Inspiring

Question

InDesign 21.3 Losing Links and Unable to Save Files on Synology SMB Server

Forum|Forum|1 day ago
April 27, 2026
4 replies
28 views

Indesign 21.3 / OS Tahoe 26.3.1 / Synology server

mounting Synology server using SMB protocol

Lately, I & my teammates have been having an issue where Indesign is dropping its links to the server. Can’t save the file either. Close out of ID file and the server partitions are still mounted and I can navigate them. However, cannot work off the server. ID will open the file again, but links are missing. Closing the file does not remove the ID lock file either. Have to manually eject the partitions and remount the drive.

Our IT team (outsourced) tends to be PC people and think that Adobe apps can be overly sensitive to network conditions. We’re on a very fast server & switch. They think moving back to AFP protocol may help. Anyone have experience with this issue? Please don’t say work locally. In 2026 that’s possibly the worst thing anyone can say. :D

davecourtemancheAuthor

Inspiring

The Synology drive is partitioned into 4 different Volumes. I opened 10 files to edit. 4 edited & saved fine, then working on the fifth, it dropped the “Creative” volume. Finder window blank for that volume on my desktop. 3 other volumes still mounted & navigable. 1 link in file (to Client & Supplier Assets) still connected. All links to Creative dropped. And can’t save file to Creative volume.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @davecourtemanche,

Thanks for sharing the details, I understand how disruptive this can be.

We look forward to the additional details, especially a screenshot of the exact error you see while saving, as that will help narrow this down further. Could you also confirm if you are currently using SMB as the protocol and ensure it is on the latest supported version on your setup.

Additionally, were your IT team able to check the network logs at the time of the disconnection to see if anything unusual is recorded. If not, it would be helpful to capture that, as it can provide more insight into what’s breaking the connection from InDesign’s perspective. It would also help to review the SMB configuration and temporarily disable opportunistic locking and SMB2 leasing for testing.

To further isolate, please try the same workflow on another network share, such as a different NAS or even a shared folder on another Mac, and see if the issue persists. Also, if possible, test briefly on an older InDesign version like 21.2 to check if this is version specific.

In the meantime, it would be worth trying AFP once and checking if the behavior changes there.

Let me know how it goes after trying these, and we’ll be happy to take this further with the team.

Abhishek

leo.r

Community Expert

Can’t save the file either.

Can you please elaborate: what happens when you attempt to save the file?

Lately, I & my teammates have been having an issue

Also, can you associate with an InDesign update? 21.3 maybe?

davecourtemancheAuthor

Inspiring

No, it’s more associated with our changing from a Mac server to a Synology server. I don’t recall the exact error message when I try to save. Tried opening 20 files at once today and it triggered it. Files were pretty simple, nothing taxing. I will recreate & screenshot.

leo.r

Community Expert

To narrow down the issue: does it only happen with links located on the network but not on your local drive?

A couple of other users reported unusual issues with missing images just recently.

Also, update to macOS 26.4 just to make sure you’re on the latest version.

davecourtemancheAuthor

Inspiring

I don’t link to anything locally, so I can’t say definitively. I will update to 24.1 and see if that helps.

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