After a Photoshop crash, check automatic recovery before searching the disk for deleted files. If a saved PSD or PSB was deleted, start with backups and storage recovery. If the file exists but is damaged, keep an unchanged copy and consider repair. A flattened preview is useful salvage, but it is not a restored layered project.
Let Photoshop reopen retained work
Reopen Photoshop after the unexpected shutdown and inspect any recovered documents. Save useful work with File > Save As under a new name before editing or closing it. Check the layers before assuming the latest changes were captured.
For desktop Photoshop on Windows, recovery information is configured under Edit > Preferences > File Handling > Automatically Save Recovery Information Every. Adobe’s file-loss prevention guidance explains interval-based crash recovery. That setting must have produced usable data before the crash; changing it now cannot recreate the missing session. Recovery intervals can leave a gap between retained work and the last edit.
Do not treat the scratch disk as a normal collection of complete PSD backups or clear temporary data before checking recovery. If no recovered document appears, move to known saved copies rather than promising that every temporary file can be renamed to PSD.
Recover a saved project or cloud version
For a local file, check Recycle Bin, its original folder, File History and the backup destination actually used. For a Photoshop cloud document, check its cloud document/version facilities under the correct Adobe account; a local PSD and a cloud document are different recovery sources. Confirm the revision before replacing anything.
When a saved file was deleted and the original disk remains readable, XRecovery can search remaining files. Inspect the former directory and relevant results, then save candidates to another physical device. Do not infer complete PSD layer recovery from a thumbnail.
A file exists but will not open
First try a fresh complete copy from its source or a known backup. Adobe’s damaged Photoshop file guidance separates single-file problems from patterns affecting multiple files. An unsupported plug-in, unavailable font or access issue is not automatically damaged project data.
XRecovery supports PSD and PSB file repair. Add a preserved copy, inspect available results and save output separately. Repair depends on surviving content; it does not guarantee reconstruction of every layer, smart object or external file.
Verify the project as an editable design
Check canvas dimensions, resolution, color mode and the layer stack. Toggle significant layers and masks, inspect text, adjustment layers and smart objects, and verify linked files against their intended sources. Compare the image at full resolution, including corners and areas hidden by the initial view.
Save the selected recovery as a new PSD/PSB, close and reopen that copy, and produce a reference export if useful. If only a composite image survives, keep it and label it as a flattened copy. Preserve the source and alternate candidates until the editable content you need has been verified.
For the next step, see Document Recovery: Deleted, Unsaved, Overwritten or Damaged?.