Photoshop CC2017, when trying to open a new file, no dialog box appears and almost all menu items become grayed out.

[johnvemery]

I am having significant issues with my Photoshop CC2017. When opening the program if I go to create a new file by either the menu or pressing CTRL+N no dialog box appears and almost all menu items become grayed out.

However, if I instead go to open an existing file, it seems to work fine. In addition, I can also export files from Lightroom into Photoshop and work on them with seemingly no issues.

I have tried holding SHIFT+CTRL+ALT when starting up the program - no effect. In fact, I have noticed that when I change preferences (such as turning off the graphics processor) that no settings are saved when I close and reopen the program.

I had the Nik suite installed. I uninstalled it - no effect.

I uninstalled and reinstalled Photoshop - no effect.

I checked that everything was updated completely - PS and my operating system - Windows 10 - are completely up-to-date.

I rebooted my computer - no effect.

I have only ever used one display, so I'm pretty sure it's nothing like "the dialog box is simply off-screen."

Finally, I see no error dialog box at any time when using Photoshop. The program loads and opens quickly, and when I exit the program I don't see anything odd happening.

I have really run dry of ideas on how to fix this. Can anybody provide any assistance for me? Your help will be greatly appreciated.

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

What if you enable Use Legacy "New Document Workspace"?

[johnvemery]

Checking that option does allow me to create a new file. However, when I exit and reopen Photoshop that checkbox is deselected again. I understand that I can just always go into the preferences and select that option, but is there a way to keep that option selected?

Also, is there any idea why this is happening? I don't use Photoshop nearly as much as Lightroom, so I'm not sure how long this has been an issue, but I don't recall this happening in the past.

In any case, thank you for, at the very least, a good work-around for this issue.

[Barb Binder]

It should be in sticky state, meaning once you turn it on, it should stay on. I just tested it on my copy of 2017, and it did just that. To clarify the process, when you make a change like this, it is saved to your preferences file when you quit Photoshop normally. PS reads the prefs file when you launch it the next time.

Something is obviously not right with your setup (which I knew immediately based on everything you tried before you posted your question), but I'm not the one to help with that. You can report it to Adobe here: https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family?topic-list[settings][type]=problem.

And in the meantime, Ctrl K is the shortcut for Edit > Prefs, which will help speed up the daily reset until this is resolved.

[johnvemery]

Thank you, I will follow that link.

[joshuaw13000822]

I'm having the same problem. Did we ever get a definitive answer to how to fix this, or are we still stuck with this workaround?

BarbBinder​

johnvemery​