Symptoms

This document can help you resolve sluggish performance or system errors that occur while you use Adobe Bridge. System errors can manifest in many ways, including:

• A blank or flickering dialog box
• A frozen cursor or screen
• An error such as "The application 'unknown' has unexpectedly quit."

Troubleshooting steps

Try the following steps in the order listed.

1. Reset preferences, reset the default workspace, and purge the cache.

Damaged preferences or workspaces can cause unexpected behavior in Adobe Bridge. Purging the cache can fix display issues for thumbnail previews.

1. Start Adobe Bridge and immediately press Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (Mac OS) until the Reset Settings dialog box appears.
2. Select all three options--Reset Preferences, Reset Standard Workspaces, and Purge Entire Thumbnail Cache--and then click OK.

 You can also purge the cache by doing the following:

1. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Bridge > Preferences (Mac OS).
2. Select the Cache panel.
3. Click Purge Cache.

Or, you can manually purge the cache by doing the following:

1. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Bridge > Preferences (Mac OS).
2. Select the Cache panel.
3. Look at Location and note the path for the Cache folder.
4. In the Explorer (Windows) or Finder, navigate to the Cache folder.
5. Drag the Cache folder to the Recycling Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac OS).

Note: You can some labels and ratings when you purge the cache.

For more information, see the Help topics:

• Work with the cache (Adobe Bridge CS5)
• Preferences (Adobe Bridge CS5)
• Work with the cache (Adobe Bridge CS4)

2. Disable startup scripts.

Adobe Bridge can crash or not start if it encounters a corrupt startup script. Disable all startup scripts to see if it resolves the issue.

1. In Adobe Bridge, choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Bridge > Preferences (Mac OS).
2. Select Startup Scripts.
3. Click Disable All, and then click OK.
4. If Adobe Bridge works better with startup scripts disabled, enable the scripts one by one or in small groups to identify which script is problematic.

For more information, see the Help topics:

• Enable startup scripts (Adobe Bridge CS5)
• Enable startup scripts (Adobe Bridge CS4)

3. Start Adobe Bridge with the Folders panel disabled.

The Folders panel can cause slowdowns when Adobe Bridge starts. Disable the Folders panel if you do not use it.

• In Adobe Bridge, click the Window menu and deselect Folders Panel.

4. Disable the Preview and Metadata panels.

The Preview and Metadata panels use resources when generating thumbnails and when you navigate image content. If you don't use them, turn them off.

• In Adobe Bridge, click the Window menu and deselect Preview Panel and Metadata Panel.

5. Set up Adobe Bridge to process smaller files.

Adobe Bridge can slow down when processing large files. By default, Adobe Bridge automatically processes thumbnails up to files 1000 MB. You can reduce this file size in Preferences.

1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Thumbnails (Windows) or Bridge > Preferences Thumbnails (Mac OS).
2. In the Performance and File Handling section, enter an amount such as 100 MB in the Do Not Process Files Larger Than field.

For more information, see the Help topics:

• Limit file size for thumbnails (Adobe Bridge CS5)
• Limit file size for thumbnails (Adobe Bridge CS4)

6. (Windows) Make sure that Adobe Bridge is not running in the background.

Sometimes if you navigate to a different folder while Adobe Bridge is generating thumbnails for images in the current folder, Adobe Bridge can freeze or crash. Before you restart Adobe Bridge after a crash, make sure that Adobe Bridge is not still processing files.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, and then select Task Manager.
2. Select the Processes tab.
3. Select Bridge.exe and click End Process.

7. Perform system troubleshooting steps.

If the Adobe Bridge-specific solutions in this document don't resolve the problem, perform more general, system troubleshooting solutions. In particular, make sure that you're running the latest version of your software and that you have an up-to-date video card driver installed. For instructions, see Troubleshoot system errors and freezes | Adobe software on Windows or Troubleshoot system errors and freezes | Adobe software on Mac OS 10.x.

Products affected