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flo_3779
Known Participant
November 18, 2025
Answered

All menus gray, cannot edit my document nor quit indesign

  • November 18, 2025
  • 11 replies
  • 838 views

I just closed my mac without turning it off, and when i opened it the next day, i could not do anything on my document. I can open new documents, but all menus are gray, like there is an opened window that does not exist. Also, i cannot quit indeisng, nor click on "about indesign".... 
I triesd to delete preferences, caches, et reinstall it, nothing has worked... 

    Correct answer Mark Haden

    There is a bug I raised with Adobe ages ago that greys out the menus. Just select a text box and do command-B, command-period (to close the dialog) several times in succession. After a few times InDesign thinks the dialog box is still open when it's not, so the menus are greyed out. You have to force InDesign to quit.  Affects most of our users at some point. Only seems to have apperared when the contextual 'help' stuff was added.

    11 replies

    Mark HadenCorrect answer
    Participant
    November 20, 2025

    There is a bug I raised with Adobe ages ago that greys out the menus. Just select a text box and do command-B, command-period (to close the dialog) several times in succession. After a few times InDesign thinks the dialog box is still open when it's not, so the menus are greyed out. You have to force InDesign to quit.  Affects most of our users at some point. Only seems to have apperared when the contextual 'help' stuff was added.

    HannahMcAbbott
    Known Participant
    September 3, 2026

    Thank you Mark Haden. This worked!

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    leo.rCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 18, 2025

    Is it possible that it's the same issue that affects useers in Japan:

    https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%82%A2%E3%83%83%E3%83%97%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89%E4%BF%9D%E5%AD%98%E3%82%82%E7%B5%82%E4%BA%86%E3%82%82%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%80%E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6%E3%82%82%E4%B8%8B%E3%81%AB%E6%88%BB%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84/td-p/15595852

    akirax
    Participating Frequently
    November 18, 2025

    Yes, it seems to be that, when i turn off the internet it works fine, but when i have my wifi on it greys out all the menus, so its probably related to the creative cloud.

    PAUL22665679sqel
    Participant
    November 18, 2025

    I managed to talk to a support person at Adobe, and he says it's a bug which they're trying to fix. In the meantime, he gave me a workaround (see below), which does involve turning off the internet (and turning it on again later). I did what he suggested, and it worked; my InDesign is now functioning as it should.

    Our team is working closely with Adobe to resolve this. In the meantime, we have identified a workaround that appears to resolve the issue. Please follow these steps carefully:
    Disable the firewall on your system. 
    Uninstall any VPN or antivirus software temporarily.
    Save your file (use Save, Save As, or Save As Copy).
    Quit the application completely.
    Turn off the internet connection on your computer.
    Restart your computer.
    Once restarted, open Adobe Illustrator or InDesign without connecting to the internet.
    Open any file while still offline.
    After the application and file are open, turn on and reconnect the internet to your computer.
    This workaround has been effective for most users and should allow you to continue working until a permanent fix is implemented.

    PAUL22665679sqel
    Participant
    November 18, 2025

    Same problem exactly. I'm using MacOs Sequoia 15.7.2, and I've just upgraded InDesign to 21.01. InDesign opens but I can't access any of my files or make any changes. What do I do? (Photoshop seems to be working fine; this seems to be an InDesign problem.)

    Community Expert
    Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 18, 2025

    Here are some steps to help narrow down what’s actually causing it. Since both 2025 and 2026 are affected, it points to something external interfering rather than an InDesign-only issue.

    1. Rule out system interference

    Start in Safe Mode (Mac or Windows) and open InDesign.
    If the menus work normally in Safe Mode, then something running in the background is blocking InDesign’s UI.

    2. Check background processes

    Restart normally, open InDesign, then open Activity Monitor (Mac) or Task Manager (Win).

    Start closing non-essential background items to see which one is causing the lockup.
    Common culprits include:

    • Anti-virus tools (WebRoot, Zscaler, CrowdStrike, etc.)

    • VPN clients

    • Screen recording / overlay apps 

    • Third-party utilities or “helper” tools

    3. If you use a second monitor

    Disconnect the external display and relaunch InDesign.
    Occasionally a hidden off-screen dialog can freeze the UI and grey out menus.

    4. Reinstall properly

    A normal reinstall often doesn’t fix deep issues.
    Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool for a full reset:

    https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

    Steps:

    Remove the latest version (2026) first.
    Check if 2025 works normally.

     

    If not, run the Cleaner again and remove all InDesign versions.

     

    Install 2025 only test.

    Then install 2026 test again.

     

    This will confirm whether the issue is tied to the new install or something external on the system.

     

    --------------------------------------------------------

     

    Additional things to try

    Manually remove InDesign preferences (full reset)

    Sometimes deleting prefs from inside the app doesn’t work because the UI is frozen, so remove them manually:

    Mac:
    ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign/
    ~/Library/Caches/Adobe InDesign/
    ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/InDesign/

    Windows:
    %AppData%/Adobe/InDesign/
    %LocalAppData%/Adobe/InDesign/

    Quit all Adobe apps before deleting.

    Reset InDesign via keyboard shortcut

    If the menus are frozen but the startup screen still appears:

    Hold Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Cmd+Opt+Ctrl+Shift (Mac) immediately after launching InDesign until the “Delete Preferences?” dialog appears.

    (This only works if the UI hasn’t fully locked.)

    Remove or disable third-party plugins

    If you have anything in:

    Mac:
    /Applications/Adobe InDesign…/Plug-Ins/
    ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/InDesign/Version…/en_US/Plug-Ins/

    Move third-party plugins to the desktop temporarily.
    A single outdated plugin can grey out menus across all installed versions.

    Reset the GPU / disable GPU Performance

    If InDesign is technically open but UI is unresponsive:

    Preferences  GPU Performance  turn off GPU Performance.

    Obviously you need a usable UI to do this, but you can also force-disable GPU via:

    Mac:
    Rename this file:
    ~/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.InDesign.plist

    Reset InDesign’s recovery / lock files

    A corrupt lock file can freeze menus.

    Delete everything in:

    Mac:
    ~/Library/Caches/Adobe InDesign/Version*/InDesign Recovery/

    Windows:
    %LocalAppData%\Adobe\InDesign\Version*\InDesign Recovery\

    Check for ghost dialogs

    If InDesign thinks a dialog box is open, menus will go grey.

    Try these:

    • Press Esc several times

    • Press Return / Enter

    • Press Cmd+~ (Mac) to cycle through windows

    • Drag all screens around if you're using multiple monitors

    Sometimes a hidden alert dialog is on a second monitor that isn’t detected.

    Check system-level UI blockers

    Recent cases of greyed menus have been triggered by:

    • macOS accessibility permissions blocking InDesign

    • Screen recording permissions

    • OS-level input managers

    • Over-aggressive endpoint security tools

    Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security, check:

    • Accessibility

    • Full Disk Access

    • Screen Recording

    • Input Monitoring

    Make sure InDesign and the Creative Cloud Desktop app are allowed.

    akirax
    Participating Frequently
    November 18, 2025

    The same thing just started happening to me today as well... Both adobe InDesign 2025 and 2026 versions open but all menus are grey, can not select or do anything... I tried reinstalling InDesign 2026 and deleting the preferences and nothing works....

      akirax
      Participating Frequently
      November 18, 2025

      Its also strange since ID2025 hasnt been updated for 12 days and was working fine yesterday...So wondering if something from ID2026 messed with it (i guess the new one auto-updated since i didnt manually update it, but it should have its setting for manual update...) *scraches head*

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