Hello, is anyone able to use InDesign now ? I am experiencing a severe issue with InDesign where files are reported as corrupted, and I am unable to save them under any circumstances. When opening an older file, InDesign initially reported that some image links were missing. I relinked and updated all the images. After updating the images, the file suddenly started showing as corrupted. Attempts to repair the file failed, and I could not save the file. To troubleshoot, I tried creating a completely new document. Even in a brand new file, as soon as I add a colour block to the parent page, InDesign immediately reports that the file is corrupted and will not allow saving (while it's a brand new file ?!) I have tried multiple versions of InDesign, including 2025 and 2026/21.1, and also reinstalled the software and reset preferences, disabled GPU preferences, but the issue persists. Every time I attempt to add a certain colour block, the file becomes unsavable. I tried to open all of my previous files with InDesign (which were all perfectly fine BEFORE), now they ALL suddenly show as "corrupted". Has anyone encountered a similar problem? Is there a known workaround for this bug or a solution? Please help, I am a startup art business and all my proposals, business plans, and invitations to clients are all based on InDesign. Thank you. <Title renamed by MOD>

Question

InDesign files corrupted and unable to save after Windows 11 update KB5074109 (January 2026)

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
January 14, 2026
87 replies
47570 views

Hello, is anyone able to use InDesign now ?

I am experiencing a severe issue with InDesign where files are reported as corrupted, and I am unable to save them under any circumstances.

When opening an older file, InDesign initially reported that some image links were missing. I relinked and updated all the images.
After updating the images, the file suddenly started showing as corrupted. Attempts to repair the file failed, and I could not save the file.
To troubleshoot, I tried creating a completely new document. Even in a brand new file, as soon as I add a colour block to the parent page, InDesign immediately reports that the file is corrupted and will not allow saving (while it's a brand new file ?!)
I have tried multiple versions of InDesign, including 2025 and 2026/21.1, and also reinstalled the software and reset preferences, disabled GPU preferences, but the issue persists.
Every time I attempt to add a certain colour block, the file becomes unsavable. I tried to open all of my previous files with InDesign (which were all perfectly fine BEFORE), now they ALL suddenly show as "corrupted".

Has anyone encountered a similar problem? Is there a known workaround for this bug or a solution? Please help, I am a startup art business and all my proposals, business plans, and invitations to clients are all based on InDesign. Thank you.

Show previous replies

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warm_Flair7900

안녕하세요.

인디자인 2026 버전을 설치하여 사용 중입니다.

며칠 전부터 아래와 같은 경고 메시지가 뜨면서 파일이 저장되지 않습니다.

"Indesign에서 이 파일을 저장할 수 없습니다. 시도했지만 손상된 것 같습니다."

프로그램 및 관련된 파일을 전부 삭제한 후

인디자인을 다시 설치해도 똑같은 문제가 발생합니다.

원인이 무엇인가요?

IDML 버전으로 낮추어 '다른 이름으로 저장' 을 선택해도 안됩니다.

부디 안내를 부탁드립니다.

감사합니다.

M

Manan Joshi

Community Expert

You could be facing the issue being discussed in the following post. Please have a look

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-files-corrupted-and-unable-to-save-after-windows-11-update-kb5074109-january-2026/m-p/15673803/page/6#M648371

-Manan

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warm_Flair7900

This reply is very helpful to me. Thank you so much. I will try reinstalling the program with an older version

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Anonymous

Along with the other 34,100+ viewers of this article (and counting), my team and I are experiencing this issue.

Our workflow is severly impacted by this, even with the "copy onto local hard drive" temporary fix provided.

One user suggested rolling back to a previous version (I'm currently 21.1 and they've suggested 20.5.1), but even I know by pulling my hair out in the past that rolling back to a previous version will mean that Adobe's "force people to upgrade every version of InDesign" will pop up the dialogue box saying "unable to open as this file was created in a newer version of InDesign". While we're at it Adobe, can this "force upgrade otherwise you can't use your files" be removed too? It's not helpful in a lot of scenarios, especially this one.

For users experiencing this, when the crash dialogue message pops up, press escape and try to "save as" onto the local C:\ drive. InDesign will crash but it will re-open hopefully with your file and edits, then you'll be able to save onto the C:\ drive and copy it back to your original location on OneDrive when it's finished.

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Dennis318538632rgz

I was able to fix it by saving it to My Documents folder that does not sync with Dropbox. Havent had any problems since. This is very frustrating. I lost so much work and have a deadline for this document tomorrow. I have so much work to recover.

daveomster

Participant

My INDD files are not saving as well without crashing. The ONLY workaround that has worked for me is to simply open the INDD file I need to work in and immediately overwrite the file by doing a File> Save As to essentially create a new file. Do NOT close INDD after the new file is created! Each time INDD is closed, a new File Save As needs to be completed. Once the file is overwritten, I can save INDD as expected, as long as I do not close the program. Hope this helps! NOTE: I am using the newly Windows from last week, the latest version of INDD, and my files automatically sync to OneDrive. I am not sure if this workaround would work for files syncing to DropBox.

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defaulttg1x9sojzdjv

I have had all the issue above and have removed the window 10 update and paused the updates and this seems to be a temporary fix. A friend has suggested that this may be caused by a conflict between Adobe cloud, onedrive and dropbox which makes sense. He has suggested turning on 'Use legacy "New Document" Dialog' in preferences, general. I have not tried it due the nightmare I had last week but will try it out at the weekend. Absolute nightmare! I have contacted dropbox and they are aware of the issue with multiple adobe apps not just indesign but it appears the issue is not their end.

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defaulttg1x9sojzdjv

From Microsoft website

After installing Windows updates released on or after January 13, 2026 (KB5073724), some applications might become unresponsive or experience unexpected errors when opening files from or saving files to cloud-backed storage, such as OneDrive or Dropbox.

For example, in some configurations of Outlook that store PST files on OneDrive, Outlook might become unresponsive and fail to reopen unless its process is terminated in Task Manager, or the system is restarted. In addition, sent emails might not appear in the Sent Items folder, and previously downloaded might be downloaded again.

Workaround:

If you are experiencing this issue, please contact the application developer for possible alternative methods of accessing the files.

For Outlook-specific scenarios, moving the PST files out of OneDrive should resolve the issue. For guidance, please see documentation at How to remove an Outlook .pst data file from OneDrive. In addition, email accounts can still be accessed via webmail, if supported by your email provider.

Organizations and IT administrations who need urgent help with a mitigation, should contact Microsoft Support for business.

Next steps:

We are working on releasing a resolution for this issue as soon as possible. We will provide an update when more information is available.

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robert b

It's still broken for me. Any updates? thanks @Abhishek Rao

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defaultk0shk10brvbv

Participating Frequently

So far, not affected by this particular issue (InDesign 21.1., Windows 11, latest security update, no option to uninstall or turn off Windows updates). However, I will soon have to modify files created by external contractors on MacOS - has anybody experienced problems in that type of scenario? Thanks in advance!

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Anonymous

Rolling back a mandatory Windows security update is not an acceptable enterprise workaround. Microsoft’s own guidance highlights the security risk of uninstalling security updates.

Since Adobe has confirmed this issue correlates with the Jan 13 Windows security updates (KB5074109/KB5073724), we need an Adobe-side fix and/or a mitigation that allows us to stay patched.

Please share an ETA for a stable public release fix and any recommended configuration changes that avoid file corruption/save failures.

tsoldiviero

New Member

Hi All,

As of 11AM EST, I am having the exact same issue that everyone else has been describing. Originally, I tried opening an existing .indd file in order to edit but when I tried to save, a notifaction about a 'serious error' popped up.

Since then, I downloaded version 20.5 of InDesign. As of now, I am able to open files, make edits, and save/export PDFs.

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Anonymous

Going to give 20.5 a shot. We already tested working from a non cloud workspace and still are running into corruption issues.

15Coreen

I do not have the option to uninstall KB5074109 on Windows 11.

The document I am trying to open is already on OneDrive; I am still having problems.

What is the workaround now?

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Hi Coreen,

In your OneDrive settings, do you have the file and folder set to Make Available Offline?

Mike Witherell

15Coreen

Yes, I can view when offline.

I have a new computer and recently installed Indesign so I do not have the option to install an previous version.

Coreen

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LisaCarpeDiem

Participant

My business has come to a stop with this issue. Cannot save files without Error 2 and damged files. Is there a way to uninnstall current new version of InDesign and install an old version? Need a fix asap!

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defaultk0shk10brvbv

Participating Frequently

Go to the Applications tab in Creative Cloud. Locate the InDesign "tile". Click on the Hamburger menu in the lower left corner of said tile. Click on other versions. I would recommend installing InDesign 20.5.1. A Google search for "indesign install previous version" should help if anything is unclear.