Adobe Suite login stuck at redirect loop

You're on a deadline, coffee in hand, and Adobe Creative Cloud refuses to let you in. You enter your email and password, hit login, and boom—the page just reloads. Or worse, it loops back to the same login screen. This usually happens after a password reset, a macOS update, or when you're connected to a corporate network that uses a proxy or VPN. I've seen it on Windows 11 version 22H2 and macOS Ventura 13.4, but it can hit any platform.

What's actually going on

The core issue here is Adobe's authentication system. When you log in, Adobe stores a token (called an OAuth token) in a local cache file or in your browser's cookies. If that token gets corrupted—say, from an interrupted update or a conflicting browser extension—the system doesn't know you're authenticated. Sending you back to the login page is Adobe's way of saying "I don't trust this session."

Another common culprit is your firewall or hosts file blocking Adobe's redirect endpoints. Adobe uses specific URLs to bounce you from the login page back to the app. If your network or antivirus is blocking those, you'll hit a redirect loop. Corporate networks with strict proxy settings are notorious for this.

Fix it in 5 steps

Skip the browser cache clear—that's a waste of time here. The real fix is deeper. Follow these in order:

1. Kill all Adobe processes. Open Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (macOS). End any process named "Adobe Desktop Service," "Creative Cloud," or "AdobeIPCBroker." Don't skip this—they hold the cache files open.
2. Delete the OAuth cache folder. This is the magic step. On Windows, navigate to %localappdata%\Adobe\OOBE\ and delete the folder named opm. On macOS, go to ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/OOBE/ and delete the opm folder. Don't worry—Adobe will recreate it fresh next time you log in.
3. Check your hosts file for Adobe redirect blocks. Open Notepad as admin (Windows) or terminal with sudo (macOS) and open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts or /etc/hosts. Look for lines containing adobe or auth.services.adobe.com. If you see any with 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0 at the start, delete those lines. Save the file.
4. Flush DNS and restart the service. Open Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS) and run ipconfig /flushdns (Windows) or sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder (macOS). Then restart the Adobe Desktop Service from your system tray or Menu Bar.
5. Disable firewall/antivirus temporarily. If you're still stuck, turn off Windows Defender Firewall or your third-party antivirus for 30 seconds. Try the login again. If it works, add an exception for *.adobe.com and *.auth.services.adobe.com in your firewall settings. On corporate networks, you might need your IT team to whitelist those domains.

If it still breaks

Sometimes the redirect loop is caused by a third-party app like CCleaner or a proxy extension like Hola VPN. Try disabling all browser extensions, especially ad-blockers and VPNs. If you're on a corporate VPN, disconnect and try via a personal hotspot. I've also seen this where Adobe's servers are down—check status.adobe.com for any reported outages.

One last thing: if you're using an older version of Creative Cloud (like 5.x), update to the latest. Adobe fixed a redirect bug in version 5.4.2 released January 2024. You can download the installer directly from Adobe's site—no login needed.

I know this error is infuriating, but it's almost always fixable with step 2 above. Clear that opm folder, and you'll be back to work in under 5 minutes.