Participating Frequently

Question

Adobe InDesign 2025.app is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the trash.

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
June 15, 2025
4 replies
1378 views

JUST started getting this error after using ID 2025 for MONTHS.

"Adobe InDesign 2025.app is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the trash. The file was downloaded on an unknown date."

This is a macOS dialog of course, and the ? button on the error window suggests that the code in the app does not match the code that was signed by the developer, and this mismatch is causing the Mac security to block the app. I tried fixing it by uninstalling and re-installing from the Adobe CC Launcher - maybe this would update the install date and code check? - but kept getting the same error.

MacOS allows you to bypass this security check and tell it to launch anyway, through the Privacy and Security setting pane - and this ultimately did allow the app to launch.

But. Seriously. Adobe. Figure out why this happened at all and fix it. I've been using ID since 2.0 and this is the first time this has been an issue, ever. So, please, for the love of critical workflows, find out why this is happening and fix it.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @AllenOne,

Thanks for sharing the details and your experience and sorry for the delay in response. Totally understand how frustrating this can be, especially when workflows are disrupted.

Could you please confirm if the issue is resolved or you're still seeing this issue after updating to the latest InDesign 20.4.1 release? That will help us understand if this behavior is still persisting with the latest build and allow us to take it forward with the team if needed.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

A

allen_3152

Participant

I can only confirm that it hasn't happened again, so far. Updates and resinstalls did not solve the problem. In the end I turned off the option to save the IDML file when doing a Collection, and the Collection process no longer hung up. Leaving me to save the IDML by hand, which seems to work just fine.

A

AllenOneAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hm, that should have replied under this account. Weird.

Frans v.d. Geest

Community Expert

Same here, many times after the updates. Just allow it in Privacy settings. Why this happens, don't know, I reported it in the pre release testing as bug about six months ago already...

M

Manan Joshi

Community Expert

I would suggest to uninstall using the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool from Adobe. Then reinstalling Creative Cloud Desktop app and from that app installing InDesign. If it still does not work then try installing a previous version of InDesign.

-Manan

A

AllenOneAuthor

Participating Frequently

I did try 2024 and it launched just fine. But, I need to stay compatible with other designers throughout an organization, so using previous versions is not an option in my case.

A

AllenOneAuthor

Participating Frequently

Potentially useful data I forgot to include in the OP:

ID 2025 20.3.1

MacOS Sequoia 15.4.1

Macbook Pro M3 Max

leo.r

Community Expert

MacOS Sequoia 15.4.1

By @AllenOne

Try to update to the latest Sequoia - will it make a difference?

In any case, other users also report this issue once in a while. If you ask me, I blame Apple: some of their security and pseudo-security stuff is half-baked and poorly implemented.

A

AllenOneAuthor

Participating Frequently

Ah, that might be worth a try. I'll check os updates.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded