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Tommas B
Known Participant
June 27, 2025
Question

Command-Z shortcut stops working

  • June 27, 2025
  • 5 replies
  • 886 views

Hello, even though I completely uninstalled InDesign (including all old versions) and then reinstalled it, I’m still experiencing the same bug: when I open another InDesign document, suddenly the Command-Z shortcut stops working. I'm using the latest version of InDesign and macOS Sequoia — though this issue has been happening for years across different versions of InDesign and macOS. Can anyone help? It’s incredibly frustrating and such a waste of time.

5 replies

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celiah31854055
Participating Frequently
March 4, 2026

Exactly the same for me - just suddenly stopped  - turned everything off an on again - still doing it. 

    D
    Dirk Becker
    Legend
    July 19, 2025

    Maybe you have assigned that shortcut to a style …

     

    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 29, 2025

    Ugh. I was hoping there was going to be an easier answer. Let's leave this for @Abhishek Rao to work through with you—he's Adobe staff.

     

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 29, 2025

    Hi @Tommas B:

     

    Three more questions:

     

    1. Are you running Webroot on your Mac? Is this all Cmd key shortcuts (i.e. Cmd S to save or Cmd P to print) or just Cmd Z?

     

    2. Do you migrate preferences when you install a new version?

     

    3. And how far did you go on resetting preferences? Just the keyboard shortcut or the Reset Preferences button in InDesign > Preferences > General? Or did you dig into the hidden folders to remove caches/preferences files?

     

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
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    Tommas BAuthor
    Known Participant
    June 29, 2025

    Hi Barb,

    thanks for looking into the problems:

    1.

    I am not using Webroot and it is mainly cmd-z sometimes additional cmd-s

    2./3.

    Yes i usally migrate preferences but a few days ago i settled up a complete new system and I cleaned all old Adobe Versions with Adobe Cleaner and installed everything new ... after facing the problem again i also deleted everything with this terminal command:

    sudo rm -rf \
    ~/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.InDesign* \
    ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe\ InDesign \
    ~/Library/Caches/Adobe\ InDesign \
    ~/Library/Caches/com.adobe.InDesign* \
    ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/InDesign \
    ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.adobe.InDesign.savedState \
    ~/Library/Logs/Adobe/InDesign \
    /Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/InDesign \
    /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.InDesign* \
    /Library/Preferences/Adobe\ InDesign \
    /Library/Caches/com.adobe.InDesign* \
    /Library/Logs/Adobe/InDesign

    but the problem ist still alive!

    Best regards, Tommas

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    June 27, 2025

    Hi @Tommas B,

     

    Thanks for reaching out, and I completely understand how disruptive this issue can be. Since you've already tried reinstalling InDesign and the problem still persists, could you confirm if it happens consistently with any specific files or even blank documents? Also, does the Command-Z shortcut stop working only after switching between tabs, or is it triggered by a particular action? Moreover, please confirm if by latest you mean the InDesign 20.4.1. 

    If you haven't already, please try resetting your InDesign preferences once. Just make sure to back them up before doing so. You can find the steps here: Reset InDesign Preferences. Additionally, testing the behavior in a new local admin user profile or Safe Mode could help isolate any user-specific or third party conflicts.

    If possible, a short screen recording showing the issue in action would really help us understand the pattern better and share it with the product team for further checks.

     

    Looking forward to hearing how it goes!

    Abhishek 

    T
    Tommas BAuthor
    Known Participant
    June 29, 2025

    Hello Abhishek,

    Thanks for your message. Here’s some additional information:

    • I'm working with InDesign 20.4.1.

    • I've deleted the preferences countless times already, as it's the only way to restart InDesign and be able to work with a document again without the error occurring.

    • However, as soon as I open an older InDesign document, the error appears — both in the old document and the newly opened one.

    • In Safe Mode, I can't properly open InDesign at all. I immediately encounter a new bug that came with the installation of the latest InDesign version. A window pops up saying “Cancelling, please wait…” — then the program freezes and shortly after crashes. I then have to reopen InDesign by deleting the preferences again, and can open and work on one InDesign file… but once I open another file, the whole cycle starts over again.

      Regards, Tommas

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