Where are actions stored locally for Photoshop CC on a Mac (OS 10.9)?

[Rowan!]

I've looked everywhere (on my start-up hard drive) and can't locate where Photoshop CC keeps actions locally. Even if I'm syncing to Adobe Cloud service, I assume there has to be a local version somewhere.

[Noel Carboni]

I don't think Adobe has published a page for Photoshop CC (2014) yet, but this (specific to Photoshop CC 14.x) will get you close...

http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/preference-file-names-locations-photoshop1.html

Look specifically for:  Actions palette.psp

Note that starting with Lion (I believe it was) the user Library folder is normally hidden.

-Noel

[Rowan!]

This is where it says to go:

Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop CC Settings

and the file

Actions palette.psp

is there, but is this where user-created actions now live? That's what's hard to figure out because it's sort of a closed container.

[Jeff Arola]

The actions you saved out of photoshop cc 2014 might be in

/Users/[user name]Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CC 2014/Presets/Actions

In Finder, Go menu, hold down the Option key and click on Library

That should open up your user library in finder

[Rowan!]

Well, funny you should mention that...

What got me started on this time-suck of a quest is looking into this folder:

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CC/Presets/Actions

and discovering there were no actions to be found there! So, in my WTF moment, I went, where are my actions? Why is the Actions folder in my home library empty? That's not cool. (More importantly, will the little darlings survive the transition to CC 2014?) I could see them in the Actions palette, so, whew, they're still in tact, but that's what got me asking, Where are they? (Note that I use the tilde for "/User/[user name]" as a shortcut.)

The other thing that threw me was this:

The default actions with their .atn extension are living out in the open for all to see in

/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC/Presets/Actions

So, not only did it seem like actions were still alive and well living as separate, .atn files, but that my own actions were intentionally being hidden for some reason.

So, R_Kelly, I'll be curious, once I do the big install of CC 2014, if actions end up where you said to look because that would actually be a big change.

It does seem like they are living in

~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop CC Settings/Actions palette.psp

because I made up some actions, synced up to the ol' cloud in the sky, and they came down to my other computer, so apparently that's how it works.

[Jeff Arola · Accepted solution]

When you save actions, you save them to whatever folder you want, just the default is

/Users/[user name]Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CC 2014/Presets/Actions

If you never save any of your actions out of the actions panel, then they''ll probably just be in the Actions.psp file

It's always a good idea to save out any custom actions you make (Save Actions from the actions panel fly-out menu), so you know where they

are for future use and not rely on them staying in the Actions.psp file or creative cloud sync service.

It seems if one syncs the actions using the creative cloud, it only transfers over the Actions.psp.

The actions you synced over should be then listed in the actions panel and then you have to save them out manually

if you want them to appear on the actions panel fly-out menu.

For me, i'd rather save all my custom stuff manually to some place safe rather than relying on any automatic syncing

or migration of presets, etc.

[Rowan!]

You wrote that while I was writing my addendum, so I'll mark yours as the correct answer for future travelers here.

And, yes, it seems the sync process for cloud syncing between computers is done via the Actions palette.psp file. I don't think this was around before The Almighty Cloud came into being.

And, yes again, on the manual saving of actions to a safe place.

I think that's about it.

[Rowan!]

FWIW, I'll just mention here that when you select Save… from the Actions drop-down menu to save a selected set of actions, the default folder is, in fact

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CC/Presets/Actions

So if you want to yank out your beloved actions from the fortress of

Actions palette.psp

that's how to do it.

Also, if you want to Load… actions from the drop-down menu, it also first looks at

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CC/Presets/Actions

Another useless tidbit: The Export/Imports Presets… menu:

Edit > Presets > Export/Import Presets… will look at that folder to find Actions to Export from (not that you couldn't copy it but then you have to know how to find it) if you've put any in there.

[Noel Carboni]

All the actions listed in your Actions panel are in there, yes.

Thanks for the specific path, R_Kelly.

-Noel

[Royi_A]

Is there a Global Path now as there is for Plug In's?

Thank You.

[CRuthy4]

I realise that this is an old thread, but I have just discovered something that might be helpful to others. It seems that the Save command in the Actions drop-down menu will only work for a Set, so to save an individual action you may have made, you need to make a 'New Set' by clicking on the folder icon at the bottom of the Palette, name it, then drag your new Action into it. Simple when you know how, but very frustrating when you don't, and are wondering why you can't save you newly made Action.

hope this helps somebody.