Fixing “Credit Balance Not Available” Due to Server Timeout

When working in Photoshop, Illustrator, or the Firefly task bar, clicking your profile avatar or the credit counter may display “Credit Balance Not Available,” a persistent loading spinner, or a “Server Timeout” alert. When this error occurs, applications cannot retrieve your entitlement status from Adobe’s Identity Management Service (IMS). This issue prevents you from seeing your remaining credit count, and it can block you from using Generative Fill or Text to Image because the application cannot verify whether your account has available credits.

Fast Fix

In your Adobe application, click your Profile avatar and select Sign Out. Close all open Adobe programs. Press Win + R, paste %LocalAppData%\Adobe\OOBE, and delete the file named opm.db (on macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/OOBE/opm.db). Reopen Creative Cloud Desktop, sign in with your Adobe ID, and relaunch your creative app to re-establish the connection to the entitlement servers.

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Quick Status Snapshot

• Severity: Medium to High (blocks generative commands because entitlement checks fail).
• Target Layer: Adobe Identity Management (IMS), local OAuth session cache (opm.db), and local loopback APIs.
• Scope: Desktop and web creative applications attempting to query cloud balance APIs.

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Why the Balance Query Times Out

Your desktop creative applications do not calculate credit balances locally. Every time you open an application or launch a generative tool, a background daemon queries Adobe’s entitlement servers to verify your balance.

[Photoshop Generative Interface]
                │
                ▼
      [Queries Local Token: opm.db]
                │
                ▼
   [Attempts Outbound HTTPS Handshake]
   Endpoint: cc-api-data.adobe.io:443
                │
        ┌───────┴───────┐
        ▼               ▼
 [SSL Interception]  [Corrupted Session Token]
 Local proxy blocks   App sends expired credentials;
 connection           server times out waiting
        │               │
        └───────┬───────┘
                ▼
 [SERVER TIMEOUT: "Credit Balance Not Available"]

This handshake fails for three primary reasons:

1. Corrupted Local Authentication Tokens: The local identity database (opm.db) stores encrypted session tokens. If an application update or unexpected reboot corrupts this file, the app sends damaged verification headers, causing Adobe’s servers to time out while parsing the request.
2. Firewall and SSL Proxy Interception: Corporate networks, VPNs, and endpoint security suites that perform deep SSL/TLS packet inspection can break the secure connection between desktop apps and Adobe’s verification endpoints (.adobe.io and .adobelogin.com).
3. DNS Cache Latency or Socket Hangs: Stale DNS entries can route your balance queries to unresponsive edge servers, causing the application to display a timeout error after 15 to 30 seconds.

If you suspect your local session cache is causing broader interface glitches across your apps, review How to Reset the OOBE Cache to Fix UI Glitches.

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Diagnostic Path: Local Issue vs. Network Block

['Credit Balance Not Available' Appears]
                   │
                   ├──> Open firefly.adobe.com in a web browser:
                   │      ├── Does the website show your balance correctly?
                   │      │     └── YES ──► Local desktop cache corruption. Clear opm.db.
                   │      │     └── NO  ──► Account billing issue or global server outage.
                   │      │
                   │      └── Does the website ALSO fail to load or time out?
                   │            └── Network/Firewall block. Inspect proxy and DNS settings.
                   │
                   └──> Does your balance mismatch across mobile and desktop devices?
                          └── See: [Troubleshooting Credit Sync Errors Between Mobile and Desktop](<http://www.adobeopsguide.com/generative-ai/credits/credit-sync-errors-mobile-desktop>)

To confirm where credit data is located across different interfaces, see How to Check Your Exact Generative Credit Balance in Photoshop 2026.

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Step-by-Step Resolution

Step 1: Clear the Stale Authentication Database (opm.db)

Purging your local session database forces the application to request a clean authorization token:

1. Save your work and close all Adobe applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign).
2. Open Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (macOS) and end Creative Cloud and Adobe Desktop Service.
3. Open the directory containing your session tokens:
   • Windows: Press Win + R, paste %LocalAppData%\Adobe\OOBE, and hit Enter.
   • macOS: In Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G, paste ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/OOBE, and hit Return.
4. Locate the single file named opm.db.
5. Delete opm.db.
6. Launch Creative Cloud Desktop, enter your login credentials, and relaunch Photoshop. Your credit balance will refresh automatically.

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Explorer: %LocalAppData%\Adobe\OOBE                 │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Name                 Date Modified        Type           │
│ 📁 PDApp             Yesterday            File folder    │
│ 📁 Preferences       Last week            File folder    │
│ 📄 opm.db            Today, 8:12 AM       Data Base File │ <--- DELETE THIS FILE
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Step 2: Flush the System DNS Resolver Cache

If your computer is attempting to query an outdated server IP address, flush your operating system’s DNS cache:

On Windows:

1. Right-click the Start Menu and select Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin).
2. Type the following command and press Enter: ipconfig /flushdns
3. You should see the confirmation: “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.”

On macOS:

1. Open Terminal.
2. Run the DNS cache flush command: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
3. Enter your administrator password when prompted.

For a comprehensive guide on resolving authentication-related network failures, review Error P207: How to Flush DNS for Adobe CC Authentication.

Step 3: Whitelist Verification Endpoints in Security Software

If you are working on a managed corporate network or using a third-party firewall, verify that the following endpoints are permitted over port 443 (HTTPS) without SSL/TLS packet interception:

cc-api-data.adobe.io
ims-na1.adobelogin.com
firefly.adobe.com
entitlements.adobe.io

If your security software actively intercepts local loopback or background web sockets, configure exclusions using the steps in How to Whitelist Adobe Background Processes in Security Software.

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Hard Stops

• Do not toggle your account password or repeatedly reinstall applications while troubleshooting a “Credit Balance Not Available” error. If firefly.adobe.com also fails to display your balance in an incognito window, the issue is on Adobe’s identity server infrastructure. Check the official Adobe System Status page (status.adobe.com) under “Creative Cloud Services” and wait for service recovery before modifying local system files.