Today’s Question: Since my last Photoshop update, I now get a screen with the last 20 files that I opened displayed as thumbnails on the home page. I find this annoying. Is there any way of preventing that from occurring?
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can disable the home screen you’re referring to by turning off the “Auto show the Home Screen” checkbox on the General tab of the Preferences dialog in Photoshop.
More Detail: Photoshop includes a home screen that shows a list of recently opened photos, along with options for creating a new file, opening an existing file, and more. While I’m sure some Photoshop users find this home screen helpful, I find it to be cluttered and not helpful at all. I therefore prefer to prevent the home screen from appearing automatically when I launch Photoshop (or when I’ve closed all open documents).
To disable the home screen from appearing automatically go to the General tab in the Preferences dialog. Turn off the “Auto show the Home Screen” checkbox in the Options section and click the OK button to close the Preferences dialog.
I’ve also found that this setting won’t function properly unless you open an image or create a new image, so I then recommend creating a new image by choosing File > New from the menu. You can then close the image without saving it and quit Photoshop. The next time you launch Photoshop the home screen will not appear.
Note, by the way, that for anyone who likes the home screen in Photoshop, you can bring it up at any time by clicking the house icon at the far left of the Options bar.
