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Mitch98
Participating Frequently
October 23, 2026
Question

6–7 Second Lag When Placing Images, Even in New Documents (Windows 11)

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing a persistent lag when importing images into Adobe InDesign v21.6 on Windows 11 (v 25H2).

Whenever I place an image, either by dragging and dropping it into InDesign or using the Place command there's a noticeable delay of approximately 6–7 seconds before the image appears.

The strange thing is that the lag occurs regardless of the image's file size. Even small images of around 500 KB take the same amount of time to import.

My system specifications:

  • Processor: Intel Core i7 (12th Gen)

  • RAM: 64 GB

  • Storage: 2 TB NVMe SSD

  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

What's particularly frustrating is that I never experienced this issue on my much older, lower-spec machine back in 2016, which had an Intel Core i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, and an NVIDIA GTX 1050.

Troubleshooting steps I've already tried:

  1. Resetting InDesign preferences using Ctrl + Alt + Shift during startup.

  2. Manually deleting the preferences folder:
    C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\Version 21.0\en_US

  3. Testing image placement in a completely new, blank InDesign document.

  4. Using images stored locally on my SSD, rather than on network drives or cloud storage.

Unfortunately, none of these steps has resolved the issue. I'm using images stored locally on my SSD.

The delay occurs consistently, even when working with a brand-new document and a very small image file. Generative ai options are turned off in preferences. 

 

I'd appreciate any suggestions regarding possible causes or fixes.

    5 replies

    Harshika Verma
    Community Manager
    Harshika VermaCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    October 23, 2026

    Hi ​@Mitch98,

    Thank you for reaching out and sorry to hear you’re experiencing a lag when placing images in InDesign. In addition to what our expert has suggested, would you mind disabling the “Generative AI options” via the Edit menu > Preferences and sharing the results with us?

     

    Looking forwward to your response.

     

    Thanks,

    Harshika

     

     

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    Mitch98Author
    Participating Frequently
    October 23, 2026

    ​@Harshika Verma  Generative AI options are already turned off as mentioned in the second last line of my original post. 

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    Community Expert
    Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 23, 2026

    Given that you've already reset preferences, tested new documents and tried small images stored locally, I'd be inclined to look outside InDesign for the moment.

    Particularly as this is a newer machine with considerably better specifications than your previous one.

    The fact that the delay is consistently 6/7 seconds, regardless of image size, makes me wonder whether something is intercepting or scanning the files before InDesign can access them.

    A few things I'd try:

    1. VPN: If you're running a VPN, disconnect it temporarily and test again. Some VPN/security clients continue running background services even when disconnected.


    2. Antivirus/security software: Check whether InDesign is being monitored or restricted. You could try adding InDesign to the antivirus exclusions, along with checking whether real-time file scanning is causing the delay. Any security changes should be temporary and approved by IT if it's a managed computer.


    3. Clean boot: Try starting Windows with non-Microsoft services and startup applications disabled. This can help establish whether a third-party application or background service is interfering. If the issue disappears, re-enable things gradually until you find the culprit.


    4. Safe Mode: Another diagnostic option, although InDesign might not function normally because some drivers and services won't load.


    5. New Windows user account: Create a fresh local Windows account and test InDesign there. This could help identify whether something in your existing Windows user profile is contributing to the problem.

    I'd be particularly interested in the clean boot results.

    If InDesign behaves normally in that environment, it would strongly suggest something running in the background is responsible.

    I wouldn't completely rule out InDesign itself, but given what you've already tested, I'd concentrate on the Windows environment before spending more time resetting or reinstalling the application.

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      Mitch98Author
      Participating Frequently
      October 23, 2026

      Thanks for the detailed reply Eugene. In reference to your points, heres's what's been done already. 


      1) I am not running any VPN. 
      2) Indesign is not montiored or restricted. I even turned off the firewall and antivirus in Eset Internet Security. There's no difference in the issue of images being encountered. 
      3)Haven't tried clean boot yet. I'll try it and post back my results
      4) Using safemode isn't suitable anyway because some drivers and services won't load.
      5) Yes. This image placement issue doesn't come in a separate windows account that I have on my machine for testing. Images gets placed smoothly without any lag. Even the heavy ones like 6 mb, 7mb ones. !! Is there any way to fix this now or maybe copy some settings from the different windows account on my machine to overwrite in the present one?

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      Community Expert
      Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 23, 2026

       

      Safe Mode is a diagnostic step, not a recommended workflow.

      The idea is to start Windows with the minimum drivers and services running and see whether the problem persists.

      If InDesign runs and the lag disappears, that gives us a clue that something normally loaded with Windows could be interfering.

      If InDesign won't run properly in Safe Mode, then we haven't really learned anything. A clean boot would be a better test in that situation.

      Once tested, you simply restart Windows normally.

       

      Windows account
      This is actually the most interesting result you've reported.

      If InDesign places images without any delay in another Windows account on the same computer, that strongly suggests the problem is specific to your original Windows user profile or something running within it.

      We can largely rule out the hardware, SSD performance and a general problem with the InDesign installation.

      I'd be reluctant to start copying settings from one Windows account to another just yet. You could end up copying unnecessary files, overwriting your existing settings or introducing other issues.

      I'd approach it this way:

      First, try the clean boot while logged into the Windows account that's experiencing the problem.

      If the lag disappears, we know something normally running in the background is likely responsible. You can then systematically re-enable startup applications and services until the problem returns.

      I'd also compare the startup applications between the working Windows account and the problematic one. There might be something running under one account that isn't running under the other.

      One other thing worth checking is the InDesign cache.

      You mentioned deleting the preferences folder under AppData\Roaming, but InDesign also maintains a separate cache under AppData\Local.

      With InDesign closed, you could try renaming this folder:

      `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Adobe\InDesign\Version 21.0`

      For example, rename it to `Version 21.0_old` so you have a backup.

      InDesign should recreate the necessary files when launched again.

      If the clean boot makes no difference and clearing the cache doesn't help, I'd start looking more closely at the Windows user profile itself, including account-specific permissions, temporary folders and background processes.

      The important thing is that you've established InDesign works correctly on this computer under another Windows account.

      That's a very useful starting point, and I'd investigate why the two accounts behave differently before considering anything drastic like reinstalling Windows or migrating to another account.

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