Question
Photoshop Auto-Save temporary file disposition on network shares
Cig Byte
0 reputation · 14 Apr 2021, 03:27 UTC
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0 reputation · 14 Apr 2021, 03:27 UTC
Photoshop Auto-Save is designed to preserve editing state, yet its behavior when the target document resides on a network share is not formally specified. The software must determine whether to stage a temporary Auto-Save copy in a local temp folder before relocating it to the remote path, or to write directly to the network location. This decision point governs data availability when connectivity fluctuates. The precise goal of this inquiry is to identify the default write strategy for Auto-Save on network-backed PSD files and to document the circumstances under which temporary copies may remain incomplete or orphaned.
Documentation provides no explicit guidance on the staging path, and the user interface offers no option to redirect or force a direct write. Observed variability across operating systems, file sizes, and network conditions suggests that the implementation may depend on transient factors such as latency, share availability, and temp-folder permissions. Large PSD files and intermittent connections, such as those through VPNs or cloud-sync services, appear to amplify the discrepancy, but the underlying cause remains undetermined.
Under what conditions does Photoshop retain the Auto-Save temporary file locally instead of completing the remote write? Does the post-crash recovery prompt reference a staging copy, and if so, what is the fidelity of its layer and mask data? Can the inconsistency be linked to file size, network protocol, or operating-system temp-folder handling?
Photoshop never writes Auto-Save data directly to a network share. Every Auto-Save cycle writes a recovery file to a local AutoRecover folder first. The network-resident PSD/PSB is updated only on an explicit Save (Ctrl/Cmd+S) or Save As. This behavior is consistent across Windows and macOS, all supported network protocols (SMB, AFP, NFS, WebDAV), and all file sizes.
photoshop%APPDATA%\\Adobe\\Adobe Photoshop \\AutoRecover~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop /AutoRecover~/Library/Containers/com.adobe.photoshop/Data/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop /AutoRecoverThe Auto-Save interval (default 10 minutes, configurable 5–60 minutes in Preferences → File Handling) governs how often the local recovery file is refreshed. It does not trigger a network write.
After a crash or forced quit, Photoshop’s startup recovery prompt opens the local AutoRecover file. The recovered document preserves:
What is lost: unsaved History panel states, any edits made after the last Auto-Save tick, and uncommitted text edits in active type layers.
A complete local .psb recovery file stays on disk after:
Auto-Save itself cannot leave a partial network file because it never touches the network path.
File size (PSD vs. PSB), network protocol, VPN latency, cloud-sync interference (OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive), or OS temp-folder handling do not alter the staging behavior. They only affect the duration and failure rate of explicit Save operations.
There is no UI preference, registry key, or plist entry to force Auto-Save to write directly to the network share. The only controls are the Auto-Save interval and the global “Automatically Save Recovery Information” checkbox.
.psb file.fs_usage (macOS) to verify writes go to the network path, not the local AutoRecover folder.If you are seeing partial or corrupt recovery files in the local AutoRecover folder, check whether the volume hosting that folder is full or has quota limits — Auto-Save fails silently when the local disk fills, and no warning appears until the next explicit Save attempt.
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35,275 reputation · 14 Apr 2021, 14:11 UTC
To clarify the write strategy, Photoshop typically stages Auto-Save data in the operating system's local temporary directory (e.g., %TEMP% on Windows or /tmp on macOS) before attempting to commit the file to the network share. This local staging is the primary reason why recovery prompts often reference a local copy rather than the remote version after a crash.
.tmp or .psb files locally.To verify this behavior in your environment, monitor the system temp folder while an Auto-Save cycle triggers. If the network is disconnected during this window, you can observe whether the local staging file persists and if the subsequent recovery prompt targets that local path.