UPDATE – You can now get Adobe’s new Creative Cloud 2023 Direct Download Links!
For decades now, Adobe has provided industry-standard standalone installers for their creative products, for many valid reasons… Recent examples include the company publicly posting the direct download links for the CC 2019 and CC 2018 releases. In our view, the need is strong and they should continue to do the same going forward.
Last month, in front of a record 15,000 attendees at the annual MAX conference, Adobe unveiled the Creative Cloud 2020 Release with hundreds of new features and advancements. The latest 2020 software is available immediately for worldwide download via the CC Desktop App… All upgrades to the CC apps are included at no additional cost – which means everyone gets either a free upgrade or a new free trial.
But some users want or need to access the new tools directly without using Adobe’s download/app manager… This is essential when you want to keep and make permanent offline backups, copy them onto a USB drive for use anywhere, download on one system to install on another (or multiple computers) without re-downloading, have a slow Internet connection which is capped or throttled or hangs/freezes/stops when trying to use the Desktop app to download 20 GB of CC upgrades, etc. All of these use cases necessitate being able to get direct download links for offline installers.
New 2020 Direct Download Links Now Available
| More Direct Download Links |
|---|
| CC 2023 |
| CC 2019 |
| CC 2018 |
| Acrobat DC 2023 |
| Captivate 2019 |
| Elements 2023 |
Standalone, complete installers for the CC Desktop app, for Adobe Camera Raw, and for Acrobat DC Pro/Standard are already publicly available – but to date, Adobe has not posted the rest of the Creative Cloud 2020 direct download links. However, good news: you can now actually get them yourself by contacting Customer Service…
Just reach out to Adobe’s Customer Care team via live online chat, and they will immediately give you temporary links to download offline installers for all the 2020 apps that you need.
You simply need to ask. We suggest:
Hello, I need the direct download links (offline installers) for the new 2020 releases of __________. Could you please help me?
You can connect with an agent to get the downloads here. Look for “Contact Us” or “Your contact options…” at the bottom of the page, or the Chat icon at the lower right. If asked, choose the “Download & Install” category.
We have been told that all Adobe customer service reps across all locations have both the ability and authorization to distribute the new 2020 standalone installers, which they can now access through their internal version repository. This is confirmed by the company on their official Help page here: “For access to direct downloads, contact Adobe Customer Care.” We recommend requesting a supervisor if you run into any difficulty.
From what we’ve seen, free trial users are having a harder time getting the latest installers… But if you are not currently a paid subscriber, then you could become one to access the 2020 installers and then cancel within 14 days for a full refund if you do not wish to continue your paid membership.
As with access to previous direct download links like CC 2019 and CC 2018, we’ve worked hard to help make this happen for you – so please let us know how it goes, or if you run into any issues!
Or, You Can Do This Instead…
There is another option. Adobe just launched a new offer where you can now get a free Creative Cloud for Teams trial for 14 days. Teams plan users have access to the Admin Console for creating your own custom Managed packages to download the latest 2020 offline installers and/or previous versions – with updates included – for use wherever you want, on any computer.
No credit card or payment details are required, and you can get started immediately. You can sign up for the Creative Cloud for teams trial if you don’t have an Adobe account, have a free Creative Cloud membership, or have a paid Individual subscription. If you wish, you can purchase Creative Cloud for Teams anytime during or after your trial period, or you can simply let the trial expire automatically after 14 days without payment.
For more info, check out the new Adobe help page detailing this offer:
» Start Your Creative Cloud for Teams Free Trial Now
There is no obligation to remove any of the Creative Cloud apps you install; however they will continue to work only with an ongoing paid membership plan of some type.
But the best part is that you do not lose access to the Admin Console even after your Teams trial expires. You can still sign in to the Admin Console at any time to create new or additional CC installer downloads which you can use anywhere and with any Creative Cloud plan (including the Individuals plans). You can even download older releases.
We just tried this out and it works seamlessly as described, even if you already have an Individuals plan or if you currently have no paid plan at all. If you go this route, please let us know how it goes, or if you encounter any issues!
As always, we will be following this story closely going forward, and keeping this page up to date with the latest news regarding new offline installers, as well as publishing further information on the status of CC 2020 direct download links.
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Changing System Requirements
Also important to know that the system requirements have changed, both on Windows as well as on Mac, in order to take advantage of the latest operating system features and technologies… On Macs, the CC 2020 release now requires macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or higher. If you’re not yet running a compatible version of macOS, then you can get a free upgrade directly from Apple to High Sierra (10.13), to Mojave (10.14), or to Catalina (10.15). Be aware, however, that in Catalina – the latest release – Apple has dropped support for any older 32-bit programs that may be installed on your Mac.
Important note: The version above – CC 2020 – is the last release of Creative Cloud to fully support macOS v. 10.13 “High Sierra.”
On PCs, Windows 10 (version 1809 or higher) is a fully-supported platform for all Creative Cloud applications. Windows 7 SP1 will still work for some CC tools, but not key ones like the video and audio apps, and Windows 8.x is not supported at all. Furthermore, except for Acrobat DC, Creative Cloud no longer supports Windows 32-bit systems. Most CC 2019 apps already required a Windows 64-bit OS, and that requirement has now expanded to all CC 2020 apps. This means that 32-bit versions of Illustrator, InDesign, InCopy, Dreamweaver and Bridge are not offered in CC 2020, as they were in CC 2019.
Adobe explains that focusing their efforts on more modern OS versions allows them to concentrate on developing the features and functionality most requested by members, while ensuring peak performance that takes advantage of modern hardware. For more details, please consult the complete CC 2020 System Requirements.
If the new specifications don’t work for you for some reason, then you can instead continue to use the direct download links for the older CC 2019 applications, or even CC 2018.
Free Stock! Download 1,000,000+ premium assets from the new Adobe Stock Free Collection
What’s New in Adobe CC 2020? [Video]
See Also
- Adobe’s new 2020 release: What you need to know
- What are the differences between Adobe CC vs. CS6?
- Free Adobe Stock! Download 1,000,000+ top images
- Don’t need full Cloud? Get PS + LR for $9.99/month
- Download free Adobe books (choose over 30 titles)
- Free! Watch 200+ new courses from Adobe MAX
Did these links work for you? Hope they helped out; please let us know with a comment below… Do you have any questions about CC? Just ask below and we’ll get you answers fast!
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Hi – I’m looking for After Effects 17.0.1, the General stability and performance December 2019 release. I can’t download it directly from the cloud. Can you help me with this?
Hey John, that version is still available via the Creative Cloud Desktop app… See the instructions here:
How to Install Previous Versions of Adobe Creative Cloud Apps
@ChrisWayg
Thanks for your work and your comment here – totally worked for me. Great job!
Hi, I’m looking for Photoshop version 21.1.3. I need it for an extension to work, as the extension doesn’t work with newer photoshop versions. If anyone knows where I can get this version, please let me know. Of the versions that are available here such as the 2019 version, it is the first version of that new update for 2019, so the extension doesn’t work.
Thank you in advance!
Hello Ryan, please contact Adobe Customer Care directly and make that request from them:
http://www.ContactAdobe.com/
We here do not have the offline installers to give you, but Adobe does… They have the direct download links for the 2021 and 2020 versions, and you can request either….
Hello, I need the offline installers for Indesign 2020 and Illustrator 2020. Could you please help me?
Hello Ly, please contact Adobe Customer Care directly and make that request from them:
http://www.ContactAdobe.com/
We here do not have the offline installers to give you, but Adobe does… They have the direct download links for the latest versions.
I have this exact problem, chatting to an agent now; i don’t understand this company.
What problem?
Offline installers. Why do they not make them more easily available to paying customers to access?
The key in your question is “paying customers”… We believe Adobe made this change in part to control the distribution of offline installers and restrict their access to paying customers.
So the direct download links are indeed still available – but as described above, users need to contact Adobe directly in order to receive them.
Either that, or you can sign up for the free trial of Creative Cloud for Teams and then generate unlimited packages of installers yourself, even past the initial 14 days.
Note that anyone can get the free Teams trial – even just a single, regular person without any business or company.
Adobe CC 2020 is no longer available for download from their website. When will ProDesignTools make it available?
Hey Dave, Creative Cloud 2020 is not widely available for download but you can still get the 2020 release of many CC tools by contacting Adobe Customer Care directly and making that request from them:
http://www.ContactAdobe.com/
We here do not have the standalone installers to give you, but Adobe does… They have the direct download links for the 2022, 2021 and (some) 2020 versions.
PS – The direct download links they give out expire after 24 hours. Regarding sharing the actual files themselves – sorry, we cannot copy, re-upload, or redistribute the installers in any way, as it is against Adobe’s terms of service and thus illegal.
Generally it is also very unsafe to try to download and install any software that doesn’t come direct from Adobe.
So the best way for readers to get the 2020 offline installers themselves is to use either one the two techniques described in the article above. However, the company is not likely to give the direct download links to people who are only free trial users. But, see what you can do about that here.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the info. I’m a CC subscriber and I contacted them and asked for the download link for After Effects 17.7. They didn’t have 17.7, but they offered me 17.5, which I accepted.
I wasn’t clear in my original comment. I didn’t expect you to have copies of the installers, but I noticed that you had links for CC 2019, 2018, etc., and I was wondering when you would do the same for 2020. Just curious.
Glad to hear you got what you were looking for. Many customers still want or need to use the older releases, like you. For example, if your computer doesn’t support the most recent version, or if you need to use a prior release for compatibility reasons.
And yes, we definitely wish we could post all the 2020 direct download links, just like for the earlier versions you mentioned… But, it’s simply not possible.
Looking for a download link for the after-effects 2020 version and I just can’t find it here! I mean this is happening for the first time. Hope i get it :)
Hi Nainy, Creative Cloud 2020 is not widely available for download but you can still get the 2020 release of many CC tools by contacting Adobe Customer Care directly and making that request from them:
http://www.ContactAdobe.com/
We here do not have the standalone installers to give you, but Adobe may… They have the direct download links for the 2022, 2021 and (some) 2020 apps.
You would have to contact them directly to see about After Effects CC 2020.
Adobe only provided me with the base Photoshop 2020 (21.0.0) installer with no option to update it to the latest version of PS 2020 (21.2.12). The offline installer does not add it to the Creative Cloud app and when trying update through Photoshop, it brings me to the CC app – I find that pretty ridiculous. Any one else had the same experience? Any solutions to that?
When you install any application using an offline installer, it should still add the tool to be visible in (and updateable through) the Creative Cloud Desktop app.
If you’re not seeing that for some reason, then try signing out of the Creative Cloud app, rebooting your computer, and then signing back in. Also select “Check for Updates” on the Help menu of the Desktop app.
I need to download Illustrator but the current version is not available for my OS 10.13.6 system. I am not unable to update my OS system. Is there an earlier version of illustrator I can buy/download?
That’s right, the last release of Creative Cloud to support macOS v. 10.13 was CC 2020.
However, the CC 2019 direct downloads will also work just fine.
And you are definitely entitled to run that older version with your current paid membership, if you want or need to.
Is there a possibility to download InDesign 2020 somewhere? Thanks
Hello Sasha,
We here do not have the offline installers to give you, but if you are a paid subscriber to Creative Cloud then you could try contacting Adobe Customer Care directly, as they are the only ones who could provide those download links.
Alternatively, the CC 2019 direct links still work well, and are immediately available for download to everyone… All current subscribers can choose to run any version of CC you wish.
Can you please provide links for 2020 version of applications too? they are not available from Adobe support!!!
Hi, are you a paying customer? If so, please see our previous response above, just before your comment.
If no luck, then we’d suggest trying again and getting another agent. Different agents have varying levels of knowledge, information, and experience. If you don’t get a positive response within the first few minutes of the chat, then ask to be connected to a supervisor or politely disconnect and repeat with someone else.
One time recently, it took three separate chats to Adobe Customer Care on three different days (under the same case) to get the solution we needed. But, we finally found someone who could help and had the answer.
For survey purposes, why do you specifically need the 2020 release? Is it due to an older version of macOS which cannot be upgraded on your hardware? If so, then CC 2019 could work for you, while it’s still publicly available:
Creative Cloud 2019 Direct Download Links, for Windows and Mac
They are not offering 2020 any more. I just got off a chat with an agent. Only 2021. We have 50 licenses – it’s really infuriating.
The same issue here. An agent said today that the last supported version for which he could give me a direct download is MacOS 10.14. And I still have 10.13.6 and it can’t be upgraded. Please let me know if there still is a workaround.
Adobe should still be giving out CC 2020 installers for exactly that reason… Many paying customers have older Macs which cannot run the latest CC release.
You could try Creative Cloud 2019 instead. It should work and is still available to everyone for download:
All Adobe CC 2019 Direct Download Links, for Windows and macOS
Yes, but we have a lot of big spreads in 2020. Converting to 2019 sucks, and worries me a bit.
When I try the links to Creative Cloud 2019 you provided and try to download, it says “Unable to install. Sorry, Lightroom won’t run on your OS”
The system requirements for CC 2019 are:
I have:
I’m on a trial, but the download for Lightroom is available when I’m logged in (but not when I’m logged out).
So what is my problem? Is the download link really to CC 2019?
Yes, absolutely. Creative Cloud 2019 included Lightroom Classic version 8, which is what’s given on that download page.
It’s possible that your older 2009 system doesn’t meet the processor or graphics requirements on Adobe’s spec page for that Lightroom release.
Sorry. I did not scroll down to the actual links on that page but clicked on the parrot picture (saying Direct Download Links) and came to the download links on Adobe’s pages, and these were apparently not CC 2019 any more.
Anyway, now I have Lightroom Classic CC 8.0 installed on my computer. But I still have to figure out if it is possible to update it to 9.0 in order to be able to import my Olympus EM-5 Mark III raw files, which unfortunately were not compatible with 8.0. So I’m not “there” yet…
Anybody have any luck recently (in 2023) with the CC 2020 downloads? I chatted with multiple reps and they all claimed to be unable to provide downloads prior to CC 2021. I have machines stuck on High Sierra that still need CC 2020.
We here have not tried in a while, but last time it worked with some repeated persistence and requesting a supervisor. Adobe should still be giving out CC 2020 installers for exactly the reason you mention… Many paying customers have older Mac systems which cannot upgrade their operating system nor run the latest CC release.
You could try Creative Cloud 2019 instead. It works with High Sierra and is still available to everyone for download here:
All Adobe CC 2019 Direct Download Links, for Windows and macOS
I tried contacting Adobe support as suggested in your article, but sadly today (April 2023) the request for a direct link to Photoshop 2020 was denied to me via the Adobe rep on chat support. I was told it was now discontinued, they then gave me a link to your own download page for the 2019 version. I am a paying subscriber on Creative Cloud running Windows.
I have also tried the Creative Cloud for Teams Trial route today (April 2023), but when building a package there are now no versions of Photoshop available there that are older than version 23.0 (just to mention – I do have the other versions > older versions option set). Basically it just offers what is on CC for Desktop as far as older versions go. So sadly this method to get 2020 no longer appears to work either. I guess Adobe just don’t want paying customers to be able to access certain older versions. It’s a shame for sure if your desktop spec is getting a bit outdated. It’s going to have to be the direct download of 2019 that you’ve provided – and many thanks for that anyway!
You’re welcome Nige, and those are very good points. Adobe officially has a “N-1” Support Policy, which means they will support the current major release and the one prior.
So technically, now, that would mean CC 2023 and CC 2022.
But before (before 2023 came out), those two releases were 2022 and 2021. And, up until that time in mid-October, they would ALSO provide CC 2020 installers to any customer who asked for them (i.e., going three versions back).
Why? For exactly the reason you discovered. CC 2020 was the last Creative Cloud release to support macOS 10.13 High Sierra, for example. Many customers like yourself have older systems which cannot meet current hardware or software specifications. Should you have to buy a new computer??
So, until a few months ago, Adobe was already going further back and providing the N-2 version. Meaning that they clearly have the 2020 installers. And now, CC 2020 is the “N-3” version. But customers’ situations haven’t changed, and people like you still need the older releases.
Wish we know what to tell you. If we were Adobe, we would provide it, because paying subscribers need it. You shouldn’t really be forced to buy a new computer. You are OK with running an older version, without needing intensive support. So why can’t they simply give you the version you need?
Adobe are the only ones who can answer those questions. In the meantime, we’re glad that Creative Cloud 2019 is still available and that you can use it. The fact that Adobe points you to those links means that they recognize the same thing!
Many thanks for your input on this, ProDesignTools! It’s really very helpful. I rather feel Adobe Customer Care don’t really care that much, and don’t want to openly state why this is when their reps respond. I have now given up with asking them.
Whilst I understand and respect their need to innovate, I don’t think it is very environmentally sound to have to purchase a new computer just so I can install the latest version of Photoshop when I know an older version worked perfectly.
I’ve been a paying Adobe customer and using Photoshop for many years – well before CC ever existed. My work needs have not changed so radically, and my current computer still does exactly what I need (except that I need pre-2022 Photoshop). There is quite definitely an environmental issue here, we should not throw out perfectly-working equipment.
Anyway, with your kind help I do now have Photoshop 2019, and for that I’m really very grateful to you! My next decision is whether to stay with Adobe or move to another product when my renewal comes up.
Hey Nige, so glad you could get an older version of Photoshop that works for you. And we agree 100% that it would be better if Adobe made it easier to do this!
In our perfect world, Adobe would make prior releases available to subscribers, but not provide further technical support to customers who need or choose to use them. They could offer them with this disclaimer. That way, everybody wins, and the environment too.
Yeah, I’m having the same issue here for 2020. Adobe referred me to this site, and then told me to ask around to see if any of my friends had the file I was looking for. I am a paying subscriber as well. To add insult to injury, my film got into Sundance this year (the same one I’m struggling to find the 2020 version for) and Adobe had the nerve to ask me to promote their product.
Hmm, that is a little circular. They are actually the source of these installers, and our direct downloads link to all the specific files located throughout their own servers.
Further, it’s not good practice to “ask your friends” for an installer… In fact, it’s against Adobe’s own terms of service to procure their software from anywhere else besides through them or from an authorized partner.
But wow – big congrats on your film, at least!
Thank you! I only wish I could access my project file. Adobe said that they no longer have any versions older than 15.0 on their servers anymore, which I frankly have a hard time believing.
I feel so fed up with Adobe and how poorly they treat their paying subscribers. Feature films take years to make, it’s not wise to switch versions mid-project, and I can’t just keep holding onto old computers only to run old versions of Premiere. So many filmmakers I know are upset with them. I plan to switch to Resolve for the next project.
So sorry to hear that. You’re absolutely right about not being a good idea to switch versions in middle of a project. Did you try to open the older project file in a more recent version of Premiere Pro?
Ordinarily, newer releases should be able to open files created in previous versions (although not usually vice versa). This article may help:
Are Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) Files Backwards Compatible?