After 2019 update, Photoshop icons blank and no longer associated with the program

[Miker2426]

The headline gets to the point. Here's a screen shot of the issue. The Photoshop icon is now blank. In properties, where you can associate the program with the file type, changing it to Photoshop refuses to take. The "Pick an app" icon remains.

So now, every time I try to open a .psd file, I have to take the extra step of choosing what software I want to use to open the file.

I searched, and found this solution, but unfortunately there was no .psd option in that software (regardless of the instruction), so that was a no-go.

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

Hi Mike:

Take a look at this page: How to fix broken file type associations for Creative Cloud apps.

~Barb

[Miker2426]

Hello again BarbBinder! Thanks for the almost instant response.

And thanks for those solution. As mentioned in my post, Solution 1 didn't work., I had to google Solution 2, as I didn't know about that or how it worked. Unfortunately, that failed in the same way Solution 1 did - I could choose the associated software, but it wouldn't stick.

So now I'm going to uninstall and reinstall (with much grumbling I'll admit). I'll report back to you, and hopefully turn this thing green.

Edit: I uninstalled and reinstalled Photoshop. The icons were still blank, however; this time when I went in and associated the icon with the software, the change stuck and the icons were fixed.

Thanks BarbBinder​!

[Barb Binder]

Hi  again, Mike!

I'm so glad you got it figured out. It sounds like it was an incomplete installation.

~Barb

[D Fosse]

BarbBinder  wrote

It sounds like it was an incomplete installation.

This is a problem that has hit a lot of people, there have been at least thirty threads concerning this since CC2019 was released. The immediate trigger is uninstalling old versions after the new one is installed. This takes file associations with it, leaving them orphaned.

Mike should count himself lucky that it was solved by a simple reinstall. For most others it's necessary to edit the registry, and even that doesn't work for everybody.