Fixes for Adobe Photoshop Has Stopped Working Without Losing Files

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Adobe Photoshop has stopped working, help!

"Help! My Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 crashed at the startup window and I tried to restart it, still got 'Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 has stopped working' error message in PC. Is it possible to fix this problem and repair Photoshop 2017 to work again without losing any PSD? Do you know any good methods? I need help, thanks."

Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor that is widely used for graphic design. Similar to Adobe Illustrator crash, Adobe Photoshop may also crash and stop working at one time or another, which may occur when you launch the program or during your working process. Why Adobe Photoshop stopped working on your computer, generally, it is caused by:

• Outdated software
• Incompatibility between Photoshop and the Windows operating system
• Third-party plugins
• Software bugs

If Adobe Photoshop crashed and directly stopped working while you were editing a PSD file with it, don't worry. Just follow to see how to repair and fix Photoshop 2017 stop working error without losing any PSD files.

Fixes for Photoshop stopped working

Here you have two methods to try and repair not working Adobe Photoshop 2017 to function again:

Method 1. Rename and change a .dll file to fix Adobe Photoshop 2017 not working

Step 1. Go to C: drive and follow this path: c://windows/system32.

Step 2. Find LavasoftTcpService64.dll find and rename it to oldLavasoftTcpService64.dll.

Step 3. After this, reboot Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 and it shall work properly work again.

Method 2. Put a Tilda symbol ~ in front of the Spaces folder in Photoshop

Step 1. Go to C: drive > "Program Files" > "Adobe".

Step 2. Find Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 folder > "Required" > "Plug-Ins".

Step 3. Find Spaces folder and put a Tilda symbol ~ in front of this folder.

Step 4. Restart Photoshop to see if the problem has been fixed or not.

Method 3. Update Adobe Photoshop or Windows

If Photoshop crashes frequently, an incompatibility between the software and Windows may be the culprit. Check the tech specifications and system requirements of your current Photoshop version. If the results show a incompatibility, consider updating Photoshop or your system. 

Method 4. Remove plug-ins

If Adobe Photoshop has been working properly on your computer before but crashes very often recently, check whether you have installed any third-party plug-ins recently. If you did, removing the problematic plug-ins should fix the error "Adobe Photoshop has stopped working." Third-party software may also have the same impact on your computer. Thus, you can also have a check of the software you have installed lately.

How to Recover lost or unsaved PSD files in Adobe Photoshop

Software crash is often companied with data loss. It could be you lost the whole PSD file or lost the progress on the file you were working on. Specify your situation and choose the proper way to retrieve your data.

Method 1. Restore lost PSD files in Adobe Photoshop from PC

If Adobe Photoshop stops working suddenly or crashes, you are at a high risk of losing PSD files on your PC. If you lost PSD files on your computer after Photoshop stopped working, you can recover your lost files with theEaseUS Data Recovery Wizard- EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. This software will help to recover lost, deleted, or formatted files on your computer with a few simple clicks:

Step 1. Select a location and start scanning

Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the partition where you lost data. Then, click "Search for Lost Data".

Step 2. Filter and preview files

Use the file format filter on the left or upper right corner to find the files you need. If you remember the file name, you can also search in the search box, which is the fastest way to find the target file. Then, you can click the "Preview" button or double-click a file to preview its content.

Step 3. Recover lost data or files

Click the checkbox next to the file and click "Recover" to restore the lost data to your local storage or Cloud drive.

Method 2. Recover unsaved PSD from Adobe Photoshop

If you lost unsaved PSD files when Adobe Photoshop suddenly stops working or lost progress on a file, you can directly follow below guidelines to get your unsaved PSD files restored. (This tip only works when you enabled AutoSave feature in Photoshop before Photoshop stopped working. Generally, the feature is turned on by default.)

Step 1. Go to C:\Users\lindseysprague\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2019\Auto Recover.

Step 2. If saved files are hidden, go to View in File Explorer and tap on "View".

Step 3. Check the box next to "Hidden items" and then you can choose and save wanted PSD files into a safe location on your PC.

If AutoSave is disabled, it's not late to turn it on now to minimize data loss in future software crashes or other situations. How to set up the AutoSave feature? Here we will show you how to enable automatic save in Photoshop CC 2019:

Step 1. Open Adobe Photoshop on your computer.

Step 2. Go to "Edit" > "Preferences" > "File Handling..."

Step 3. In the "File Saving Options" section, check "Automatically Save Recovery Information Every:" and set a time interval according to your needs.

The Bottom Line

In addition to the causes listed above, virus attack is also likely to result in "Adobe Photoshop has stopped working" in some cases. Thus, you can also run antivirus software on your computer to have a try. Antivirus software may delete some files on your computer after the scanning to remove the virus. If that happens, don't hesitate to recover data deleted by antivirus software and retrieve your files immediately.