Where apps hide your files

Creative Cloud folders, libraries and Adobe Fonts

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

Adobe spreads Creative Cloud across several places: the old Creative Cloud Files folder in your home folder, a libraries cache, added fonts, and cloud documents that are not local files at all. Here is where each one is on a Mac and what you can safely do with it.

The locations

~/Creative Cloud Files*/
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Creative Cloud Libraries/LIBS/
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CoreSync/plugins/livetype/
~/Library/Fonts/
/Library/Fonts/

The first is the Creative Cloud Files folder in your home folder; the * is there because its name now carries your account details. The second holds the desktop app's local copy of your Creative Cloud Libraries. The third is where the Creative Cloud app keeps fonts added from Adobe Fonts. The last two are the ordinary macOS font folders for fonts you install yourself, and they are not Adobe-specific.

The Creative Cloud Files folder no longer syncs

Adobe has discontinued Creative Cloud Synced files. Its help pages say the shutdown began for personal accounts in February 2024 and was extended to 3 February 2025, the same date as business plans, and that the cloud copies were deleted. The local folder stayed on your Mac. Whatever is in it now is an ordinary local copy, and possibly your only one.

Adobe also renamed the folder to add the account type, profile name, email and an ID after the words Creative Cloud Files, so the plain name rarely matches any more. On a Mac that has signed in with more than one Adobe account, the folders look like this:

~/Creative Cloud Files <your-adobe-email> <long-hex-id>
~/Creative Cloud Files Personal Account <your-adobe-email> <ID>@AdobeID

List every one of them with a wildcard in Terminal:

ls -d ~/Creative\ Cloud\ Files*

Adobe says you can rename the folder, which makes sense if you are keeping it. Inside each one is a small file called _Cloud documents.webloc. It is a web link to Adobe's site (assets.adobe.com), not a folder of documents.

Cloud documents are not local files

Photoshop, Illustrator and Fresco cloud documents (saved with the cloud option rather than "On your computer") are stored by Adobe and cached by each app. Adobe lists cloud documents and Libraries among the services the Synced files shutdown did not affect. They never appear as ordinary files in the Creative Cloud Files folder. To get a local copy, open the document and save a copy to your computer, or download it from Adobe's web app. Treat any hidden cache as an implementation detail, not a backup.

Adobe Fonts: where added fonts go

Fonts you add from Adobe Fonts are not installed into ~/Library/Fonts. The Creative Cloud app manages them under:

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CoreSync/plugins/livetype/

That folder holds only hidden sub-folders with one-letter names (.c, .e, .r, .t, .u, .w and .x on a Mac checked for this article), which is why Finder shows it as empty. Adobe does not document the layout. Forum reports put the font files in .r, with numeric names that also start with a dot, so searching for a family name such as "Proxima Nova" will not match them. Adobe's terms cover using these fonts through the app, not copying the files elsewhere.

To see what is added, open the Creative Cloud desktop app and go to its Fonts section (the *f* icon at the top right in recent versions). It lists each family by name and lets you remove it, and the app then takes the files out of this folder.

Fonts you installed yourself

~/Library/Fonts/        # just for your user
/Library/Fonts/         # every user on this Mac

These are ordinary .ttf, .otf and .ttc files named after the font, and Font Book reads them. Fonts bundled with macOS live in /System/Library/Fonts/ and are read-only.

Libraries and other Adobe data

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Creative Cloud Libraries/LIBS/
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CoreSync/
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/

LIBS holds a folder per account, named with the account ID and ending in _AdobeID, containing the app's local copy of library elements. It can be tiny: under 200 KB on one Sequoia Mac. It mirrors what is in the cloud, so it is not a backup of a library. CoreSync holds the sync engine's state and configuration. Do not edit either.

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/ (without the ~) is shared by every user and holds components such as CameraRaw and Plug-Ins. The apps themselves are in /Applications/, each in its own folder named with the release year, for example /Applications/Adobe Media Encoder 2022.

Space and what is safe to clear

Most of the weight is usually your own work in the Creative Cloud Files folder, plus app caches (Photoshop scratch disks, the Media Cache in Premiere Pro and After Effects), whose locations are set in each app's preferences, not in the folders above. To see what the old synced folders hold:

du -sh ~/Creative\ Cloud\ Files*

Because the folder no longer syncs, deleting a file there removes your only copy unless you have a backup elsewhere. Copy anything you want to keep to a normal folder or a backup drive before you tidy up. Quit Creative Cloud before touching anything under CoreSync, and prefer the app's own sign-out and sign-in to fix stuck fonts or libraries.

Moving to a new Mac

Install Creative Cloud and sign in. Libraries, cloud documents and Adobe Fonts come back from your account, so you do not copy the livetype or LIBS folders. Two things need copying by hand: the Creative Cloud Files folder, since it no longer syncs, and any fonts you installed yourself in ~/Library/Fonts.

Why Spotlight misses these

Spotlight does not show results from ~/Library, the livetype sub-folders are hidden, and font files stored under numeric names would not match a font name anyway. The Creative Cloud Files folder itself is searchable, but its long account suffix makes it awkward to type.

Finding them again

Type livetype or Creative Cloud Libraries into Everywhere and the hidden Adobe folders appear next to the account-suffixed Creative Cloud Files folders, ready to reveal in Finder with ⌘↵. It matches file names only, so for a font you installed yourself, type the family name as it appears in the file name.

Common questions

Where is the Creative Cloud Files folder on a Mac?

In your home folder. Its name now usually carries the account type, your email and an ID after the words Creative Cloud Files, so list it in Terminal with ls -d ~/Creative\ Cloud\ Files*.

Does the Creative Cloud Files folder still sync?

No. Adobe discontinued Creative Cloud Synced files, with the last accounts switched off on 3 February 2025, and deleted the cloud copies. The local folder stays on your Mac as ordinary files, so back it up yourself.

Where does Adobe Fonts store activated fonts on a Mac?

Under ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CoreSync/plugins/livetype/, in hidden folders managed by the Creative Cloud app. They are not copied into ~/Library/Fonts; add and remove them from the Fonts section of the app.

Are Creative Cloud cloud documents stored on my Mac?

Not as ordinary files in the Creative Cloud Files folder. They live in Adobe's cloud and are cached by each app, so save a copy to your computer if you need a local file.