Enable optional extensions | Photoshop

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Optional extensions are used to manage specialized behaviors such as disable click to commit, VM buffering management and disabling scratch disk compression.

How to enable extensions

  1. Use Notepad (Windows) or a text editor on macOS to create a plain text file (.txt).

  2. Use this chart to enter the required text to enable your desired setting:

    Note:

    Example: Type the following text:

    # Force VM Buffering
    VMForceBuffering 1

    into the text file. Put each setting's required text on a new line in the text file.

    Name Required Text
    Disable Async IO AllowAsyncIO 0
    Disable Reduce User Experience Friction ReduceUXFriction 0
    Disable VM Buffering VMDisableBuffering 1
    Force VM Buffering VMForceBuffering 1
    Disable Scratch Compression VMCompressPages 0
    Overscroll Always  
    Remember Slow Files RecentFilesSlowTimeout 1200
    Turn on Legacy Healing Brush  
    Use WinTab instead of Windows Ink UseSystemStylus 0
    Unlimited Preview Size FullPreviewMaxSize 32767
    Disable transform proportionally by default  
    Disable click to commit OnCanvasClickToCommit 0
    Disable live blend modes LiveBlendModes 0
    Disable document classification EnableDocumentGroup 0
    Select Subject Version SelectSubjectVersion 1
    Force GPU GPUForce 1
    Disable GPU for Neural Filters NeuralFilterForceGPU 0
    Use deprecated macOS save API

    ForceInplaceSaveForNonAPFSOnMac 1

    UseDeprecatedAppleMediaServer 1

  3. Save the file as "PSUserConfig.txt" to your Photoshop version settings folder: 

    Windows: 

    • [Installation Drive]:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\[Photoshop_version]\[Photoshop_version]Settings\

    macOS:

    • //Users/[User Name]/Library/Preferences/[Photoshop_version]Settings/
    Note:

    The user Library folder is hidden on macOS. See Access hidden user library files | macOS for more information.

Extension descriptions and compatibility

Disable Async IO

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable Async IO
AllowAsyncIO 0

  • v14.1 or later

Disable Reduce User Experience Friction

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable Reduce UX Friction

ReduceUXFriction 0

  • v17.0 or later

When enabled, clicking on the canvas with an active Type layer will commit the text without having to hit Enter or Esc or click on the commit checkbox in the options bar.  Also attempting to move a ​Background layer will prompt with an option to Convert to Normal Layer.  Disabling this option will return legacy/default functionality.

Disable Scratch Compression

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable Scratch Compression
VMCompressPages 0

  • v14.1 or later

By default, Photoshop compresses pages before writing them to the scratch file. This compression does not result in a smaller scratch file since Photoshop must still reserve space for the uncompressed pages. For slow disk drives or SCSI implementations, however, the reduction in the data to be transferred to or from disk more than compensates for the time needed to compress or decompress the data. For fast disk drives and SCSI implementations, this is not the case. Disable Scratch Compression provides a slight performance improvement on machines with fast disk drives and SCSI implementations.

Disable VM Buffering

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable VM Buffering
VMDisableBuffering 1

  • macOS only
  • v14.1 or later

When running on a macOS with more than 4 GB of RAM, Photoshop tells the OS to use the extra RAM as a buffer for the scratch file to speed up scratch file access. Disabling VM Buffering ensures that Photoshop doesn't access the extra RAM.

Force VM Buffering

Required Text

Compatibility

# Force VM Buffering
VMForceBuffering 1
 

  • macOS only
  • v14.1 or later

When running on a macOS with less than 4 GB of RAM, Photoshop does not tell the OS to use the extra RAM as a buffer for the scratch file to speed up scratch file access. Force VM Buffering forces Photoshop to access RAM for VM buffering.

Overscroll Always

Note:

In current versions of Photoshop, a preference controls the overscroll behavior:

  • Select Preferences > Tools and enable Overscroll.

Remember Slow Files

Required Text

Compatibility

# Remember Slow Files
RecentFilesSlowTimeout 1200

  • v14.1 or later

By default, Photoshop removes files from its recent file list if it ever takes longer than 20 ticks (1/3 second) to figure out where the file is when the list is updated after you open or save a file. Some removable devices and some network drives may take longer than this. Remember Slow Files prevents the recent file list from forgetting about files that take too long to resolve when the list is updated (it allows up to 20 seconds). However, saving or opening a file may take longer if this plug-in is installed.

Turn on Legacy Healing Brush

Note:

In the current version of Photoshop, you can revert to the legacy behavior for the Healing Brush tool by enabling Use Legacy in the tool options bar.

A new Diffusion slider allows you to achieve results similar to the legacy algorithm. See Healing brush examples for more information.

Use WinTab instead of Windows Ink

Required Text

Compatibility

# Use WinTab
UseSystemStylus 0

  • Windows only

On Windows 10, Photoshop uses Windows Ink to control the interaction of Photoshop and a stylus device. Using Windows Ink gives you better stroke results and allows you to use your tablet PC or convertible device without having to install a driver.

If the tablet uses a WinTab driver and does not have an option to use Windows Ink, you can force Photoshop to use WinTab instead of Windows Ink.

See Tablet support for Photoshop for more information.

Unlimited Preview Size

Required Text

Compatibility

# Unlimited Preview Size
FullPreviewMaxSize 32767

  • v14.1 or later

If you have the Full Size option for Image Previews turned on in the Saving Files preferences, Photoshop limits the size of the preview to 512 x 512 pixels. Unlimited Preview Size removes the 512 x 512–pixel limit on file previews.

Disable Transform Proportionally by Default

Note:

In the current version of Photoshop, you can revert to the legacy behavior for transform by enabling Preferences > General > Use Legacy Free Transform.

See Consistent transform behavior for more details

Disable Javascript Warnings

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable Javascript Warnings

WarnRunningScripts 0

  • v20.0 and later

Disable Javascript Warnings will suppress warning dialogs when running scripts outside of Photoshop's File > Scripts menu.

Disable Click To Commit

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable click to commit
OnCanvasClickToCommit 0

  • v20.0.1 or later

Disable Click to Commit reverts back to the legacy commit behavior for crop, transform and place.

Disable Live Blend Modes

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable live blend modes
LiveBlendModes 0

  • v20.0.1 or later

Disable Live Blend Modes disables live previews on canvas of layer blend modes.

Disable Document Classification

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable document classification
EnableDocumentGroup 0

  • v21.0 or later

By default, Photoshop captures the document type of the document being saved from the app for the Adobe Product Improvement Program.

Select Subject Version

Required Text

Compatibility

# Use Select Subject Version 1 Algorithm

SelectSubjectVersion 1

  • v21.0 - 21.1.3

When enabled, Photoshop v21.0 - 21.1.3 uses the older Photoshop 20.x select subject algorithm.

GPU Force

Required Text

Compatibility

# Force GPU On

GPUForce 1
  • v22.4 or later

 

Photoshop disables cards that do not meet the minimum requirements. You can force an unsupported card on, and Photoshop may function with an unsupported card enabled. However, we do not officially support Photoshop with this setting enabled. Use at your own risk.

Disable GPU for Neural Filters

Required Text

Compatibility

# Disable GPU for Neural Filters

NeuralFilterForceGPU 0
  • v23.1 or later

 

Disables Neural Filters from using the GPU for processing, and uses the CPU instead.

Use deprecated macOS save API

Required Text

Compatibility

# Use deprecated macOS save API

ForceInplaceSaveForNonAPFSOnMac 1

UseDeprecatedAppleMediaServer 1
  • v22.4 or later

 

Photoshop uses the latest macOS save API in current versions. When enabled, this setting forces Photoshop to use the older, deprecated save methods.

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