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Frans v.d. Geest
Community Expert
Frans v.d. GeestCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 23, 2026
Answered

Ai Alt text active, but nothing generated

  • March 23, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 57 views

I have the changed the language to English, I set the Preference to Create AI Alt text when placing, I am logged in to my account (with many AI credits) but  no Alt text is generated, No blue icon is shown (not even the preference for it) and when I go to Object Export options, under Custom the button to generate AI Alt text is greyed out.
Why is this funcyion disabled? (No enterprise or whatever, just 'normal' version 21.3 US English.

    Correct answer Frans v.d. Geest

    Ah! Only works if the language in the (Basic) Paragraph Style is set to English!

    3 replies

    Frans v.d. Geest
    Community Expert
    Frans v.d. GeestCommunity ExpertAuthorCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    March 23, 2026

    Ah! Only works if the language in the (Basic) Paragraph Style is set to English!

      Abhishek Rao
      Community Manager
      Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      March 23, 2026

      Hi ​@Frans v.d. Geest,

       

      Sorry to hear about the trouble with this. As Leo mentioned, this is a known issue currently being investigated. In the meantime, could you please try fully quitting InDesign, restarting your system, and then launching InDesign again to check if the Auto-generate Alt Text option becomes active?

      Here’s the reference for the same: https://community.adobe.com/questions-671/adobe-indesign-s-auto-alt-text-feature-is-greyed-out-and-cannot-be-toggled-even-when-no-documents-are-open-and-it-causes-noticeable-delays-while-generating-alt-text-impacting-performance-1550780?postid=7510475#post7510475

       

      Let me know how it goes.

      Abhishek

      Frans v.d. Geest
      Community Expert
      Frans v.d. GeestCommunity ExpertAuthor
      Community Expert
      March 23, 2026

      ​@Abhishek Rao No, that is the Preferences greyed out, different bug, that is fine here. It does not generate anything and what is greyed out is in the Object Export Options dialog, I can toggle and set the Preferences just fine.

      leo.r
      Community Expert
      leo.rCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 23, 2026

      It's a bug; the Alt text settings sometimes become disabled (it was discussed here recently.) Try to restart your machine - it solved it for some users.

      Frans v.d. Geest
      Community Expert
      Frans v.d. GeestCommunity ExpertAuthor
      Community Expert
      March 23, 2026

      ​@leo.r No, that is the Preferences greyed out, different bug, that is fine here. It does not generate anything and what is greyed out is in the Object Export Options

      Please read again, it is NOT the Preference bug!
      See this screen recording:

      See screen recording here:
      www.fvdgeest.nl/Alt_text_indesign.mp4

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