InDesign 21.2 Crashes When Closing the Application on Windows 11

Hi ​@AndrewKelley & ​@casinclaire,

I understand how concerning this can be. I just wanted to follow up in case the issue is still occurring.

Could you please try the suggestions shared in this article and check if they help:
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/crash-on-launch.html

To further isolate the cause, please try launching Windows in Safe Mode and then test InDesign. This will help check if any third-party services or extensions might be interfering:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234

You may also create a new local admin user account and launch InDesign there to see if the behavior persists. This can help determine if the issue is related to the current user profile:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-user-accounts-in-windows-104dc19f-6430-4b49-6a2b-e4dbd1dcdf32

Since you mentioned that the crash reporter appears briefly, were you able to submit the crash logs? If yes, please share the email address used via DM so I can check the logs with the team. Ref: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/submit-crash-reports.html

Additionally, please try signing out of the Creative Cloud desktop app and signing back in. You can also manually reset the preferences by following the video at the bottom of this page:
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html

Disclaimer: Please note that renaming the preferences folders will remove custom settings and InDesign will launch with default settings, so it would be good to keep a backup of the folders beforehand.

Please let me know how it goes.

Abhishek

I’m in Windows 10, and I am having the same problem with Indesign 2026, but in a slightly different way. Rather than crashing upon close, InD is closing abruptly whenever I close my last open document. In earlier versions, when I was done with all my open documents, I would just close them all, then open whatever new doc I wanted to work with. But now, when I close that last open document, InD also closes itself. When I reopen it -- which is annoying to have to do -- InD offers an opportunity to open that same last document, only now with a warning that it might be corrupted.  So, clearly, it didn’t properly save that last document, which puts any “last document” I close at jeopardy of corruption.
 

For now, I have to constantly remind myself to open my next working doc before I close the last one I’m finished with.  Otherwise, the only solution I’ve found is a suggestion to clear preferences, which I’m loathe to do. I know we can save preference files and copy them back into the program once updated or reinstalled, but that sounds counterproductive also if it is the preferences that have the problem. Plus, I did read that perhaps preference files saved from earlier versions might not work entirely correctly with 2026. I don’t know if that is accurate or not.
 

Either way, this is clearly a bug, and possibly a hard one to track down since it happens only about half the time, but there’s no predicting when those times will be -- which makes it even more difficult for me to remember that it might happen. And then it does and I’m pulling out my hair again. 

I HOPE SOMEONE FIXES THIS SOON!

To eliminate the possibility that this issue is the result of program-wide corruption try resetting try resetting your InDesign preferences. This will restore the program to its defaults and, hopefully fix the problem.

To reset preferences:

For Macintosh Users: The User Library folder in which InDesign’s preferences are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that InDesign is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N). With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the folder called “Adobe InDesign” and the file called “com.adobe.InDesign.plist” and delete both that folder and that file. When InDesign is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

For Windows Users: You can try the quick way of resetting on a PC which is to hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching InDesign and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. There have been some recent reports that the window asking if you want to reset is not popping up but that the prefs are being reset anyway. If this works great but if it doesn’t you may have to manually delete them.

To do so:

On Windows 7 and above the preference files are hidden. To find them go to the Control Panel and open Folder Options and then click the View tab. Then select “Show hidden files and folders” or “Show hidden files, folders or drive options” in Advanced Settings. Then delete (or rename) the folder at the end of this path: C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\<Version #>\<Language>. Make sure that InDesign is closed when you do this. When you relaunch the program it will create  new preference files and the program will be at its default settings.

The advantage of manually deleting preference files is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.