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jasonp86308623
Participant
Apr 28, 2026 5:40 PM UTC
Question

InDesign 21.3 fails to launch with error 0xc0000142 on Windows (DLL / VCRuntime issue)

After updating InDesign to 21.3 it broke DLLs and will not open. Error: “The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142)”

 

You can repair C++ redistribution (although that is a temporary fix as InDesign will break the DLLs again)

 

Uninstalling 21.3 and installing 20.5.3 is recommended.

    3 replies

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    Apr 29, 2026 10:44 AM UTC

    Hi @jasonp86308623,


    Sorry to hear you're running into this, I understand how frustrating it is when InDesign won't even launch after an update.

    I'd like to share that this behavior is already logged as a known issue, and the product team is actively working on a fix in collaboration with Microsoft. You can refer to this thread for more context: https://adobe.ly/3OOHaOU

    In the meantime, you can try resolving this by following the steps for the corrupt VCRuntime issue under the miscellaneous section in this article: https://adobe.ly/48wtX3R


    Please try this and let me know how it goes on your end, I'll be happy to assist further if needed.

    Abhishek

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    PurpleKatie
    PurpleKatie
    Participant
    Jun 19, 2026 5:12 PM UTC

    Issue persists. PLEASE fix this Adobe!

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    nik.m
    Community Manager
    nik.mCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    Jun 25, 2026 12:07 PM UTC

    Hey ​@PurpleKatie, we’re sorry about the trouble. Please try the steps here: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/desktop/troubleshoot/launch-and-crash-issues/corrupt-vcruntime-crash-error.html

    Let us know how it goes. 

    Thanks,

    Nikunj 

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