# photoshop cc scratch disk question on osx sierra question



## mantra (Oct 29, 2017)

Hi
i run photoshop cc 2018/2017 and cc 2015 under sierra last built osx 
my machine has 32GB of ram , and i bought a second ssd for scratch disk

i have setup photoshop to use this second scratch disk

well  i started photoshop cc  open a raw file or a jpg , while it's open and running , i gave a look at the scratch disk and it's empty

i have enabled to see hidden files and folder tpp and  i can't find any tracks of the scratch disk

in the preferences of photoshop i wanted to select only the second ssd , so it should use the only the second ssd only

may i know under osx where does photoshop store scratch disk files?

under windows it creats always a file about 1GB , but under sierra i can't find

well the point is that i have bought a second disk only for this and lightroom

thanks
best regards


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## Gnits (Oct 29, 2017)

There is a separate cache for raw file. I do not have a machine to get details, but location is set in preferences, in Lr and Ps.


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## mantra (Oct 29, 2017)

Gnits said:


> There is a separate cache for raw file. I do not have a machine to get details, but location is set in preferences, in Lr and Ps.


Hi 
i know about cache for raw file
but about photoshop on osx , i wonder where does it save the scratch disk files
on windows photoshop temp*
but under osx , can't find them
maybe a macos user could help me
thanks


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## Hal P Anderson (Oct 29, 2017)

The photoshop scratch disk is used when PS needs more RAM than is available. If what you were doing in Photoshop didn't exceed the available memory, then your scratch disk likely won't be used.


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## mantra (Oct 29, 2017)

Hal P Anderson said:


> The photoshop scratch disk is used when PS needs more RAM than is available. If what you were doing in Photoshop didn't exceed the available memory, then your scratch disk likely won't be used.


Hi Hal
but under windows 10 or 8.1 or 7  ,photoshop as soon as start creates a file photoshop temp* in the first scratch disk (in the preferences)
thanks


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## Hal P Anderson (Oct 29, 2017)

You're right. On Windows, it creates the scratch file in the root of the disk on startup and deletes it on close. Perhaps under Sierra it doesn't create the file until it's needed. Just a guess--I don't have an Apple machine.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 29, 2017)

If you set the scratch disk in the Photoshop preferences, then that's what Photoshop will use. If you don't see a temporary file appear when you open Photoshop, then that is indeed because Photoshop doesn't need to create it before it needs to use it. MacOS X has a highly advanced memory system, so with 32 GB RAM I don't think Photoshop will need to use a scratch disk very often.


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