TL;DR: Performance-Only Optimization Guide

General

• Uncheck “Auto show the home screen”
• Uncheck “Use Legacy ‘New Document’ Interface”
• Uncheck “Export Clipboard”:
• Resize image during place. (Personal preference)

Interface

1. Turn off Drop Shadows on Tabs and windows

    . Standard Screen Mode -> Border -> None
    . Full Screen with Menus -> Border -> None
    . Full Screen -> Border -> None
    . Artboard -> Border -> Line
   

Workspace

• Check “Auto-Collapse Iconic Panels”

Notifications

• Check “Enable Quiet Mode”

Tools

• 1. Uncheck Show Tooltips (Optional)
• 2. Uncheck Show rich Tooltips
• 3. Uncheck Enable gestures
• 4. Uncheck Enable Flick Panning
• 5. Check Show Reference point when using Transform.
• 6. Check Zoom With Scroll Wheel (Optional)
• 7. Uncheck Animated Zoom. (Personal preference)

History

• Uncheck “History Log”

File Handling

• Image Previews -> Never Save:
• Maximize PSD/PSB Compatibility -> Never
• Check “Save in Background”

Export

• Quick Export Format -> PNG/JPG

Performance

Memory Usage - Ram - (Personal preference)

    . If Lower than 16gb ->  70%
    . If Lower than 32GB and don't run other programs with PS (Google Chrome) ->  80-90%
    . If More than 32 GB and run other programs with PS (Google Chrome) ->  75-80%

History & Cache - (Personal preference)

1. History State - (Personal preference)

    . Powerful system configuration and high storage
        If Master of Photoshop and don't use the Undo option Much - Less history state ≤ 50
        If Still a beginner and don't use Undo option a lot -  More history states≥ 50-70
    . Weak system configuration and less storage - Less history state ≤ 50
   

2. Cache Levels -

    . If work with small size images( ≤	2k pixels) - Cache Level - 2
    . If work with large size images( ≥	2k pixels) - Cache Level - 4-6
   

3. Cache Tile Size -

    . Newer more powerful processors -> 128 K or 1024 K
    . Old less powerful processors -> 132 K or 1032 K
   

Legacy Compositing -

Only if having problems and Blending modes don’t look right, or the color is weird.

Image Processing

• Select Subject -> Device: Forces the local GPU to process AI rather than the slow cloud.
• Selections/Remove Tool/Enhance -> Faster: Prioritizes processing speed.

Scratch Disks

• Primary Drive -> SSD/NVMe: Never use an HDD.
• Failsafe: Check a secondary internal drive to prevent “Scratch Disk Full” crashes.

Cursors

• Painting Cursors -> Normal Brush Tip: Simplest rendering for the GPU while painting.

Transparency & Gamut

• Grid Size -> Medium: Default is optimal; custom colors won’t affect performance.

Units & Rulers

• Units -> Pixels: Standard for digital; no significant performance impact.

Guides, Grid & Slices

• Uncheck “Show Grid”: Hide when not in use to reduce UI rendering load.

Plugins

• Uncheck “Enable Generator”: Kills the background Node.js process (Major RAM saver).
• Uncheck “Enable Remote Connections”: Closes network ports.

Type

• Number of Recent Fonts -> 5: Reduces font cache memory usage.
• Font Preview Size -> None: (In Type Menu) Essential for removing Type Tool lag.

Technology Previews

• Uncheck “Older GPU mode”: Do not use with modern cards.
• Check “Precise previews for 16-bit”: Ensures GPU handles 16-bit color correctly.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous