Known Participant

Question

Indesign file opens but stays in background and apple finder comes to the foreground and doc opens up.

Forum|Forum|21 days ago
June 21, 2026
7 replies
77 views

This is an odd one, I double click on an indesign file, indesign and the file opens up but indesign goes to the background on my Mac, and the finder to the foreground then the Mac doc appears and stays there, I have to then click on the indesign layout to bring it to the front, the doc still stays until I click on something else on the doc then it disappears. This started when an agency sent me a brochure to work on and now it is happening with every file I open. I have searched and not found anyone with the same problem. So far I have deleted the Indesign preferences and that didn't fix it, then updated to the latest indesign and that didn't work either. Both illustrator and photoshop are working great. I would be grateful for any advice. Thank you. My set up is: Mac Studio 2023, 64GB ram, Sequoia 15.7.1, Indesign 2026.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Graydesigns, @wiking45 & @amazonbizistech,

Thanks for continuing to share the details and sorry to hear that you experience this.

I tested this on InDesign 21.4.1 with macOS 26.5.1, but I wasn't able to reproduce the behavior on my end.

Could you please confirm whether you're using an external monitor? If so, does the issue occur only when it's connected, or do you also see it when using only the Mac's built-in display? It would also be helpful to know whether the behavior occurs on the primary display only, the external display only, or both.

If you haven't already, please update to the latest macOS Tahoe 26.5/26.5.1 and test again. Also, could you let us know if you're using any window management utilities such as Magnet, BetterSnapTool, Rectangle, or similar applications, as these are known to interfere with window focus on macOS. To isolate, please test the issue in safe mode and see if the behaviour changes. Ref: https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac

Additionally, could you try enabling Window > Application Frame and check whether the behavior changes? If you're using an external display, please also test once with it disconnected. If possible, please share a short screen recording demonstrating the complete workflow, from double-clicking the INDD file in Finder to the point where Finder unexpectedly comes back to the foreground. This will help us investigate the issue further.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Graydesigns, @wiking45 & @amazonbizistech,

Thank you for your patience while I discussed this with our Product Team.

They've started investigating this further and have logged a bug for deeper analysis. To help them narrow down the root cause, could you please provide the following information?

Please confirm the exact InDesign version you're using (Help > About InDesign).
Have you tried clearing the Chrome browser cache and the site settings specifically for indesign.adobe.com? You can do this by clicking the icon to the left of the address bar while on the site and clearing the site data/settings before trying again.
Are the affected machines connected to any proxy server, VPN, firewall, SSL inspection, or other network security solution that could potentially affect the connection?

Additionally, the Product Team would like to investigate the affected document internally. Could you please send me a direct message here on the Adobe Community with:

The affected INDD document.(packaged: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/preflighting-files-handoff.html#package_files)
The shared link (if applicable), or any details about how the document is being shared.

Please don't post the document or any sensitive information publicly in this thread.

Once I receive the information, I'll securely share it with the Product Team so they can continue their investigation.

Looking forward to your update.

Thanks,
Abhishek

W

wiking45

Participating Frequently

Graydesigns, I’m also having the exact same issue. Definitely annoying. Unlike you, I haven’t opened any exterior files from any outside sources and, in my case, it just started randomly on it’s own. Now it happens on every .indd file I open (double click, drag and drop to the Indesign icon in my dock, crtl click and “open with” Indesign). The exception, File > Open > through Indesign, that works fine, opens in the foreground and no dock pops up. My set up is: Mac Studio 2025, 36GB of RAM, Tahoe 26.1, Indesign 21.4.1. Also tried deleting the prefs, reinstalling Indesign. Would love a solution.

amazonbizistech

Participant

That is definitely a strange behavior, especially since it started after working on a file from another source. One thing I would check is whether the brochure file introduced a corrupted workspace, startup script, plugin, or window configuration that is now affecting how InDesign handles focus when opening documents.

You might also try creating a new macOS user account and opening an InDesign file there. If the problem disappears, it could point to a user-level preference or system setting rather than InDesign itself. Another thing worth testing is opening files from within InDesign using File > Open instead of double-clicking them in Finder to see if the behavior is tied to Finder integration.

At Bizistech, we've encountered a few cases where unusual file-specific settings caused unexpected application behavior across multiple projects, even after preference resets. Hopefully narrowing down whether it's a Finder, macOS, or InDesign issue will help identify the root cause.

G

GraydesignsAuthor

Known Participant

Thank you so much for this reply, I really appreciate it. I just opened the file from within Indesign and it didn't do the weird behaviour.

I also created a new user account and the same issue still occurs though I received a new message saying "The FMCore Type Core that is currently running is incompatible with the Extensis font management plug-in. Please make sure you are running the latest version of FMCore. Plug-in functionality will be disabled.” I wonder if this is the issue?

leo.r

Community Expert

@Graydesigns The post you replied to is just AI spam, unfortunately… Should be deleted soon.

G

GraydesignsAuthor

Known Participant

Thanks for the reply, but no that isn’t the issue :)

leo.r

Community Expert

is it similar to this issue:

leo.r

Community Expert

...and here’s another one that sounds similar:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/IndesignAdobeINDD/posts/1657331745303462/

i also add a screenshot, not sure facebook opens links to everyone:

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Graydesigns,

Thanks for sharing the details, and sorry you're experiencing this odd behavior.

Could you please confirm the exact InDesign 2026 version you're using (for example, 21.4, 21.4.1, or another build) via Help > About InDesign?

Additionally, could you create a new macOS administrator account and test whether the same behavior occurs there? You can find the steps here:
https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh15191/mac

I'd also recommend starting the Mac in Safe Mode and testing whether opening an INDD file still causes Finder to come to the foreground:
https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac

Moreover, could you please share a short screen recording demonstrating the issue in action?

Looking forward to your update.

Best,
Abhishek