Adobe Photoshop runs natively on Windows 10 on ARM starting this month

By Sean Endicott
last updated

Some of the best PCs for getting work done on the go can now natively run Adobe Photoshop.

Surface Pro X
Surface Pro X (Image credit: Daniel Rubino/Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Windows 10 on ARM devices can natively run Adobe Photoshop as of this month.
  • Photoshop on Windows 10 on ARM supports almost all of the same features as other versions of the app
  • Native Windows 10 on ARM support brings Photoshop to devices such as the Surface Pro X.

Adobe Photoshop can natively run on Windows 10 on ARM PCs, such as the Surface Pro X starting this month. Native support brings one of the best Windows 10 photo editing apps to a growing collection of devices built for working on the go. A help page from Adobe (opens in new tab) specifies that native support rolls out for Photoshop this month and outlines all of the details.

Photoshop supports the vast majority of the same features as the version available on non-ARM PCs. There is, however, a small list of features that aren't available on Photoshop running natively on Windows 10 on ARM:

  • Import, Export and playback of embedded video layers
  • Shake Reduction filter
  • Invite to Edit workflows are not supported. To learn alternative ways to send invitations via Web, see Access and edit shared cloud documents (opens in new tab).
  • Preset Syncing is not on by default
  • Windows Dial Support
  • Generator and related features
  • Opening or placing U3D files
  • Starting Photoshop from Lightroom 'Edit In' command
  • Oil Paint Filter
  • Spell Checking and hyphenation for Hebrew and Arabic languages
  • Plugin Marketplace panel

Microsoft started beta testing Windows 10 on ARM support for Photoshop back in November 2020. Now, it's rolling out to everyone this month.

 (opens in new tab)
Adobe Photoshop


Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard when it comes to photo editing. Now, it natively runs on Windows 10 on ARM devices like the Surface Pro X.

Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

17 Comments
  • Great news for Windows on ARM. Hopefully, many other software will follow this path.
  • I bet this is not great new for Windows 10 on ARM. I think it is a consequence of what is coming later this year. Think of the Sun Valley and the new Windows announcement. There are things behind the curtain I guess.
  • What do you think may be going on behind the curtain?
  • It would be interesting if you were clearer about your supposition. Thanks
  • Photoshop being available on ARM is just a side-effect of Apple FORCING developers to switch to ARM platform on their new Mac lineup
  • Really? It doesn't make sense for Adobe just because Apple announced ARM CPUs. IMO, Microsoft just paid them or made some kind of deal but that's just my guess.
  • It's a pretty big side effect though. We all win. When working well ARM processors have major benefits over anything Intel or AMD offer.
  • How is it NOT good news for Windows on ARM and ARM computing in general?
  • OK, I think they should just rename "Windows 10 on ARM" to " WindowsARM" and be done with it. Creating unwieldy names is something Microsoft is prone to doing. The ARM-native Adobe Photoshop is a good development since it makes Windows on ARM more compelling for users.
  • They'll probably rename Windows 10 to just Windows, considering that 10 doesn't mean anything anymore. So yeah, Windows ARM may be coming soon.
  • if apple had not been released the new Apple M1 adobe would not have been interested in WOA .its just a side effect of the new M1
  • That isn't how businesses operate, at all. Companies don't spend R&D developing a product simply because of what a third party's competitor is doing. Adobe is likely doing this for 1 of 2 reasons; Microsoft paid for it or they have enough WoA customers to justify the development costs. Likely, it's the former.
  • Yeah, and people suddenly forget MS and Adobe partnership when Surface Pro X was announced even before Apple's ARM transition.
  • Maybe but I'm not so sure. Both Microsoft and Apple would've contacted Adobe directly.
  • It's rather telling it took Adobe a further 2 months after MacOS support though, that was out in March. But still great. Now will all the tech reviewers who wrote off Surface Pro X rereview it? No didn't think so. I don't use it personally but truth be told Google Chrome is a major omission.
  • Because of a single application? Of course not.
  • I wish Adobe Lightroom classic would work on arm. They really need to release x64 emulation to the general build.