About scratch disks

When your system does not have enough RAM to perform an operation,
Photoshop Elements uses scratch diAbout scratch disks
When your system does not have enough RAM to perform an operation, Photoshop Elements
uses scratch disks. A scratch disk is any drive or partition of a drive with free memory. By
default, Photoshop Elements uses the hard drive on which the operating system is installed as
its primary scratch disk.
You can change the primary scratch disk, or designate additional scratch disks. When the
primary disk is full, additional scratch disks are used. Set your fastest hard disk as your
primary scratch disk. Ensure that the disk has plenty of defragmented space available.
For best performance, use the following guidelines when assigning scratch disks:
 Do no create scratch disks on the same physical drive as Photoshop Elements or any large
files you are editing.
 Do not create scratch disks on the same physical drive as the one used for the operating
system’s virtual memory.
 Create scratch disks on a local drive, not a network location.
 Create scratch disks on conventional (non-removable) media.
 RAID disks/disk arrays are good choices for dedicated scratch disk volumes.
 Defragment drives with scratch disks regularly. Or better yet, use an empty drive or a drive
with plenty of unused space, to avoid fragmentation issues.

Change scratch disks

Photoshop Elements needs contiguous hard drive space to create a scratch disk. Frequently
defragmenting your hard drive ensures that there is contiguous space available, especially the
disk containing your scratch disk. Adobe recommends that you use a disk tool utility, such
as Windows Disk Defragmenter, to defragment your hard drive on a regular basis. See your
Windows documentation for information on defragmentation utilities.
1. In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences > Performance. In Mac, choose, Photoshop
Elements > Preferences > Performance.
2. Select the desired disks from the Scratch Disks listing (you can assign up to four scratch
disks).
3. Select a scratch disk and use the arrow keys next to the Scratch Disks list to rearrange the
order in which scratch disks will be used.
4. Click OK, and restart Photoshop Elements for the change to take effect.
sks. A scratch disk is any drive or partition of a drive with free memory. By default,
Photoshop Elements uses the hard drive on which the operating system is installed as its
primary scratch disk.
 You can change the primary scratch disk, or designate additional scratch disks. When the
primary disk is full, additional scratch disks are used. Set your fastest hard disk as your
primary scratch disk. Ensure that the disk has plenty of defragmented space available.
For best performance, use the following guidelines when assigning scratch disks:
 Do no create scratch disks on the same physical drive as Photoshop Elements or any large
files you are editing.
 Do not create scratch disks on the same physical drive as the one used for the operating
system’s virtual memory.
 Create scratch disks on a local drive, not a network location.
 Create scratch disks on conventional (non-removable) media.
 RAID disks/disk arrays are good choices for dedicated scratch disk volumes.
 Defragment drives with scratch disks regularly. Or better yet, use an empty drive or a drive
with plenty of unused space, to avoid fragmentation issues.

Change scratch disks

Photoshop Elements needs contiguous hard drive space to create a scratch disk. Frequently
defragmenting your hard drive ensures that there is contiguous space available, especially the
disk containing your scratch disk. Adobe recommends that you use a disk tool utility, such
as Windows Disk Defragmenter, to defragment your hard drive on a regular basis. See your
Windows documentation for information on defragmentation utilities.
1. In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences > Performance. In Mac, choose, Photoshop
Elements > Preferences > Performance.
2. Select the desired disks from the Scratch Disks listing (you can assign up to four scratch
disks).
3. Select a scratch disk and use the arrow keys next to the Scratch Disks list to rearrange the
order in which scratch disks will be used.
4. Click OK, and restart Photoshop Elements for the change to take effect.