Inspiring

Question

Indesign Errors on Saving

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
January 19, 2026
3 replies
216 views

Hi

I am have some real issues when trying to save documents. Error messages like "unable to save this file, but it appears to be damaged" to "error code 2".

I'd tried:
Saving to IDML files - with some success but not an ideal solution

Copying/Pasting content onto a new document (no success)

Uninstalling Indesign and re-installing a previous version (no success)

This is happening across multiple files so I am reluctant to think it is just one file gone corrupt. Any any advice? Considering uninstalling the whole CC suite and starting again.

Thanks

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Lawtz01,

Thanks for sharing the details. To help us narrow this down, could you please confirm the information requested by the community expert, specifically your OS version and any recent system updates? Also, please review this related thread and let us know if the behavior you're experiencing matches what’s described there:
https://adobe.ly/49Hi8rh

If it's the same issue, as mentioned by the expert Leo, this is a known issue and is currently being worked on. If it's not similar, please update us here with more details so we can look into it further.

Looking forward to your update.
Abhishek

L

Lawtz01Author

Inspiring

OS: Windows 11
I had recently updated Windows but on advice I uninstalled the lastest updates.

With regards to the thread you shared:
1. No, no missing links on older indesign files on opening.
2. No, nothing like updating images caused a problem.
3. I created a new document and copy/pasted content - no luck.
4. Tried multiple versions of indesign too.

5. Not noticed anything to do with block colours.

Thanks

leo.r

Community Expert

It looks like you experience this widespread problem, in which case you need to uninstall a recent Windows update:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/saving-not-allowed-quot-damaged-file-quot/m-p/15667818#M647741:~:text=https%3A//community.adobe.com/t5/indesign%2Ddiscussions/indesign%2Dfiles%2Dcorrupted%2Dand%2Dunable%2Dto%2Dsave%2Dafte...

L

Lawtz01Author

Inspiring

Thanks. Ive totally uninstalled and reinstalled CC and have uninstalled all the windows updates prior to January. Still getting these errorsScreenshot 2026-01-19 124801.jpg

M

Manan Joshi

Community Expert

Do you have a bunch of files that have this problem? From your description it looks like you mean to say that you are corrupting files as you work on them. Is there any chance you are saving the files on a network drive, maybe network issues are the issue here

-Manan

L

Lawtz01Author

Inspiring

Thank you. I am saving to Dropbox. Never had an issue before. I've tried unsyncing and resyncing, I've tried creating a new folder to save the files it, no good!

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