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Participant
December 11, 2025
Question

I have tried EVERYTHING, and I can't load fonts into InDesign

  • December 11, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 194 views

No matter what I do, there are fonts that every other applications can see and use, but I can't get them to show up in InDesign. Interestingly, if I open an older document that uses a font that isn't available in InDesign (but is avalable to other applications), it will be usable. If I copy the text from the old document and paste it into a new document, the font will become avaliabe. 

 

Here's what I've done so far.

• Restarted (many, many times)

• Made sure my system and Adobe applications are all up to date.

• Removed and reinstalled InDesign.

• Deactivated and reactivated fonts in Font Book.

• Activated fonts in FontBase.

• Activated fonts using Adobe Fonts.

 

I have no idea what else could resolve the issue.

1 reply

Community Expert
December 11, 2025

This sounds like InDesign isn’t refreshing its font cache properly especially since the fonts exist, other apps can see them, and InDesign will only acknowledge them when they’re “pulled in” from older documents.

 

A few things to try that usually fix this exact behaviour:

 

1. Reset InDesign’s font cache (the real one)

InDesign maintains its own hidden font caches that don’t clear even on reinstall.
Quit InDesign completely, then delete these:

Mac:
/Users/<yourname>/Library/Caches/Adobe InDesign/
Delete the entire Version X folder for your installed version.

 

Also delete:
/Users/<yourname>/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign/Version X/en_US/Type Support/Fonts/*

(Or the equivalent language folder)

 

Restart InDesign and let it rebuild the cache.

 

2. Check for duplicated or conflicted font files

InDesign is far more sensitive than other apps to:

Two fonts with the same PostScript name

One variable font and one static font with the same family name

One font installed in Font Book and another in FontBase

 

Disable the font everywhere except one location and restart.

 

3. Avoid installing fonts in multiple managers

If you’re mixing:

Font Book

FontBase

Adobe Fonts

…InDesign can choke. Try temporarily deactivating FontBase entirely and activate only the font you want through Font Book OR Adobe Fonts, not both.

 

4. Try clearing macOS font cache (system level)

Use Terminal:

sudo atsutil databases -remove
sudo atsutil server -shutdown
sudo atsutil server -ping


Then restart the Mac.