InDesign is unresponsive - how do I fix it?

Andrea_rodriquez

I'm having an issue where InDesign will suddenly stop responding, and I have to force quit the application. This is becoming a real pain, as I'm losing work every time it happens. Has anyone else experienced this issue, and if so, how did you fix it?

lee_gomez

When InDesign is Not Responding
First, check the InDesign preferences file to see if it is corrupt.

Go to Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > General (Mac OS).
Click the Reveal Preferences In Finder (Windows) or Reveal Preferences In Finder (Mac OS) button.
Open the preferences file in a text editor.

If the file is blank or you see strange characters, then the file is corrupt and needs to be replaced.

In Windows, the preferences file is called InDesign SavedData.Win. In Mac OS, the file is called com.adobe.InDesign.plist.

Quit InDesign.
Rename the preferences file.
Restart InDesign.

If replacing the preferences file doesn't work, try resetting InDesign's preferences.

Go to Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > General (Mac OS).
Click the Reset Preferences On Quit button.
Quit InDesign.
Restart InDesign.

If that doesn't work, try uninstalling and reinstalling InDesign.

Vickie_ki

If InDesign is not responding, the first thing you should do is check the system requirements to make sure your computer meets the minimum requirements. If it does, then the next thing to do is update InDesign to the latest version. If that doesn't work, then you can try resetting the preferences. If that doesn't work, then you can try uninstalling and reinstalling InDesign.