Photoshop CC 2021 Smart Object Automatic Refresh: Unresolved Behavior Across OS
25.5K reputation · 03 Mar 2026, 05:36 UTC
Background
Photoshop CC 2021 introduced an Automatic Refresh option for linked Smart Objects, meant to keep the in‑document representation in sync with the external file. The documentation states that refresh can be triggered manually, yet the automatic feature is said to fire only when the external file is open in Photoshop.
Observed Uncertainty
When an external image is edited outside Photoshop, the linked Smart Object remains unchanged until a manual Refresh command is issued. On Windows this behavior is consistent, while macOS users report intermittent automatic updates when the file is open in another program. Adobe’s release notes do not clarify whether a background file‑monitoring mechanism will be added in future releases, leaving the automatic refresh logic ambiguous.
Key Questions
- What conditions exactly trigger the automatic refresh of a linked Smart Object in CC 2021?
- Does the operating system affect whether background monitoring of external files is performed?
- Will upcoming Photoshop releases provide a reliable background refresh mechanism for linked Smart Objects?
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