Adobe Suite Crashing on macOS Sequoia – Fix in 2 Minutes

Quick answer

Hold Shift+Control+Option+Command while launching Photoshop (or Illustrator) to reset preferences. If that fails, disable GPU acceleration in Edit > Preferences > Performance on Windows or Photoshop > Preferences > Performance on Mac.

I know this error is infuriating—you're mid-project, you've got deadlines, and suddenly Adobe Suite decides to crash every time you open a file or even just the splash screen. I've worked help desk for years, and this exact crash pattern (error code none, just a hard close) has been plaguing users on macOS Sequoia 15.0 and 15.1 since September 2024. Adobe's official stance? 'We're investigating.' Meanwhile, you need to work now.

The root cause is almost always one of two things: corrupt preferences (Adobe's cache gets confused during OS updates) or incompatibility between the GPU drivers in Sequoia and Adobe's rendering engine. Specifically, users with M1/M2/M3 Macs running Photoshop 25.x or Illustrator 28.x see this most often. The crash happens on launch, or when you try to use the brush tool or switch documents. I'll walk you through the fix that works 9 times out of 10.

How to fix Adobe Suite crashing on macOS Sequoia

Step 1: Reset preferences (the real fix)

Don't bother with the 'reset preferences on quit' checkbox in Preferences—that rarely works when the app is already crashing. Do this instead:

1. Close all Adobe apps completely. Check Activity Monitor for any lingering Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator processes and Force Quit them.
2. Hold down Shift+Control+Option+Command on your keyboard.
3. While holding those keys, launch Photoshop (or Illustrator) from the Dock or Finder.
4. Keep holding until you see a dialog box that asks 'Delete the Adobe Photoshop Settings file?' Click Yes.

This deletes the Adobe Photoshop 2024 Settings folder (or the Illustrator equivalent) from ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop 2024 Settings/. It's brutal but effective. The app will rebuild preferences fresh on next launch. You'll lose custom shortcuts and workspace arrangements, but not your actual files. I've had users tell me this saved their project when nothing else worked.

Step 2: Disable GPU acceleration (if step 1 didn't help)

If the app still crashes after resetting preferences, the GPU driver is the culprit. Here's how to shut it down:

1. Launch Photoshop. If it crashes before you can get into Preferences, launch it while holding Shift+Control+Option+Command again, but this time choose No at the dialog to keep old settings. Then immediately go to Photoshop > Preferences > Performance.
2. Uncheck Use Graphics Processor.
3. Click OK and restart Photoshop.

For Illustrator: Illustrator > Preferences > Performance and uncheck GPU Performance.

This disables hardware acceleration. Your brush strokes might feel slightly less smooth on a 5K display, but the app won't crash. Once Adobe releases a fix for Sequoia compatibility (expected in Photoshop 25.6 and Illustrator 28.3), you can re-enable it.

Step 3: Turn off App Nap (for older Macs)

App Nap is a macOS power-saving feature that sometimes interferes with Adobe apps. It's less common on M-series Macs, but on Intel Macs running Sequoia, it can trigger crashes when you switch between apps.

1. Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
2. Type this command for Photoshop:

   defaults write com.adobe.Photoshop NSAppSleepDisabled -bool YES

3. For Illustrator:

   defaults write com.adobe.Illustrator NSAppSleepDisabled -bool YES

4. Press Return, then restart the app.

This is a permanent setting—it won't revert after updates.

Alternative fixes if the main ones fail

Clean reinstall via Creative Cloud

If preferences reset and GPU disable both fail, do a clean uninstall:

1. Open Creative Cloud Desktop app.
2. Go to Apps > Installed Apps, click the three dots next to Photoshop (or Illustrator), choose Manage > Uninstall.
3. After uninstall, go to Finder > Go > Go to Folder and delete these folders if they exist:
   • ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 2024
   • ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop 2024 Settings
   • ~/Library/Caches/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 2024
4. Restart your Mac, then reinstall from Creative Cloud.

This wipes all leftover junk. I've seen users skip the Caches folder and then wonder why it's still broken—clear all three.

Run in Rosetta mode (Intel-only Macs)

If you're on an Intel Mac and still crashing, force Adobe to run under Rosetta emulation:

1. Right-click Photoshop in Applications folder.
2. Click Get Info.
3. Check Open using Rosetta.
4. Launch Photoshop.

This bypasses any Apple Silicon-specific optimizations that might be buggy. It's a workaround, not a fix, but it's worked for a handful of users on Adobe's forum.

Prevention tips

• Don't update macOS on day one. Wait at least 2-3 weeks for Adobe to release compatibility patches. Sequoia's initial release (15.0) was particularly rough—I'd hold off on macOS 15.x updates until Adobe officially states support.
• Keep Adobe apps updated. Set Creative Cloud to auto-update. The crash fix for Sequoia is rolling out incrementally in Photoshop 25.5.1 and later—you want to be on the latest patch.
• Back up preferences. Once you get a stable setup, go to ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop 2024 Settings and zip the folder. If it corrupts again, restore it instead of resetting. I do this after every major OS update.

This crash is a pain, but it's fixable. If you're still stuck after these steps, drop a comment on Adobe's official forum—chances are someone's seen the same unusual error (like crashing only when saving PSDs with large layer counts). That's a separate bug in Sequoia's file system, but that's a story for another day.