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

Show previous replies

lisak57058080

Participant

In Preferences > File Handling, turn off "Always Save Preview Image with Documents". We were running into this issue like everyone else in the replies. Turning this off stopped the "Read Only" problem.

Jens5E3C

Inspiring

no, the problem is still there. 😞

N

Niklas29482630pdzr

Participant

Hi,
I'm having the same issue since at least november last year. I tried turning the option off but still no changes...
Adobe should definitely do something as it blocks my colleagues and my work extremely.

We already tried turning off the windows preview panel in explorer, but this didn't do anything as well.

S

StineGry

Participant

I'm also struggling. All my files are located on a server, so for the same document (our main catalogue which I need to update each time there is a change in our assortment). I have 2 "Save As", files going on..... It's so frustating, because I have to remember to save both files, each time I make a change. Just in case I take the wrong file next time...

When will this be fixed on PC @HARSHIKA_VERMA ???

D

default6va61ml1oygn

Participant

Same Read Only issue here.

Situation: dbl click to open InDesign file from network folder location, InDesign opens then file opens as Read Only

Work-around*: close file and InDesign; Open InDesign then select file to open - performs normally/as expected

*Just tried an experiment - replicated the process above from "Situation" (note: computer is re-started every day but did not restart for this experiment); double-clicked file from folder location, InDesign opens, file opens - NO READ ONLY state. (hmmm?)

File: working from a template file created Jan 2020, current file started in mid-2022

App: InDesign 2023 (Creative Coud), v. 18.2 Windows

OS: Windows 10 Enterprise, x64 based processor

Hope this helps...CO

J

Jim27186468bpg8

Participating Frequently

How long do we have to settle for "work-arounds" ? another year? This is ridiculous.

K

karij91270318

Participant

The work around that works for me is to check for Read-Only immediately after opening the InDesign file. IF it is Read-Only, I close the file, then Open it As A Copy. When the file opens, as "Untitled," I Save. The Save As window opens, and

the original name of the file usually populates the File Name field. I double check to ensure I am saving with the correct file name. Then I work as usual, making changes, and doing a Save often. So far, this has allowed me to keep the same file with the same name and not do a Save As with a modified file name.

J

Jim27186468bpg8

Participating Frequently

Yes, but we shouldn't have to worry about a "work-around".... I can't tell you how many times, under pressure situations, where one of us opens a file, and begins working, and two hours later, we notice the "read-only" tag...and are forced to do a "Save-as"..... creating multiple files and the dangerous situations that go along with having mulitple files.....we should not have to do this.

M

mhvz2019

Participating Frequently

I am also having the same problem. My file that was created a year ago (in InDesign 2022), opens as Read Only and I can't save it as it keeps telling me it's corrupt. Fair enough, so I created a brand new file (now InDesign 2023), but it keeps asking to Save As as it is open by other applications. But it isn't. I only have it open in InDesign. So I created it as an IDML file which then I repeatedly have to save as as an IDML file. Come on Adobe, we pay a lot of money for these applications and many businesses rely on them. It shouldn't be this hard to "save a file".

D

Dean27672471wbrl

Participating Frequently

After month of struggling with this serious problem I can’t believe there is still no word of a fix. PC customers are being left high and dry. This obviously needs to be escalated. Does anyone know the official channels to make a complaint to Adobe?

A

Ash Gormley

Participant

@HARSHIKA_VERMA any updates please?

K

Kailah Ann

Inspiring

And still no fix with the latest update. Come ON ya'll. You're absolutely killing us.

S

sbiscardi

Participating Frequently

Does Adobe have an answer/fix on this for the PC users yet? I have been dealing with this ridiculous issue since October! Costing me so much time and there have been so many errors becaues of this.

MissTheClash

Participant

Forgot to mention that this only happens on our machines (Windoes 10) using the EasyCatalog Lite plug-in. Of course, the folks at EasyCatalog said that this is an Adobe issue and direct us to this thread.

MissTheClash

Participant

Same read only issue as everyone else. We produce an 800 page 17 section catalog every year and this year was a nightmare. 17 Indesign files that would randomly open as read only. Please tell me that a fix is on the horizon

J

Jim27186468bpg8

Participating Frequently

We are beyond ready for this to be fixed. Now matter how hard we try....many times we begin working for the day, and don't notice the [read only] tag on the file name at the top....so after hours of work...we have to do a "Save As" creating a new file in the folder....we end up with tons of InDesign files for the same job and have to then delete or archive the older ones. It has been such a time-suck for our team, not to mention a dangerous way to work.

S

Stephen283171470wfc

Participating Frequently

Same here, we've been living with this bug for 2 months now and from Adobe there is only silence.

C

cmjr98

Participating Frequently

I am absolutely having this problem, too. I just switched my work computer from a Macbook Pro to a Windows 11 Dell. This is suddenly an issue, having to "save as" multiple version numbers just to get my work done. Please let us know when this will be fixed.