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dmc-sbccd
Participant
May 8, 2026
Answered

InDesign 21.3 - I randomly continue to get the blue spinning wheel, then InDesign semi-freezes.

  • May 8, 2026
  • 30 replies
  • 1952 views

I am using InDesign 21.3, working on a simple 2 page file, I go to place a logo and the blue thinking wheel pops up and doesn’t go away. I can click and move things around but none of it is being “saved”. I close the file and click to close the program and it just sits there still open. I then have to force quit the program. When I relaunch the file opens with the software and everything I did while the wheel was spinning was not saved.

It’s done this several times since the update and there is no pattern to why. I’m finding it randomly acting up. It’s really frustrating, especially when I’m not working on anything complicated.

      Correct answer Abhishek Rao

      Hi everyone,

       

      Thanks again for all the reports and testing shared in this thread.

      To help with the ongoing investigation, could anyone who previously experienced the spinning cursor/freezing while placing or updating files please confirm whether the issue still occurs in InDesign 21.5 or later?

      If you can still reproduce it, please try the workaround mentioned earlier: go to InDesign Preferences via the Edit menu, disable the Generative AI options, and test the workflow again to see if that prevents the freeze.

      Please share your results here. In the meantime, I’ll continue to keep this thread updated with any further information from the product team.

       

      Thanks,
      Abhishek

       

       

      <Marking as correct for better visibility on the thread>

      30 replies

      CHEMBS
      Participant
      September 2, 2026

      I tried your solution in InDesign 21.5.  When I just clicked on Generative AI under the edit menu, InDesign refreshed and went black. When my document came back, the spinning stopped. I’ll let you know if it comes back.

      Thanks!

      Phill33761556chmp
      Participant
      September 2, 2026

      fix works for me. Thanks

      teresa_4721
      Participant
      August 23, 2026

      Im on InDesign 21.5, Windows 11, and have had this issue for a while now. Its very random, sometimes you can continue normally but the cursor looks like a blue spinning wheel, other times nothing works and you cant do anything. When this happens I also cannot exit InDesign, I have to force quit.

      I have tried your workaround to disable Generative AI and restarted InDesign. Still random.

      Jeya35918077rcth
      Participant
      August 20, 2026

      yes, happening in 21.5 too

      JesseRDay
      Participating Frequently
      August 20, 2026

      It’s fixed for me. Running Windows 11 version 25H2.

      Jeya35918077rcth
      Participant
      August 20, 2026

      Same Windows version, but not fixed. Very furstrating for past one month

      dmc-sbccdAuthor
      Participant
      August 17, 2026

      VERSION 21.5.1

      went to place an image and got the frozen spinning cursor. I will be force closing the app, relaunching and disabling the generative AI option.  

        Jeya35918077rcth
        Participant
        August 20, 2026

        yes, I have too have same problem

        Vanessa35074924yfqs
        Participant
        August 15, 2026

        I've been having this issue as well. I find if you open InDesign with the 'Run as Administrator' option it has temporarily fixed the issue for me.

        cecyfernandes
        Known Participant
        July 26, 2026

        Link 14 years odd? It’s fun!

        erin_6346
        erin_6346
        Participant
        July 23, 2026

        This issue just started for me yesterday. The blue spinning wheel won’t go away. I can still move things, but it does freeze at times and I have to go to task manager to quit. It’s very frustrating. I went to Preferences>Generative AI and unchecked the Alt text boxes. That doesn’t fix the issue. Are there other AI options I can turn off?

        TrishJar
        Participant
        July 14, 2026

        I am constantly  having this issue!! It is so frustrating - happened before the update and it is still happening. Spinning wheel and will not let me shut down. I have to go to task manager to quit. 

          sohier_ns
          Participant
          July 20, 2026

          This is happening to me now too, nothing is actually frozen, I can still edit and move things, but instead of a pointer or I beam I have a blue spinning wheel and I cannot quite InDesign, Task Manager is the only way of closing it).

          This is a fresh install (fun CC uninstall and reinstall on Friday, July 25th after the latest Windows update) of InDesign 21.4.1 x86 running on Windows 11 25H2 26200.8893.  Disabling Generative AI does not fix these issues.

            Dan Greyhound
            Dan Greyhound
            Inspiring
            June 24, 2026

            I have the same thing. Turning off AI worked

              JesseRDay
              Participating Frequently
              June 25, 2026

              Thank you. This seems to have worked for me too. I’m so tired of the AI features getting shoved down our throats when all they do is make things worse!

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