Today’s Question: I seem to recall reading or hearing somewhere that there may be some advantage to retaining Photoshop 2019 on one’s computer even after upgrading to Photoshop 2020. Does this ring any bells? I’m going to replace my primary photo editing computer soon and this has prompted the question.
Tim’s Quick Answer: After installing a major update to Photoshop (or other applications) I do recommend keeping the older version for a brief period while you confirm the new version is working properly and not causing any problems.
More Detail: When you install a major update for one of the applications in the Adobe Creative Cloud, the new version will be installed in addition to the existing version. This differs from a minor update, where the existing installation is upgraded.
Generally speaking, you only need one version of a given application installed. That means after installing a major update you could uninstall the previous version. However, I recommend delaying that uninstall to allow enough time to make sure the new version is working properly and not creating any problems.
After you’ve spent enough time working with the new version, getting everything configured, installing plug-ins, and otherwise making sure the new version is working well for you, there generally isn’t any need to retain an older version.
So, once the new version is working well, you can uninstall the older version to free up additional hard drive space. Of course, if you have more than enough hard drive space available, you can delay the uninstall for a bit longer, just in case anything goes wrong with the new version.
The only other reason not to remove an older version of Photoshop would be if a plug-in you use in your workflow is not compatible with the new version. That is generally not an issue, however, as plug-in makers typically test and update their software as needed to make sure it will work with new updates to Photoshop.