Install the ScriptingListener plug-in

Last updated on Oct 4, 2026

Download and place the plug-in files in your Photoshop Plug-ins folder to enable JavaScript action logging.

The ScriptingListener plug-in automatically records your Photoshop actions as JavaScript code, creating a log file on your Desktop that updates as you work.

Use ScriptingListener when you need to understand JavaScript syntax for specific Photoshop operations or when you want to learn how actions translate to code. The plug-in captures operations and writes equivalent JavaScript to a log file, making it useful for learning the scripting API or debugging automation workflow. For general task automation without scripting knowledge, create and record actions instead.

  • Administrator permissions to modify the Photoshop application folder
  • Sufficient disk space on your Desktop (log files can grow large with extended use)

Download and install the plug-in

Quit Photoshop completely before beginning installation.

Download the ScriptingListener plug-in package for your operating system from the Adobe download servers: Scripting Listener Plug-in for macOS (2020), ScriptingListener Plug-in for macOS (2019 and earlier), or ScriptingListener Plug-In for Windows.

Double-click the downloaded file to decompress it, and extract all files when prompted.

Locate the Utilities folder in the extracted package contents.

Copy the Utilities folder to your Photoshop Plug-ins directory: Applications/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Plug-ins (macOS) or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop [version]\Plug-ins (Windows).

Relaunch Photoshop to activate the plug-in.

After installation, Photoshop creates a file named ScriptingListenerJS.log on your Desktop that records all actionable operations as JavaScript code. The log file updates continuously as you work, appending new code with each action.

Tip

Monitor the log file size periodically, as it can grow large during extended editing sessions. Delete or archive the log file when needed to free up disk space.

The downloaded package also includes scripting documentation in the Documents folder and example code in the Sample Scripts folder. For detailed information about the Photoshop Scripting SDK and ScriptingListener functionality, see the Adobe Photoshop scripting discussion forum.