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InDesign 21.3 freezes with endless loading cursor when placing images on Windows 11

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Hi

Each time I import an image into Indesign, the image loads okay, but I get the blue swirling ‘loading’ icon that never stops. I can save my document, and the menus still work but I can’t work on the actual page, and the only way I can clear it it to Force quit Indesign using Task Manager.

This started about 2 weeks ago, and was fine before and I haven’t made any changes to my PC. I thought maybe it started after an update of Indesign, so I tried reverting to an older version, but still had the same problem.

I have tried re-installing Indesign. (version21.3) I use Windows 11.

I really hope you can help please?

Thanks Chris

Abhishek RaoCorrect answer

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for continuing to share your reports and test results.

We’ve confirmed that some users are still experiencing the spinning cursor/freezing issue when placing or updating files in InDesign 21.5.1. The team is aware of the issue and is continuing to investigate a fix.

For now, disabling the Generative AI options in InDesign Preferences remains an effective workaround for several affected users. If the issue persists even after disabling these options, please let us know and share your InDesign version and workflow so we can continue tracking the reports.

I’ll keep this thread updated as soon as we have more information to share.

Thanks for your patience,
Abhishek

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D

Divine_Radianced0a0

Participant

I’m having this issue on 21.5.1 x64 (Date: Sept 18, 2026)
Running Windows 11 25H2.

I disabled both Generative AI options before doing the following:

(1) Action → Import images with Ctrl+D
Issue → “Loading” icon appeared on the mouse pointer and did not disappear.
Possible Solution? → I simply clicked on the document and the image appeared. The mouse pointer turned normal.

Which then leads to the following issue:
(2) Action → I tried to save the document including Ctrl+S, File>Save, Closing the file to click “Yes” when the “Do you want to save?” prompt appeared.
Issue → It could not save at all and did not let me save it
Possible Solution? → I tried the following solution that was posted in Jan 2026 when the Windows Update occurs InDesign files corrupted and unable to save after Windows 11 update KB5074109 (January 2026) - Post #2 | Community

It did not work.
Now we’re stuck with unable to save the file. This only occurred after importing images.

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Divine_Radianced0a0

Participant

[Update]
Seems like it got fixed after the new 21.6 udpate.

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M

Magzzz28

Participating Frequently

Also having this issue on 21.5.1 on 9/15/26

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E

Eccentric_precision981e

Participant

Issue is present in 21.5.1 on 9/1/26

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leo.r

Community Expert

Just to make sure: did you disable Generative AI options in preferences?

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Eccentric_precision981e

Participant

Hello, yes, disabling Generative AI options is an effective work-around. Just wanted to confirm the issue is present in the version I listed. Thank you!

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Mike Witherell

Community Expert

InDesign GenAI Blocker Startup Script

https://trainingonsite.com/235-indesign-generative-ai-blocker.html

This will turn off the Alt-Text preference whenever you start InDesign.

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Mike Witherell

dnbnc

Participating Frequently

My version of InDesign is 21.5.1 on Windows 11. All up to date.

And now, I disabled AI functions to see if it fix the loading forever cursor problem.

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dnbnc

Participating Frequently

Same here! I only insert a new .ai image (same as before, but only changed a text in the .ai image)… No reason to hang, but the load cursor stays forever.

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Agenturaxact

Known Participant

for my work: disabling both Generative AI options under Edit > Preferences > Generative AI

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graceful_interest9076

Participant

We literally pay so much to be able to use these programs. We shouldn’t be still having this issue are months.

I have the same issue as others, I have to go to task manager and force exit. The endless blue circle.

Please, get onto it.

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dnbnc

Participating Frequently

Yes. Costly, an full of bugs! But they are fast to increase the price on subscriptions.

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Agenturaxact

Known Participant

21.5.1
It seems that after disabling the AI features, the issue stopped occurring. However, I will not re-enable them for investigate whether it is working properly now...

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Carla_Midford

Participating Frequently

I am on InDesign Version 21.5.1, and I am still encountering this issue. Industry standard platforms shouldn’t force industry standard professionals to use AI. Stop integrating something we didn’t ask for into our platforms.

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leo.r

Community Expert

Just to make sure: did you disable the Generative AI options in preferences? Yes, many users complain about it, and justly so. But to address your particular issue, we need to make sure first that the options are indeed disabled.

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robertod68086048

Known Participant

Same issue here. Plus, when it happens, InDesign will only close by shutting it down via the TaskManager (Windows 11).

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Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @robertod68086048,

Sorry to hear you're experiencing the same issue.

As a workaround, please try disabling both Generative AI options under Edit > Preferences > Generative AI, then restart InDesign and check if the issue improves.

Please note that this issue is already being tracked, and the product team is actively working on a fix.

Thank you for your patience, and please let us know whether the workaround helps on your system.

Abhishek

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graphics_4075

Inspiring

A feature that is on by default for every user AND that also causes major freezing issues is absurd, as is the fact that it is unsolved after 2 months (let alone all the other issues GenAI in InDesign has caused.)

Wouldn’t it be logical to make these OFF by default like so many users have been requesting? This would avoid possibly degrading the performance of your program for up to 100% of your users… All for a feature that was destructively broken on release.

What an absolute disaster of a feature implementation and a poor example of Adobe’s priorities.

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Cheers

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