How to Stop Photoshop From Accessing Network

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Stop Photoshop from phoning home.

Adobe Photoshop is the most common professional raster image editor in the world. Its power, flexibility and precision have made it the favorite of photographers and graphic designers for decades. To combat piracy of this popular platform, Adobe's gotten more aggressive with its software's network policies. Adobe products "call home" every time they're started, talking to remote servers, using up bandwidth and representing a tangible threat to your privacy. But if you're using a Windows system, you can shut down these connections without any additional software.

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Step 1

Click the "Start" button, then click "Control Panel." Click on the "Windows Firewall" icon. Depending on your settings, you may have click on "Advanced View" before you can see the icon.

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Step 2

Click on the "Turn Windows Firewall On or Off." Select "Turn on Windows Firewall" on all applicable networks; if you use your laptop in public places often, use it for all locations. Click the "Back" button.

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Step 3

Click on "Advanced Settings." In the new window, click on "Inbound Rules."

Step 4

Find all of the rules for Adobe-branded products. You need to find all Adobe processes, not just Photoshop.

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Step 5

Double-click the first Adobe inbound rule. In the new window, under the General tab, select "Block the Connection." Click "OK," close the window and repeat this process for every Adobe process you find.

Step 6

Close all three of the Windows Firewall windows. Restart your computer. Adobe Photoshop is now blocked from accessing the Internet.

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