Participant

Question

Files suddenly won’t open directly from the server – even when copied locally

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
May 16, 2025
3 replies
562 views

Hi everyone,

I’m currently experiencing a strange issue: a number of files suddenly won’t open when accessed directly from the server. I then tried copying them to my local hard drive, but they still won’t open from there either.

What’s puzzling is that identical files, which I saved locally at the same time, still open without any problems.

My suspicion is that the affected files on the server might have become corrupted – a disk problem, or something similar.

Has anyone else come across this kind of behaviour or have any ideas what might be causing it?

Thanks in advance for any help!

D

Daniel36558323c52g

Known Participant

I have the same thing i think. i was accessing INDD files and data off or through a server. That server is in the process of being decommisioned so to speak and transfering everything to teams. Last week the server was shut off and turned back on in a day, since then i have what i call a ghost server. Any access to that ghost server tends to set the explorer to an infinite loop inside it. I managed to clear the explorer issues with removing all traces but the InDesign is still having issues. Takes about 5 minutes to load up a INDD file and same to access any data within it, like links and VDP data. Tried installing the latest InDesign and plugins and have the same problem with the INDD files. Would like to know how to fix this.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Daniel36558323c52g,

Thanks for the detailed explanation, and sorry to hear you're running into this.

Could you please confirm which version of InDesign you're using and the details of your operating system? Also, have you tried moving one of the affected files completely off the server and onto your local machine to see if performance improves? If not, I recommend testing this by packaging the full project and working with it locally. Here’s a quick reference on packaging in case you need it: Package files in InDesign.

Let me know how it goes.

Abhishek

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Hi Tom,

Here is a roundup of troubleshooting guidance that can help you discern where the problem is; whether the operating system, the hardware, your fonts, or the application.

Mike Witherell

tomw86949746Author

Participant

Hi Mike,

Thanks a lot for your detailed response – I really appreciate your time and support.

Just to add some context: I actually tried quite a few things on my end before reaching out – including checking fonts, restarting, opening the files on a different machine, and even copying them locally. Unfortunately, the issue persists across devices, which leads me to believe the files themselves might have become corrupted on the server somehow.

Still, I’ll go through your checklist again to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

Best regards,
Tom

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Maybe there's a hidden idlk on the server? can you see hidden files on the server?

When you go to InDesign and choose File>Open can you try Open copy

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @tomw86949746,

Sorry to hear about the issue. Could you please confirm which version of InDesign you're using and the details of your operating system? It would also be helpful to know the version of InDesign in which those files were originally created.

When you try to open the files, what exactly happens? Do you see any error messages, or does the opening process just keep going without completing? Also, how are you trying to open the files by double-clicking them directly, or through InDesign using File > Open?

If possible, could you share one of the affected files with us to test? If the file is confidential, you can send it via DM here on the community.

Looking forward to your details.

Abhishek

tomw86949746Author

Participant

Hi Abhishek,

Thanks a lot for getting back to me so quickly – I really appreciate your help!

I’m currently using InDesign 20.3.1 on macOS Squoia Version 15.3 . The files in question were originally created in the same version of InDesign, so there shouldn’t be any compatibility issues.

When I try to open the affected files, InDesign starts the opening process, but nothing happens – no error message, just a never-ending loading spinner. I’ve tried both double-clicking the files and using File > Open within InDesign, but the result is the same.

Some of the files I saved locally at the same time still open just fine – which makes it even more confusing.

I’d be happy to share one of the problematic files with you. Since it’s a bit sensitive, I’ll send it to you via DM.

Thanks again for your support – looking forward to your thoughts!

Best regards,
Tom

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

@tomw86949746

Have you compared size of your files - in MB - on the server and locally?

You can send a sample file to me as well if you like.

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