Participant

Answered

InDesign 2023 makes a read only file

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
October 27, 2022
68 replies
74436 views

I have just updated to the 2023 InDesign, and now suddently my documents are read-only and I cannot save the file, but have to make a save as version and give the document a new name everytime I have to save my work.

Do you know why this is happening? And how to avoid this?

Performance

Correct answer Abhishek Rao

Hi everyone,

Thank you for continuing to share your feedback and experiences regarding the read-only file issue. I wanted to provide an update that a bug has already been logged with the product team, and they are currently looking for additional diagnostic information to help identify the root cause.

If you're able to reproduce the issue and have access to an InDesign Prerelease build, the team would greatly appreciate logs from an affected system. To enable logging, please create an empty file named ENABLE_DOCUMENT_OPEN_LOGGING inside the following location:

/Applications/Adobe InDesign 2026 (Prerelease)/Resources/Cookies/

If the Cookies folder does not exist, please create it first and then create the empty file inside it.

On macOS, you can create the file from Terminal using:

touch ENABLE_DOCUMENT_OPEN_LOGGING

Once logging has been enabled, please reproduce the workflow that causes the document to open as read-only.

After reproducing the issue, please collect and share the contents of the following folder:

macOS:
~/Library/Caches/Adobe InDesign (Prerelease)

Windows:
C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local\Adobe\InDesign (Prerelease)

These logs will help the engineering team better understand what is happening during document opening and permission handling.

If you're able to provide the logs, please let me know and I'll help coordinate getting them to the team for analysis. Your assistance would be extremely valuable in helping us move this investigation forward.

Thank you again for your patience and continued cooperation.

Abhishek

pifath67

Participating Frequently

By the way, I don't think it's up to us customers to troubleshoot or come up with workarounds.
After all, we pay nearly 1,000 euros a year for the software.
You’d expect it to work flawlessly and for the fix for such fundamental bugs not to take three years!!!

pifath67

Participating Frequently

Almost every file is write-protected!
Efficient work is impossible under these conditions.
It wastes time, frays nerves, and creates a risk of errors.

When will something actually be done about this, instead of just publishing a post every six months intended to pacify us customers?

Perhaps more energy should be put into fixing self-inflicted errors than into introducing questionable "features."

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @pifath67,

We definitely understand your frustration, and we agree that this is not the experience you should be having. We want to get to the root cause and work toward a permanent resolution rather than relying on workarounds.

To help us move the investigation forward, we do need the diagnostic information requested in the highlighted response. Those logs are being used directly by the product team to investigate this issue. If you're able to provide them, it will greatly help us identify the root cause and work with engineering on a permanent fix.

We appreciate your patience and look forward to your update.

Abhishek

Umair_Waris53

Participant

I had this same issue with InDesign 2023. The file suddenly became read-only and I could not save my changes. Checking file permissions and making a new copy helped solve the problem. Thanks for sharing this fix. It can save a lot of time and stress.

pifath67

Participating Frequently

Furthermore, almost every file has to be opened multiple times just to ensure it isn't read-only.
When will this finally be fixed, Adobe?
The sheer ignorance with which Adobe treats us—its customers—is simply an utter outrage.
I will certainly advise everyone against purchasing products from such a customer-unfriendly company.

Unfortunately, posting something here doesn't help, since the people in charge probably couldn't care less.
All that matters to them is that they have their multi-million-dollar villa, their yacht, and their supercar...

M

Melissa356100623c8v

It’s 2026 and this is still an issue for mac. We need a solution to this. It’s a big hassle to my team and it severely interrupts our workflow. I WANT to use the preview pane, but I’m forced to turn it off just to save my indesign files. This is unacceptable to have such a longstanding issue.

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @Melissa356100623c8v

I’m sorry to hear you’re having similar trouble with InDesign. Would you mind confirming the exact version of the OS/InDesign installed, and if this happens with specific files or files stored in a particular folder location (internal/external/network drive or a cloud-synced folder like iCloud Drive/OneDrive/etc), so we can better assist you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

pifath67

Participating Frequently

Hello Adobe management,

I hate to interrupt your money-counting.

Here's the annoying customer who, for his hard-earned money, wants working software so he can actually make money (not as much as you) and not just waste time...

Today again i had to re-open almost EVERY Indesign-file 4-5 times to get it not write-protected.

It's annoying and frustrating to work with and to see how ignorant customers are treated.

Perhaps it's possible to develop a strategy for bug fixing alongside a strategy for raking in even more money...

I know, you don't care about customers as long as they pay.

But hey, all your millions come from us customers...

leo.r

Community Expert

I know you’ve been having this problem for quite some time and posted numerous times here… Still, what are your current versions of macOS, InDesign, and the network server? Just to make sure we have the updated info here.

pifath67

Participating Frequently

It’s MAC OS 13.7.7, InDesign 21.2 and Windows Server 2019.

pifath67

Participating Frequently

We just received word that the subscription is going up by 25%!

Has Adobe actually done anything to fix the serious bugs that have plagued the software for over two years now, or are we just going to have to pay more for the same garbage? The ignorance and arrogance with which a company like Adobe treats its customers is beyond belief.

L

LeanneRyan

Participating Frequently

Hi,

I received this message in July & tried it on my Windows computer & it actually worked, I have just changed my computer & tried it on my new one & the command is now not working with the latest version. Is there something new to try @Anubhav M

Hello everyone,

Could you try the following steps and checking if it helps resolve the problem:

For Windows:

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator

Search for "cmd" in the Start menu, right-click on "Command Prompt," and select "Run as administrator."

2. Type: the following command and hit Enter

regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign 2025\QuickLookPreview.dll"

3. You’ll see a message box from Windows indicating whether the operation was successful or not.

For macOS:

1. Open System Settings on your device.

2. Use the search bar to look for Extensions.

3. Navigate to the Extensions section.

4. Locate InDesign QuickLook Extension and uncheck it to disable.

Kindly let us know if this works for you or not.
Anubhav

pifath67

Participating Frequently

It's nearly impossible to work sensibly and efficiently because almost EVERY file is opened as read-only.
Why do WE always have to use workarounds to compensate for the shortcomings of the software we pay a lot of money for?
After all, WE are the customers, for whom a minimum level of service could be provided.
But large companies apparently don't care about customers once they've paid for the product...
It's sad...

J

Jürgen27241002fjjp

Participating Frequently

The problem incomprehensibly still exists (and has for years in our company) and I fully share their opinion regarding problem solving and customer-oriented support. Instead of AI tools, a solid working version would be more helpful. On the other hand, the support solution of saving files locally and then uploading them to the server is impractical. That was the case in the 80s...

pifath67

Participating Frequently

Just did an InDesign update.
Surprise: Nothing has changed regarding the write protection problem or the problem of not being able to overwrite PDF files.
I think the "team" should stop collecting information and start solving the problem.
I have the feeling that no one at Adobe is interested in a solution. It's just a lot of work...
This really can't be called customer service - it's more of a rip-off. You get an inferior product for a lot of money.

pifath67

Participating Frequently

Addendum: It is NOT possible to overwrite an existing PDF even if ALL folder windows have been closed, Acrobat has been closed, and the file hasn't been opened previously. Message: File is already open. Haha...
Possible workaround: Shut down the computer before saving 😉
When will these serious bugs finally be fixed, Adobe?

Show more replies

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.