How to Fix Photoshop Scratch Disk Full Errors

Why You’re Seeing This Error? Photoshop’s scratch disk acts like a temporary workspace. When it fills up, You will learn how to fix Photoshop scratch disk full errors warning. This happens because:

• Your hard drive is out of space.
• Photoshop’s scratch disk is set to a slow or full drive.
• You’re working with large files or too many layers.

Left unfixed, Photoshop slows down or crashes. Let’s solve this for good.

Free up space, speed up Photoshop, and avoid crashes—no tech skills needed.

Step 1: Free Up Disk Space

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Delete Temporary Files

1. On Windows:
   • Press Windows + R, type %temp%, and delete all files.
   • Empty the Recycle Bin.
2. On Mac:
   • Open Finder → Go → Go to Folder, type /private/var/folders/, and delete temp files.
   • Use Disk Utility (Applications → Utilities) to clear caches.

Uninstall Unused Apps

• Windows: Settings → Apps → Uninstall.
• Mac: Drag apps to Trash or use CleanMyMac.

Goal: Free at least 20% of your drive’s total space.

Step 2: Change Photoshop Scratch Disk Location

1. Open Photoshop.
2. Go to Edit → Preferences → Scratch Disks (Windows) or Photoshop → Settings → Scratch Disks (Mac).
3. Uncheck the full drive.
4. Check a drive with ample space (preferably an SSD).
5. Click OK and restart Photoshop.

Pro Tip: Use an external SSD for scratch disks if your internal drive is small.

Step 3: Optimize Photoshop’s Performance

1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Performance (Windows) or Photoshop → Settings → Performance (Mac).
2. Increase RAM Allocation: Set Photoshop to use 70-80% of available RAM.
3. Adjust History States: Lower from 50 to 20 to reduce memory usage.
4. Cache Levels: Set to 4-6 for large files.

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Step 4: Clean Up Your Photoshop File

• Merge Layers: Right-click layers → Merge Visible (avoid flattening if you need edits).
• Rasterize Smart Objects: Right-click smart objects → Rasterize Layer.
• Purge Data: Go to Edit → Purge → All.

Warning: Purge deletes undo history. Save your file first!

Step 5: Repair Disk Permissions (Mac Only)

1. Open Disk Utility (Applications → Utilities).
2. Select your startup disk.
3. Click First Aid → Run.

This fixes errors preventing Photoshop from accessing the scratch disk.

Step 6: Update Photoshop

Outdated versions have memory bugs.

1. Open the Creative Cloud app.
2. Click Updates → Update next to Photoshop.

Advanced Fixes

Use a Dedicated Scratch Drive

• Format an external SSD to exFAT (Windows/Mac compatible).
• Assign it as the only scratch disk in Preferences → Scratch Disks.

Disable GPU Acceleration

1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Performance.
2. Uncheck Use Graphics Processor.
3. Restart Photoshop.

Note: Turn this back on later for better performance.

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Prevent Future Errors

1. Keep 25% of your drive free.
2. Avoid saving scratch files to USB drives (they’re too slow).
3. Split large projects into smaller files.
4. Use Purge (Edit → Purge → All) after major edits.

FAQs about How to Fix Photoshop Scratch Disk Full errors

Q: Can I use an external HDD as a scratch disk?
A: Yes, but SSDs are 5x faster. Avoid HDDs for large files.

Q: Why does the error persist after freeing space?
A: Your drive might be fragmented (Windows) or need formatting. Back up data and reformat the drive.

Q: Does scratch disk size affect performance?
A: Yes! Photoshop needs 2-3x your file size as scratch space. A 1GB file requires 2-3GB free.

Q: Can I use cloud storage as a scratch disk?
A: No—scratch disks require local or external drives.

Still Stuck? Try These

1. Reset Preferences: Hold Alt + Ctrl + Shift (Windows) or Option + Cmd + Shift (Mac) while launching Photoshop.
2. Reinstall Photoshop: Uninstall via Creative Cloud, then reinstall.

Final Checklist

1. Free up 20%+ drive space. ✅
2. Assign scratch disk to an SSD. ✅
3. Increase RAM allocation. ✅
4. Update Photoshop. ✅

Need More Help?
Visit Adobe’s official guide or comment below.