Could not open a scratch file because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary access pri

Photoshop does not start I get the error above. I uninstalled and reinstalled but the problem is still there. It happens all the time with all files. Please help thanks

Yes, you have a permissions problem on your scratch disks or boot disk.
The exact location affected depends on which OS you're running.
But most likely you have some root level disk permission problems.

Similar Messages

Unable to start Photoshop CS6 - could not open a scratch file because the file is locked (Windows)

When I first installed Adobe Photoshop CS6 I was unable to run Photoshop or Bridge CS6. Photoshop would give me an error about "could not open a scratch file because the file is locked. If I ran either of these programs as an administrator they would run without issue, this led me to believe that there was a permission issue somewhere. After some digging I found out the both Bridge and Photoshop try to create a temp file (similiar to Photoshop Temp2777223910092) on the c:\ drive of the computer. In my case the user that I was logged in with did not have access to write to the root of the C:\ drive. Note that you run the program as the administrator and change the scratch disk location as that changes the preference for the administrator user and not the user that you are currently logged in as.
To get around this issue I first had to give the user that I was logged on with write permissions to the root of the C:\ drive. Next try and run Photoshop, you will get an error another error about the scratch disk and about and invalid or missing setting file. To correct this you need to have run Photoshop as an administrator, next you can go to Users\Admin\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6\Adobe Photoshop CS6 Settings and copy Adobe Photoshop CS6 Prefs and/or Adobe Photoshop X64 CS6 Prefs to Users\<your logged in username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6\Adobe Photoshop CS6 Settings.
Photoshop and bridge should now start up with no issues.
I hope that this can help others out there as this caused me a great deal of frustration when upgrading to CS6.

station_two wrote:
OK, here comes the explanation of what the scratch disk does and why it's optimal to have it on a physically separate internal drive (not partition!) other than your boot drive
I probably shouldn't say anything since it could complicate this thread, but the rules of thumb can be different under special circumstances when SSD is involved.
IF you have a LOT of empty space on your SSD-based system drive, then Photoshop can actually work great with it's scratch setting pointed at the system drive. This is because a) SSD transfers are much faster than spinning hard drives and b) there's no seek time, so simultaneous transfers to/from scratch and swap files aren't devastating to performance, and you can see a net gain because of the increased I/O throughput over what's possible using a separate spinning drive for scratch.
But if you don't have a huge amount of free space (hundreds of GB) on the system SSD, it's definitely better to use a separate drive, as station_two has said.
Also, up to about a year or so ago, you had to try to severely limit write activity to your SSD drive, since you could actually wear them out by repeated high data write activity. That's pretty much a non-issue now with the advent of things like the SandForce in-drive controller that does wear-leveling inside the drive. Modern drives will last 10 years or more in normal typical use, without special consideration.
As it turns out, making a RAID array of SSDs is a great way to boost performance across the board, have bunches of free space, and ensure even the heaviest usage doesn't shorten the drive life. I have done so, creating a 2 TB system drive C: made from 4 SSDs and Photoshop's swap file (and pretty much everything else) pointed to C:. This system flies, and I can barely tell when Photoshop and/or Windows "goes virtual" and starts using its scratch/swap files heavily. I don't even notice Photoshop auto-saves.
Sorry for the SSD diversion.
Back on topic:
Pretty much everyone who's successfully using a computer - Mac and PC users alike - comes to realize after a while that the task of integrating things on their computers and making everything work falls on THEM, not the developers of applications like Adobe. Some applications pose unique challenges, but to think you can just throw up your hands and try to make it someone else's problem when something goes wrong simply isn't a viable strategy. Maybe that's how things should be, but it's not how it is.
For those of you struggling to get Photoshop to run properly, bear in mind that it's on you to get things working. It works for most folks. It could be a configuration or setup choice you've made that may need revisiting, or some kind of restorative activity that you need to do, or even something very minor like clearing your Photoshop preferences, but it may well take your learning new things and doing things you didn't think you'd have to do to get back to where you can edit photos. It's no one's problem but your own.
So let us here on the forum help you - when we say to do something, try it. We're not here to jerk you around; we're users just like you who have already found the ways to make things work, and we'd like to help you do the same.
-Noel

I get this error upon launching PS5: "could not open a scratch file because the file is locked .."

I get this error upon launching PS5: "could not open a scratch file because the file is locked or ou do not have the necessary access privileges. Use the 'properties' command in the Windows Explorer to unlock the file". The applicaiton will not launch.
Supporting information - I recently changed the scratch disk from C drive to D drive (the back up/restore drive). The application wont launch so I cant change it back to the C drive.
Questions:
- How to I fix this .. from windows explorer how do I find "the file" that the error message refers to?
- Other ways to fix this?
Thanks Steve

Hi there! Because the forum you originally posted in is for beginners trying to learn the basics of Photoshop, I moved your question to the Photoshop General Discussion forum, where you'll get more specialized help.
To help others help you, please read through this article and provide any additional relevant details.

Photoshop won't start: Could not open a scratch file because the file is locked, you do not have necessary access permissions, or another program is using the file.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended
"Could not open a scratch file because the file is locked, you do not have necessary access permissions, or another program is using the file."
I've tried finding and checking and fixing permissions but no success.
This happened from one day to the next. I think it has to do with the sn attached to the disk rather then the motherboard. I have the suite co-installed with Symphony 5.05. I've tried reinstalling.
What's to b done? The rest of the Creative Suite 6 (AE, AI etc.) works fine.
Anyone...?
Loui

Have you tried restoring the Preferences yet?

Photoshop wont open get error could not open a scratch file because the disk is not available

Had to clone my hard drive to another drive on my computer.
I have been receiving a message "Could not open a scratch file because the disk is not available" I have tried UN-installing and re-installing...still the same message.
Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?
Thanks!

What do you have here.
If that does not help, reset your prefs
Hold fingers over Shift Option Command (or similar on Windows) then boot Photoshop and as fast as you can depress the 3 keys.

Could not open scratch file because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary access rights.

could not open scratch file because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary access rights.

It means what it says: Check your file permissions on your scratch disk.
Mylenium

Unable to start Photoshop CS 6 Beta - could not open a scratch file because the file is locked (win)

The Program does nor start.
I the the following error message:
Gould not open a scratch file because the file is locked, you do not have necessary access perimssens, or another program is using the file. Use the "Properities" command In the WIndows Explorer to unlock the file.
Which file shoud I unlock?
What means "unlock"?
Adda

"Hello, Adda. Most users can use it without problems. Did you set strict permissions on your machine?
Also, is it a small SSD? you lose their speed benefit by not putting Photoshop's scratch file on it."
Most power users are having big problems, We don't put scratch files on our SSDs because we know that this will run those into the ground. They are not intended for the pounding of constant read / write cycles. We also switch off indexing and any other constant cycling technology. Again, SSDs are best use for static files. They are, in fact, intended mainly for super fast launch, which is what they do so well. Obviously, if all you have is an SSD, then you have to live with the shortened life.
I have my scratch files and my TEMP folder set to a huge and empty internal drive. I have my USERS folder hard linked to a different huge internal drive, where I also store MY DOCUMENTS. I have an even larger internal drive where I store MY PICTURES. This has worked flawlessly (and very fast) for CS5 and LR4 Beta 1. Only CS6 complains constantly.
"Yes, I agree, but sometimes, what sounds and smells like a bug is not one, hence the troubleshooting we're trying to do, before QE tries to reproduce it."
This one not may or may not be a bug. But since I own and run dozens of applications, and only CS6 is freaking out constantly, I would say that it is not normal behavior.

Opening my Photoshop Elements 11 does not work. I always get following message: "Could not open a volume of work, because the file is locked or you do not have the required permissions. Undo the protection of the file on using the command 'Properties' in

Opening my Photoshop Elements 11 does not work. I always get following message: "Could not open a volume of work, because the file is locked or you do not have the required permissions. Undo the protection of the file on using the command 'Properties' in Windows Explorer." What is wrong? I cannot unterstand what I have to do!

Could not open a scratch file because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary access privileges. (…) | Mylen…
Mylenium

Can't start Photoshop - 'Could not open a scratch file'

Hi, I recently installed Photoshop CS5, however every time I open the application, I am receiving this error message at the loading screen:
"Could not open a scratch file because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary access privileges. Use the ‘Get Info’ command in the Finder to unlock the file or change permissions on the file or enclosing folders."
I've looked online for solutions everywhere, but I've obviously been unsuccessful and I'm at the point where I have no idea what else to try, other than a clean install of my OS, however that is a last resort as I currently do not have an external hard drive to transfer my files to do so. So far I have tried these things:
Reinstalled Photoshop many times, even the CS6 BETA is giving me the same error.
Deleted preference files within /Library/Preferences/
Used the cmd+alt shortcut when starting Photoshop to select a different scratch disk location.
Used the cmd+alt+shift shortcut to delete the settings file, which I cannot do as the error message mentioned above appears before the window for deleting the settings file does.
Tried rebooting several times, even into safemode and I still get the same message.
Tried changing the permissions on the Applications folder, Adobe folder, CS5 folder and CS5 application, however they are all set to 'read & write access' for me. I am also set as an administrator.
Cleaned my cache of any unneccessary files.
I have also repaired my permissions using Disk Utility, but that didn't solve the problem.
I have a 2010 Macbook Pro, 4GB RAM running OS X Lion 10.7.3 with 2 patitions on my harddrive (OS X and Windows 7). I have 15GB free on my OS X partition currently, which may not seem like much, however I have run Photoshop CS5 previously as a trial and other versions of Photoshop and the small amount of harddrive space has never affected the software's ability to create a scratch file.
The strange thing, however, is that I can use Photoshop CS5 & CS6 on a guest account that I created recently, which means that the problem I am having is permissions based. Logging into a seperate account is a good enough solution for now, but it is incredibly tedious to keep changing accounts just to use Photoshop.
Has anyone got any other ideas? As I mentioned previously, reinstalling is a last resort as I currently don't have the neccessary resources.
Thanks.

I managed to fix this myself, almost by accident, after failing every method suggested that I came across.
My problem was due to 'read only' access being set to some folders in ~/private/ on my main account, meaning that Photoshop could not create an important, temporary scratch file in this location.
To anyone else who comes across this thread due to having the same problem, here's the solution:
Open finder, then go to 'Go' in the menu bar and select 'Go to folder'
In the window that opens, enter '/private/' and click 'Go'
Then, right click on the folder 'tmp' within /private/ and select 'Get info'
In here, scroll to the permissions section and change the relevent user permissions to 'read and write'
Before closing this window, click on the gear icon underneath the list of users and select 'Apply to enclosed items' and hit 'Ok' in the next window.
Finally, repeat steps 3 - 5 for the folder named 'var', also within /private/ and you're done. Photoshop should now open as intended!
Although this solution was ideal for my home laptop, giving 'read and write' access to important folders like these can probably lead to lowered security so please do it at your own risk.

Cannot Launch Photoshop CS5 - "Could not Open a Scratch File..."

Hi, so photoshop CS5 is not launching.
Just got it in the mail, installed it, and now I'm getting this message:
"Could not open a scratch file because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary privileges.
Use the get info command in finder to unlock the file."
I've tried multiple things to try to resolve the issue including:
1) reinstalled 3 times
2) pulled all plists regarding adobe found at ~/library/preferences/
3) tried booting to safe mode, no difference
4) checked software updates for anything adobe, everything installed now.
5) note, this is also happening in photoshop cs2 now
6) tried changing permissions to enclosed items to the photoshop CS5 folder read/write access.
I've got a 21.5 iMac with Mac OS X 10.6.4 installed.
What other suggestions does anyone else have??
I have called adobe, talked to 3 different people, and talked to Applecare, each support rep
has told me to contact the other. I do not know what to do at this point.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I've got the same [edited by host] problem...
I've gone to the Windows Explorer Folders and the Files and DISABLED THE "READ ONLY" CHECK BOX ON EVERY LAST FILE & FOLDER REALTED TO IMAGES I'M ATTEMPTING TO EDIT...
BUT THEN IT RESETS THEM BACK TO BEING "READ ONLY" SEVERAL SECONDS LATER.
i'M THE ADMINISTRATOR ON THIS SYSTEM, NO QUESTION ABOUT IT...
I THINK IT'S ADOBE'S [edited by host] TOOLS....
ALSO THEIR HELP SECTION is poor [edited by host] TOO...
Host to poster: You have posted in the Photoshop Mac forum. As you are having a problem with your Windows system, then the a Windows forum would be a better place to post. Ranting at your fellow users is not likely to win you friends nor likely to encourage anyone to help you. This is a user to user forum and not a conduit to official Adobe technical support. Please be more civil in your future posts. These forums are visted by people of all ages. Foul-mouthed posting is not tolerated. Should you continue your posts in the same manner as this post, your posts will be deleted and you will be banned from the forums.

I have PS 6 and just purchased an iMac and am running OS 10.10.1 (Yosemite). When i try to Save or Save As a file I get the following message: Could not save as "Whatever.psd" because this file is locked, you do not have necessary access permissions, or

I have PS 6 and just purchased an iMac and am running OS 10.10.1 (Yosemite). When i try to Save or Save As a file I get the following message: Could not save as "Whatever.psd" because this file is locked, you do not have necessary access permissions, or another program is using the file. Use the Get Info command in the Finder to ensure the file is unlocked and you have permission to access the file. If the problem persists, save the document to a different file or duplicate it in the Finder. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Photoshop: Basic Troubleshooting steps to fix most issues
Look under Troubleshoot User Permissions.
Gene

Whenever I close down Photoshop CS5 I get the message: "Could not save Preferences because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary access privileges. Use the get info command in Finder to unlock the file or change permission on the file or enc

Whenever I close down Photoshop CS5 I get the message: "Could not save Preferences because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary access privileges. Use the get info command in Finder to unlock the file or change permission on the file or enclosing folders." What on earth does it mean? How can I stop this message from appearing?

See here:
I cannot save recent images.

"The movie could not be sent to QT, because a file couldn't be found"

When I try to export a 2 1/2 min. iMovie video I made today in pretty much any format, I get the following:
"The movie could not be sent to QuickTime, because a file couldn't be found.
Please make sure that your project disk has write permission, and that you ahve enough disk space. This error can also be caused by some third-party iMovie HD plugins" then tells me what to do if I have said plug-ins. I have no plugins for iMovie.
The flash drive I'm attempting to save to has almost 80mb of available space. Also, something /does/ get saved on my drive, but the (Windows) computer I try to transfer it to won't recognize it and my MacBook's QuickTime refuses to play it.
What is going on?

Welcome to iMovie Discussions.
iMovie - and other Mac programs - prefer (..or need!..) to have any discs, or other devices on which you're saving movie files, to be formatted as 'Mac OS Extended'.
That's different from the (generally) FAT32 format which Windows PCs use. And although Macs can read Windows-formatted discs - so your MacBook can read what's on your Windows-formatted flash disc - Windows machines generally cannot read Mac-formatted discs, so, er, you'd have a problem or two if you want to use any Mac-formatted device with a Windows machine!
Your flash drive - and anything else on which you've saved your 2.5 minute iMovie video - would need to be formatted as 'Mac OS Extended' if you want to use it for iMovie editing ..but you should be able to store a 'self-contained' QuickTime movie on it perfectly well in its PC-formatted state, and that movie should play in Windows when you plug it into a Windows machine if you have the latest Windows version of QuickTime on the Windows PC.
So maybe you exported your iMovie to QuickTime, onto the flash disc, but not as a self-contained movie. If it IS self-contained, then the complete movie would be there, and it's pretty much guaranteed to play. But if you didn't tick the 'self-contained' check-box, then all that gets saved is a very small file (called a "reference file") with a set of "pointers" to what's in the original iMovie project. In other words, you've saved only the details of how to play the movie, without actually saving the actual video file(s), which remain on your MacBook, instead of being on the flash disc.

?? "The movie could not be sent to Quicktime because a file couldn't be..."

trying to export a movie in iMovie HD - and that's what it says:
"The movie could not be sent to Quicktime because a file couldn't be found" then it says to rename the folder called "iMovie" in the library to "iMovie0", restart and press on.
then .... "Visit http://support.apple.com/ for more information on this issue."
ok. where on support?
anyone have any ideas on this? I have installed iLife08 - is this the issue?
tia.

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought about that - but it IS an external and it is not OSX extended. I exported to my internal drive and all worked well. wonderful! problem solved - I'd never noticed that before, and I was sure I'd exported to that drive before. so, I tried again - presto it worked - I exported it to the external. so... the error message that came the first time went away.
.... strange
but ... solved?
thanks again,
f

I have a 27 inch iMac with maverick os. my current version of iMovie (10.0.6) will not open older projects i created in iMovie 9.0.9. I can find the projects and they have a ".rcproject" file extension

I have a 27 inch iMac with maverick os. my current version of iMovie (10.0.6) will not open older projects i created in iMovie 9.0.9. I can find the projects and they have a ".rcproject" file extension

Thank you GeeD. I'm still stymied.
I have moved the Event and Project Folders to the "top-layer of the drive" as the instructions state, right alongside the System Folder, Users Folder and Applications Folders.
When I open iMovie 10.0.8, the Events and Projects Folders are empty:
When I select File/Update Projects and Events, I get an alert box that says iMovie couldn't find any:
Not knowing exactly what is meant by the "top layer" in the instructions, I moved the Events and Project folders back inside the "Movies" folder where I found them (but then not where I would call the "top" layer, but rather "iMac/Users/Home/Movies/iMovieProjects". Then I tried to "Update Projects and Events" and received the same alert: "iMovie could not find any projects or events to update."
Then I tried to update iMovie 9.0 (iMovie '11 version 9.0 (1073)) to version 9.0.9 .
[As an aside, the nomenclature of iMovie drives me nuts. The latest version is 10.0.8, which us newer than iMovie '11.]
Back to the update of version 9.0 to 9.0.9.
Presumably because I have version 10.0.8 installed, I got this alert box:
So, I cannot update version 9.0
and I cannot "Update" the Events and Projects created in version 9.0.

Why am I getting this error message......."Adobe Reader could not open 'SBA 413.pdf' because it is e

why am I getting this error message when I try to open a PDF file? Adobe Reader could not open 'SBA 413.pdf' because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged (for example, it was sent as an email attachment and wasn't correctly decoded).

It's difficult for anyone to say how to fix it. Try getting a new copy of it. Did you download it from a web site, as an email attachment, or something else?
I donwloaded that form from the SBA web site and it worked fine for me. It is an XFA form created in LiveCycle Designer, but those should work fine with the desktop versions of Adobe Reader. So try downloading it: http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/SBA%20413_0.pdf

Could not open a scratch file because the file is locked or you do not have the necessary access pri

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for