Photoshop’s “scratch disks full”problem usually occurs when your computer’s memory isn’t large enough to store temporary Photoshop files. When this error occurs, Photoshop either won’t load or won’t load at all.
Clearing “scratch disks full”on your Mac isn’t a problem you’ll encounter often, but people who work with tools like Photoshop should know how to deal with it if it does. This issue often occurs in intensive programs such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro, which can be confusing.
I’ll walk you through how to solve the “scratch disks full”error on your Mac and why Photoshop’s scratch disks are full. How best to manage memory to reduce or eliminate the frequency of these pop-ups.
What is the “Scratch disks full”error?
Virtual memory, often referred to as cache memory, is required when running Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. Here you will find and access temporary project files.
When there is not enough RAM to complete a task, Photoshop uses free disk space as virtual memory. Photoshop lets you assign multiple scratch disks, giving you more space to work with.
Photoshop stealthily eats up hard drive space when you’re working with large photos and multiple layers, quickly creating a mountain of temporary project files. It’s worth mentioning that when you install Photoshop for the first time, you’ll have the option to assign scratch CDs to any drive you like.
Why are the currently selected scratch disks full?
The most common cause of the “scratch disks full”problem is temporary files. They often collect on your disk and leave no trace of their existence.
If you frequently force close Photoshop, you may have a lot of temporary files on your computer. Photoshop saves such files on your computer because it can’t adequately close all projects after you exit it so quickly.
Here are a few more possible causes for the message mentioned above:
- There is not enough space in the drive to store the scratch disk.
- The disk partition that Photoshop uses is full.
- Photoshop could only use a limited amount of RAM.
What to do if scratch disks are full?
Don’t panic when you see the “Photoshop scratch disks are full”message, don’t panic. Mac computers cannot resolve this issue. It will not automatically free up disk space or create a separate partition to avoid this issue.
You need to learn how to clean the scratch disk yourself.
How much disk space do I need?
There is no standard disk space for all users. The amount of free space you need is determined by how much you modify documents in Photoshop and how many temporary files you keep in memory.
For Photoshop, you need at least 1.5 GB of free disk space (with standard templates, presets, brushes, etc.). You may also need additional disk space equal to twice the total size of all files you have open at the same time.
If you’re a “heavy”Photoshop user, you’ll probably need a lot more storage space than the original size files. Loading dozens of brushes or patterns increases the amount of workspace required to run your Photoshop application.
Best Practices for Fixing Scratch Disks – Complete Mistake in Adobe Photoshop (Windows and Mac)
- Change scratch disk on startup
- Free up memory space on your computer
- Delete temporary Photoshop files
- Delete Photoshop Cache Files
- Reset Crop Tool
- Change Scratch Disk in Photoshop
- Disable Auto Repair in Photoshop
- Let Photoshop use RAM
- Defragment your hard drive
- Reset Adobe Photoshop Preferences
1. Change scratch disk at startup
If the disk is almost full, move the directory to one with more space. When you launch Photoshop, press Command + Option to change the scratch disk location.
Replacing the scratch drive with another drive on your system may be a reasonable option. If you don’t have another drive, you can buy one, with a Solid State Drive (SSD) being the best option for working Mac OS X drives.
To replace the scratch disk in Photoshop, follow these steps:
- Select Photoshop from the dropdown list.
- Scratch Disk can be found under Settings.
- Select or remove a disk as scratch disk by checking or unchecking the box.
- Click OK.
- Restart Photoshop if necessary.
2. Free up space on your computer
Examine the disk to make sure you don’t need anything. This is usually the case, so delete old files to free up space.
You can also easily copy files to external devices, DVDs, or cloud storage services such as Dropbox and iCloud. Apple has added additional tools to help users manage disk space in macOS Sierra.
On Windows, check your storage.
- Open the Settings app on your device.
- On the next screen, select System.
- To view information about the storage on your computer, go to the Storage section.
- You will be able to keep track of what is using how much RAM. This will help you determine what needs to be fixed.
Check Your Mac’s Storage
- Select “About This Mac”from the Apple logo in the top left corner.
- At the top of the page, select Storage and then Manage.
- It will show you what information is taking up how much space and give you recommendations on how to free up memory.
3. Delete temporary Photoshop files.
Photoshop creates and saves temporary files on your computer’s hard drive. Once Photoshop is closed, these files can be safely deleted. This allows you to free up some memory.
- To launch Run, press the Windows + R keys at the same time, then type %temp% into it and press Enter.
- Locate the Photoshop or PST files when the temporary folder opens.
- Select “Delete”from the context menu when you right-click these files.
- Empty the Recycle Bin on your desktop by right-clicking it and selecting Empty Recycle Bin.
- On a Mac, use Spotlight to find and remove temporary files.
4. Delete Photoshop Cache Files
Photoshop includes a feature that allows you to delete individual Photoshop caches. These problematic caches can grow and take up a lot of space on your working drive if the program does not automatically delete them.
To use this feature, open Photoshop on your Mac and open an image:
- Select Edit from the menu bar.
- Hover over “clear”to see four options.
- Undo, Clipboard, History, and All are all options. If an item is greyed out, it has been removed from the list.
- To wipe all your caches, select “all”and select the individual item you want to delete.
- You will be informed that the cleanup is irreversible, so double check if you need an older version of one of your projects before clicking OK.
5. Reset values for the crop tool
Photoshop’s crop tool lets you crop photos to a specific size. If you specify the size in the wrong units, such as centimeters instead of pixels, you will end up with an incredibly huge image.
The image takes up a lot of memory, resulting in a “scratch disks full”error in Photoshop.
- In Photoshop, use the crop tool to exclude any values from the provided margins.
- When entering values, use pixels as the unit of measure whenever possible.
6. Change Scratch Disk in Photoshop
If your device’s scratch disks are full and Photoshop 2019 or earlier cannot be launched, you can create a new scratch disk by doing the following:
- During startup on macOS, hold down the Cmd + Option keys.
- Hold down the Ctrl+Alt keys during the Windows startup process.
Alternatively, you can change scratch disk settings in Photoshop by doing the following:
- Go to “Settings”then “Scratch Disks”after launching Photoshop.
- Select Edit, then Preferences, then Scratch Disks in Windows.
- Select Photoshop, then Preferences, then Scratch Disks in macOS.
- To disable or enable scratch disk, clear or select the active checkbox in the Preferences dialog box.
- To change the order of scratch disks, click the arrow buttons.
- Click OK to save your changes.
- Restart Photoshop and check if the error persists.
7. Disable Auto Repair in Photoshop
In most cases, if you unexpectedly exit Photoshop, Photoshop will attempt to automatically repair your project. This can result in Photoshop’s “scratch disks full”error.
You can turn off automatic recovery to save memory by reducing the size of temporary files on scratch drives. It is worth noting that you risk not recovering.
On Windows OS,
- Open the Photoshop app.
- Select “Edit”, then “Process settings files”, “Automatically save recovery information”.
- Disable procedure.
on Mac,
- Open the Photoshop app.
- Select “File Handling”from the “Settings”menu in Photoshop, then automatically save the recovery information.
8. Let Photoshop Use RAM
Allowing Photoshop to use additional RAM is one method for dealing with scratch disk issues. This will allow it to store more temporary files in the RAM of your working drives.
- Launch Photoshop on your computer.
- At the top of the screen, click Photoshop, Preferences, and Performance.
- A box called “Allow Photoshop”can be seen on the right sidebar.
- Enter the amount of RAM you want to use in Photoshop in the box next to this option. Then click OK.
- This will fix the Scratch Disks Full error.
9. Defragment your hard drive
Defragmenting Macs is not required, and if you have a modern Mac with an SSD, defragmenting can damage it. Macs with SSDs store files differently than Macs with HDDs; so defragmenting them can be harmful.
Backing up your files is a good idea because there will be times when clearing the app cache or files mistakenly deletes or destroys files you want to keep. Having a backup plan is like having an insurance policy.
Found in Windows. It is recommended that you defragment your scratch disk in Windows to free up memory for Photoshop. This should help you fix the issue with the application’s scratch disks.
- Defrag and Optimize Drives can be found by searching for “Defrag”in the Start menu.
- On the next screen, you will get a list of partitions on your hard drive.
- Click the “Optimize”button next to the one you’re using as your scratch drive.
- This will fix the Scratch Disks Full error.
10. Reset Adobe Photoshop Preferences
Filling scratch disks can occur due to a bug or a corrupted settings file in Photoshop. At startup, you can reset the settings in the same way you can reset a scratch drive.
- Hold down CTRL+ALT+SHIFT (Windows) or CMD+OPTION+SHIFT (Mac) as Photoshop starts resetting your preferences.
- This will reset the settings; if at all possible, back up your settings before resetting them.
- If you would like to delete the Photoshop Preferences file, you will be prompted. Select Yes to delete files.
- Make sure Photoshop has enough RAM to run smoothly and properly set up scratch disks.
- All Photoshop users need to keep track of efficiency and know where scratch disks are.
- This will fix the Scratch Disks Full error.
Conclusion
One of the typical problems that arise when using Photoshop is the “Scratch Disks Full”error. Delete temporary folders on the disk regularly to avoid similar situations in the future. This ensures that Photoshop has enough disk space to run its applications. All of the above methods will help resolve the Scratch Disks Full error.