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Participant
July 13, 2026
Answered

InDesign 21.4.1 is a nightmare?

  • July 13, 2026
  • 5 replies
  • 103 views

What’s up with InDesign?  Trying to edit a simple 1 page file with three grouped boxes (text, photo, background), I can’t do anything.  Click on a box to place a graphic, cursor spins for 20 minutes.. but will let me continue clicking elsewhere. Somehow the box was grabbed and moved - I can’t grab it to move it back (cursor is still spinning), there’s no undo button.  I’m losing it.  What is up with InDesign?! (I’m on Windows 11.)  I’ve restarted, there are no updates, this is making me nuts. InDesign is using 2 GB of memory

EDIT: Deleted the font cache, seemed to be in a death loop that was consuming all resources

 

    Correct answer Bill Silbert

    Have you tried resetting your InDesign preferences? This will restore the program to its defaults. Hopefully, it will fix the performance issues that you’re having.

    To reset preferences on Windows:

    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:

    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.

    5 replies

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    July 14, 2026

    Hi ​@kaeric43505167,

     

    I wanted to follow up and check if you were able to resolve the issue after trying the suggestions shared above. If you're still experiencing the same behavior, could you please let us know?

    I'd also recommend trying to disable the Generative AI options under InDesign Preferences and then check if the performance issue still persists.

     

    Looking forward to your update.

    Abhishek

    Bill Silbert
    Community Expert
    Bill SilbertCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    July 14, 2026

    Have you tried resetting your InDesign preferences? This will restore the program to its defaults. Hopefully, it will fix the performance issues that you’re having.

    To reset preferences on Windows:

    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:

    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.

    Participant
    July 14, 2026

    Yes, I did this and deleted the Adobe Font cache, things returned to normal after that.  Thank you for the help!

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    July 13, 2026

    Hello @kaeric43505167,

    I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared in this help article (https://adobe.ly/4plAjKA) to see if they help? If the problem persists, kindly share a sample file along with a brief screen recording of the problem, so we can investigate further.


    Looking forward to your response.
    Anubhav

    Participant
    July 14, 2026

    Deleting the font cache and resetting preferences worked (the second time :D), thank you!