Constant Spinning Wheel After Actions in InDesign 2025 Update

Try resetting preferences and caches:
https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-rebuilding-preferences-cache/

Also, make sure Full Disk Access is granted to InDesign in System Settings > Privacy & Security.

Hi ​@Dazzling_magnetism6e91,

Thanks for reaching out, and I’m sorry you’re experiencing this issue. I understand how disruptive the constant spinning cursor/freezing can be while working in InDesign.

Could you please confirm the exact version of InDesign you’re currently using? If you’re not already on the latest version, InDesign 21.5.1, please update to it through the Creative Cloud desktop app, restart InDesign, and test the same workflow again.

Please let us know whether the issue still occurs after updating to 21.5.1, and we’ll take it from there.

Thanks, 

Abhishek

Hi ​@Jakob26573084v4e8, we’re sorry about the trouble. The product team is working on a fix for this. Please stay tuned. 

Meanwhile, please try the workarounds suggested in this conversation. 

Thanks, 

Nikunj  

SAME ISSUE WHEN PLACING IMAGES IN INDESIGN

Disable the new Generative AI options in Preferences — this fixed similar issues with placing images for many users.

If the options are unavailable for you (grayed out) due to another bug with this feature, you can run a script to disable them. This is for Mac (if you’re on Windows, I’m sure someone can post a JS version):

 

tell application "Adobe InDesign 2026"
	set add AI tag to alt text of general preferences to false
	set auto generate alt text of general preferences to false
end tell

exactly the same problem. and my previous preference fix,  did’nt work either problem came right back in a matter of mins. quite depressing if you ask me. 

Hi ​@sandyj17034844,

I’m really sorry to hear you’re experiencing this, I understand how frustrating it can be.

Could you please confirm the exact version of InDesign you’re currently using along with your OS details? Also, could you please let me know if this happens with a particular file or across all files? If it’s limited to a specific file, the IDML workflow can be used to check if it helps resolve a file-based issue. Please update me on how it went.

In the meantime, please try resetting the InDesign preferences manually by following the video at the bottom of this guide and then test the behavior again:
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html

Additionally, it would be helpful to test this in Safe Mode and also in a new user admin account. This helps isolate whether any third-party applications or user profile settings might be contributing to the issue. You can refer to these steps based on your system:
Windows Safe Mode: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234
macOS Safe Mode: https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac
New user on macOS: https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh15191/mac
New user on Windows: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-user-accounts-in-windows-104dc19f-6430-4b49-6a2b-e4dbd1dcdf32

Please try these steps and let me know how it goes on your end. 

Abhishek

Hello @makusvdw 

I installed 20.3.1 on my Windows 10 8gb machine and it works fine, slow to load up but once it's loaded it works as expected.

I suspect something else going on for you. 

I have never encountered these issues you're encountering or anyone else has on the forums - InDesign has always run smoothly for me. 

For the best part I typically use 2022 - I have not moved to 2023 but plan to once I complete some tests between files. 

============

In recent months we've noticed third-party apps - especially on Macs can interfere, how Apple let other apps override other app settings is a mystery. 

If you have Typeface, Magnet, WebRoot, or other third party software. you should try disabling them and see if things improve - things like VPNs Firewalls and all that stuff. 

===========

One quick way to test if it's a third party app is to start in safe mode, see if InDesign behaves as expected. Then you will know - works on Mac and Windows. 

=========

Sometimes it's a user profile permissions issue (sounds strange) but if you setup a new user profile on your computer Windows or Mac doesn't matter - then see if it behaves normally.

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You can always rollback to a previous version of Indesign

Rollback to a previous InDeisgn version

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/using/install-previous-version.html#:~:text=Open%20the%20Creative%20Cloud%20desktop,down%20list%2C%20select%20Other%20Versions.

But for the most part sometimes old files act weird with new software - files created in previous versions of the software opening in a new version.

If a document is not behaving well then try 

File>Export 

Choose IDML

Open the IDML in InDesign
Save the file as a new InDesign file with a new name
See if the issue persists.

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Try resetting your preferences:

InDesign 19.3 and newer go to Preferences > General > and click on "Reset Preferences on Quit" and then quit and restart.

Or
Windows: Start InDesign, and then press Shift+Ctrl+Alt. Click Yes when asked if you want to delete preference files.
macOS: While pressing Shift+Option+Command+Control, start InDesign. Click Yes when asked if you want to delete preference files.
A dialog will appear asking to delete the InDesign Preferences, select 'Yes' on this dialog.



More in-depth cleanse of preferences

https://helpx.adobe.com/in/indesign/kb/indesign-preferences-support-file-locations.html

=====

Reinstalling rarely fixes everything - you can do a complete reinstall using the
Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

===

On a side note - I was a beta tester for Affinity and I didn't really notice any performance improvements or stability enhancements, both work with ease. However, I did find that Affinity lacks a lot of features I require so I ended up not continuing with it. And bringing these up with Affinity was met with rejection that the idea was not required which was strange to submit feedback and be met with a wall. Now it's taken over by Canva, I'm not sure what path it will take. 

But whatever works. 

I don't use Adobe fonts either, I prefer to keep the version the same, and use font managers etc. like you do.