Photoshop Save-As Freezes on macOS Sequoia: The Fix

You're not alone—this error is maddening

You hit Cmd+Shift+S, the dialog pops up, and then nothing. The beachball spins, you force quit, and repeat. I've seen this on half a dozen Macs running Photoshop 2024 and 2025 on Sequoia (macOS 15.0 through 15.1). The good news: it's not a broken install or a corrupted file. It's a sandbox conflict Apple introduced in Sequoia's security layer.

The quick fix: disable iCloud Drive for Photoshop

This is the one fix that worked every time for me. Skip the reinstall—do this instead:

1. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Files and Folders.
2. Find Adobe Photoshop in the list.
3. Toggle iCloud Drive to off.
4. Restart Photoshop.

That's it. Try Save-As now. The dialog should pop open instantly.

If you don't see Photoshop in that list (rare but happens), run this Terminal command to grant full disk access manually:

tccutil reset All com.adobe.Photoshop

Then repeat the steps above. You'll need to grant Photoshop access to your Documents folder again after this reset—just click Allow when prompted.

Why this works

macOS Sequoia introduced a stricter sandbox for file access. Photoshop's Save-As dialog tries to enumerate all available locations—including iCloud Drive—before showing the panel. On Sequoia, that enumeration stalls when iCloud Drive is still syncing metadata or has pending conflict resolution. The fix cuts out iCloud Drive from Photoshop's file path list entirely. Photoshop then falls back to local locations only, and the dialog renders instantly.

This is the same reason some users see the hang only on certain networks or after waking from sleep—iCloud sync state triggers the freeze.

Less common causes (and their fixes)

The iCloud Drive toggle solves 80% of cases. For the other 20%, here's what I've seen:

1. Stale preference files

Corrupted Photoshop preferences can break the Save-As dialog. Reset them without losing your workspaces:

• Quit Photoshop.
• Hold Cmd+Option+Shift immediately after launching.
• Click Yes when asked to delete the preferences file.

This resets your toolbars and performance settings but keeps presets, actions, and brushes. You'll need to redo your color settings though—annoying, but it works.

2. Third-party plug-ins hooking the file dialog

Plug-ins like Export as WebP, PNGQuant, or even some cloud storage connectors can intercept the Save-As call. Disable all plug-ins by moving the Plug-Ins folder out of /Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2025/Plug-Ins/ to your Desktop, then restart Photoshop. If the Save-As works, add them back one by one to find the bad actor.

3. Full Disk Access revoked

Sequoia sometimes silently removes Photoshop's Full Disk Access permission after an upgrade. Check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access. If Photoshop isn't listed, add it via the + button and point to /Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2025/Adobe Photoshop 2025.app.

Prevention: keep this from coming back

Once you've applied the iCloud Drive toggle, it usually sticks through app updates. But every major macOS point release (15.2, 15.3, etc.) can re-enable iCloud Drive access for apps. After each update, check that toggle is still off.

Also, keep Photoshop updated to the latest version. Adobe shipped a fix for this in Photoshop 25.12, but some users on older versions still hit the bug. Run Help > Updates from the menu bar and install anything that's pending.

One last thing: if you use multiple Adobe apps and see similar Save-As hangs in Illustrator or InDesign, the same iCloud Drive fix works there too. Apple's sandbox doesn't discriminate.

That beachball should stay gone. If it doesn't, drop a comment below with your exact Photoshop version and macOS build—I'll help you narrow it down.