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Downloading Indesign 2026

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Someone in my company recently upgraded to InDesign 2027, when they went back to try and revert to 2026 it no longer shows older versions on the creative cloud. We all have to be on the same version due to other plugins we use with Indesign that are linked. We can not convert pages down because it messes up the other pulgins that we use with Indesign. My company is not set to upgrade until January. How can this person get the 2026 version back. When the computer auto updated it also auto deleted the old version. Why is Adobe not allowing to revert to older versions once they upgrade to 2027.

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Nonea McFarlaneAuthor

Known Participant

After creating the package in the admin console it still does not allow me to download Indesign 2026 on the machine giving the issues. When the package is downloaded and executed it just brings you to the creative cloud and downloads Indesign 2027.
The admin is set to allow all employees to see and download older versions, but still this machine for some reason does not see the older versions. It does not have the option to check off see older apps in the preferences and it does not show the dots in the creative cloud that you can typically click to see older versions. I have also redownloaded and installed the creative cloud app thinking maybe that was the issue, with no luck.

The computer specs are not the issue and it does support 2026 Indesign, it was on the machine before the employee updated ahead of schedule and deleted 2026.

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BobLevine

Community Expert

Any chance that machine’s system specs don’t support InDesign 2026? ARM-based perhaps?

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Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Nonea McFarlane,

Thanks for sharing the detailed information. I understand how important it is for your team to remain on InDesign 2026 due to compatibility with your existing plugins.

Since you've already confirmed that the Other Versions option is missing only on the affected computer, even when signing in with a different Adobe account, this may be related to the Creative Cloud desktop app or its local configuration.

As you've already created an InDesign 2026 installation package through Adobe Admin Console, I'd recommend proceeding with that approach. Please ensure the package contains the exact InDesign 2026 version required by your plugins, then install it on the affected computer and check whether everything works as expected.

Helpx documentation: Creative Cloud support policy and previous-version availability.

You can also check Creative Cloud > Preferences > Apps for the Show Older Apps setting and ensure the Creative Cloud desktop app is up to date. Please note that Show Older Apps primarily applies to discontinued applications, so it may not restore the missing Other Versions menu.

Reference: Install previous versions of Creative Cloud apps.

To prevent this from happening again, I'd also recommend reviewing your organization's Auto-update and Remove older versions settings.

Could you please let us know whether the Admin Console package installs InDesign 2026 successfully? If it doesn't, please share your operating system, Creative Cloud desktop app version, and any installation error messages so we can investigate further.

Thanks for your patience and cooperation!

Abhishek

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leo.r

Community Expert

I’m not sure if this is related, but do you have Show Older Apps checked in Creative Cloud preferences:

I actually had it UNchecked so I’m not sure what exactly it controls.

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Bill Silbert

Community Expert

Since, as you say, this is a business account is it possible that the access to specific versions are controlled by an administrator within your company? If so seek them out and see if the lack of choice for CC 2026 is controlled through them.

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Nonea McFarlaneAuthor

Known Participant

Hi Bill

I have admin access and the settings were set to let the employee download any versions available. Everyone else can still see older versions his machine is the only one that can not. But there are options for me to create a “package” in the admin portal which I am able to include the Indesign 2026 download as part of it. So i have created the package and will attempt to download packaged zip file on the employee machine when we start working tomorrow. It looks promising.

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Randy Hagan

Community Expert

Does any version of InDesign CC 2026 work? Or does it need to be one specific version of InDesign CC 2026 to work with your plug-ins? You need to know this before you continue.

Check the exact version of InDesignCC 2026 that’s used by your organization’s working systems. Then install the free Creative Cloud application on a clean system, sign in and check if that same exact version is available to download. If not, take notes on what versions are available, then call your plug-in vendor(s) and make sure one of those will work. It likely doesn’t matter, but you want to confirm that before you go any further. If you blindly accept that package you’re looking at a pig in a poke, and have no idea if that will work until you’ve installed it. And it may make the damage worse. Please don’t ask me how I know.

This may take a day or so to work out that you probably don’t have if you’re working in a busy production shop. But if you don’t already have a disk image of that system just before InDesign CC 2027 got installed, this will be the quickest and most efficient and effective way past your issue.

I would suggest this course of action for you:

Back up all data at the install. Better still, create and set aside a complete disk image of the system in question. Set it aside and keep it handy in case you need it now or in the short-term future.
At the very least, go to Adobe Support’s site for downloading the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool. You can get that through this link. If you have the opportunity to reimage the system at the point before Creative Cloud was installed, even better.
Blow every remnant of Creative Cloud away on the system in question. Dispatch every bit of it without mercy.
Go back and reinstall the Creative Cloud application, then use that application to install compatible 2026 versions of each application that user needs. Install the plug-ins and confirm that they work correctly once again on that station, then immediately back up that disk image so you have it if/when you need it again.

If you can clear this with your bosses, this is the perfect opportunity to create and safely store disk images on all your important production systems. It’s unfair that this has happened to you, but in this situation the issue likely will be resolved with little more than a day or so’s time and no small amount of mild aggravation. I know I’m only offering cold comfort to you, but every administrator learns this unfortunate lesson at one time or another. Near universally, after the damage has already been done. Many pay a much higher price than this, and for many more a few it becomes insurmountable. If you follow the roadmap above you won’t become one of them.

It sucks, but this should not be insurmountable for you. Good luck, and I hope this works well for you.

Randy

Postscript: After you’re done, go to the Creative Cloud application, open the Preferences by clicking on the user icon at the upper-right of the app screen. Under the General section, turn off the switch to Automatically keep Creative Cloud up to date. Then go to the Apps section and turn off the Auto-update switch, and click the Done button. This is the root of the evil that has been put upon you.

It doesn’t seem that way now, but you were very fortunate that this only happened on one of your systems. By default, it could have happened to all of them. Auto-updating is the default setting for Adobe Creative Cloud, as it is for many software apps. This is another one of those lessons administrators learn after the damage has been done. Then go to every other system in your organization and make sure both those switches are turned off so you control when your systems are updated. That ensures, with an “e”, not insures, with an “i” that this won’t happen to you again.

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CORCTON34033231

Community Expert

Hi Nonea, you can still get InDesign 2026 back from the Creative Cloud desktop app:

1. Open the Creative Cloud desktop app, go to the Apps tab, then Your apps.

2. On the InDesign tile, click the More actions (...) icon and choose Other versions.

3. Find the 2026 version in the list and click Install.

Adobe notes that the versions listed depend on which releases are currently supported and distributed, so if 2026 doesn't appear there, that's the reason.

To keep your preferences, uninstall the 2027 version first, then install 2026 and choose Keep when prompted to preserve preferences. And to stop this happening again, go to Creative Cloud Preferences > Apps > Advanced options for InDesign and turn off "Remove older versions".

Full steps here: https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/apps/download-install-apps/creative-cloud-apps/install-previous-versions-creative-cloud-apps.html

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Nonea McFarlaneAuthor

Known Participant

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, those instructions do not work in this case. I have done it many times before and have always been able to see older versions by doing what you have stated. Now that this employee machine has been updated to 2027 it does not show the dots and it no longer shows older versions. I was even thinking maybe it was just his account or something that was weird so I logged into my own cloud on his machine and it does the same thing, I can not see older versions. Back on my machine that has not been upgraded to 2027 I can still see the whole list of older versions.

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Randy Hagan

Community Expert

As it has already installed CC 2027 apps, you may not see the older versions available until Creative Cloud is completely and totally removed from the system in question. I’ve outlined a safe plan of attack for you in this post. Please take it to heart, and I hope it works well for you.

Randy

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