and documents.

✨Step 1: Download, install, and launch the Fixo Photo Repair tool.

Download and install Fixo from official sources, then launch it. Select “Photo Repair” > “Add Photo” to fix corrupted photos from your local disk or external hard drive.

Add photos to be repaired using Fixo

✨ Step 2: Start Repairing the Photo

If you uploaded several photos, click “Repair All” to fix all of them at once. Of course, you can also fix them one by one – just find the photo you want to restore and click “Repair.”

Select the photo you want to repair Select the photo you want to repair

Step 3: Preview and save the image.

Click the eye icon to preview the repaired image. Click “Save All” to save the photos, and then select “View Repaired” from the pop-up menu to quickly locate the restored items.

Save the repaired photo in Fixo

After that, try opening and using the repaired PSD file in Adobe Photoshop. If you don't want to use a third-party PSD repair tool, try the following methods.

Method 2: Repair PSD File from AutoRecovery

If Photoshop crashes or quits unexpectedly while you're editing a document, you can use the Auto-Recover feature to recover your damaged Photoshop file.

Photoshop's auto-save feature saves your work at regular intervals. With this feature enabled, you have a chance of recovering damaged and unsaved Photoshop files.

Step 1: First, check if the 'Auto-Save' feature has been accidentally enabled. Open the Photoshop application and click on 'Edit' from the top toolbar. Then navigate to 'Preferences > File Handling.'

File handling options in PS

Step 2: Check the box for Save recovery information every xx minutes.

Auto-save feature in Photoshop

Step 3. Your automatically saved files will be located at:

This appears to be a file path in Windows for the AutoRecover feature of Adobe Photoshop CC. Here's the translation in English: Please replace "{Username}" with the actual username of the user on the computer. The asterisk (*) is often used as a placeholder for a version number or specific folder name in the file path.

Photoshop autosave file

Step 4. Choose the version of the damaged PSD file you want to recover.

Method 3: Recover Damaged PSD from .temp Files

If a Photoshop file gets corrupted due to a sudden crash of Adobe Photoshop or the Windows system, you can try to recover the damaged PSD file using the temporary files.

Step 1: Open the Temp folder by navigating to C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp\. Alternatively, you can search for %temp% in the search bar to open the Temp folder.

Step 2: Look for a temporary file that is similar to the damaged Photoshop file. You can sort the temp files by date to quickly locate the PSD file you need.

PSD Temporary Files

Step 3: Change the file extension from .temp to .psd.

Step 4: Open and recover the Photoshop file.

Method 4: Repair a Corrupted Photoshop File from an Earlier Version

Another useful method to fix a corrupted Photoshop file is to restore an earlier version of it. Note that this solution will work only if you have File History enabled on Windows, a feature that creates continuous backups of your personal files.

Step 1: Right-click on the corrupt or damaged PSD file and select 'Restore Previous Version'.

Select Restore Previous Versions

Step 2: Locate an earlier version of the damaged or corrupted PSD file, and choose Recover.

Step 3: Tap “Restore” to confirm your purchase.

Restore previous version of PSD file

< strong > Step 4. < /strong> Run Photoshop and open the recovered PSD file again. If you get a warning about missing type layers with embedded fonts, click OK.

Step 5: Check over all the layers and note any missing pieces. Save this as a new PSD file.

Bonus Tip: How to Fix Corrupted PSD Files on Mac

The above four solutions work for fixing a corrupted Photoshop file on Windows 10 or the new Windows 11. Check out the guide below to learn how to use Time Machine to repair a damaged PSD file on a Mac.

Step 1: Connect the external drive to your Mac and launch Time Machine.

Step 2. Locate the most recent Photoshop file that you want to recover from the backup.

Clicking “Recover” will restore the corrupted Photoshop file to your Mac.

Restore Lost PSD File from Time Machine

Repairing PSD Files Conclusion

When a Photoshop file becomes corrupted, there are a few methods you can try to fix it. While these methods aren't guaranteed to work 100% of the time, they might help you access a recent version of your document and save your work.

Utilize a Photo Repair tool to fix damaged PSD files. It can repair corrupted, damaged, and broken Word, Excel, PPT, and PSD documents, along with various types of images and videos.

"Frequently Asked Questions about Damaged Photoshop Files"

Here are more troubleshooting tips for repairing damaged Photoshop files.

1. Why is my Photoshop file corrupted?

If your PSD file is severely corrupted or damaged, you won't be able to access or open the PSD file. PSD files can become corrupted for several reasons, including:

  1. 1. Power outage
  2. 2. Computer, system, or Photoshop crash
  3. 3. Interference from a plugin or another application
  4. 4. Human error

If your PSD file is damaged or corrupted in any way, you won't be able to open it. You'll need to use a PSD file repair software or PSD repair solution to fix the damaged PSD before you can open it.

How to repair a corrupted PSD file?

How can I fix a corrupted PSD file? There are four possible methods that might help you repair a damaged Photoshop file:

    1. Recover PSD files with a Photoshop Damaged File Recovery tool 2. Repair corrupted files via AutoRecovery 3. Restore damaged PSD files from .temp files 4. Repair Photoshop files using an earlier version

If both methods fail, you can use professional PSD repair tools to restore Adobe Photoshop PSD files.

How can I repair a damaged PSD file online?

You can repair a damaged PSD file without downloading any desktop software by using a reliable online Adobe Photoshop repair tool. A good option is the Online Photo Repair Tool. Here are the steps you need to follow:

    1. Go to their official website and either drag the corrupted PSD file there or click "Upload Photo" to add it. 2. Enter a valid email address, then click "Start Repair" and wait patiently. 3. Once the repair is finished, enter the code sent to your email and click "Download Photo."

4. What programs can open PSD files?

The best programs for opening and editing PSD files are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and the CorelDRAW and Corel PaintShop Pro tools. You can download different versions of Photoshop. Other Adobe programs can also open PSD files, such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe After Effects.

5. Can I open PSD files without Photoshop?

You can use one of several open-source alternatives to Photoshop to open PSD files. Alternatively, you can use other commercial PSD editing software to open and edit PSD files without having Photoshop.

For open source tools, GIMP is a good option. It can open PSD files and even preserve the layer information. It provides some features to modify the PSD files. You can download and try it if you are interested.