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>

Answered

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

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
January 14, 2026
89 replies
47733 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.

Correct answer Abhishek Rao

Hi everyone,

Thank you again for your patience while the team investigated this issue. I wanted to share that the fix is now available in the general release version of InDesign 21.4.

This is the same issue that was being tracked in the following UserVoice report:
https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180/suggestions/50715731

If you were affected by the Times New Roman, Calibri, or related font recognition issues, please update InDesign to version 21.4 through the Creative Cloud Desktop app and test your affected documents again.

Once updated, please let us know your observations. If you still encounter the issue after updating to 21.4, feel free to share the details here, including your InDesign version, OS version, and any screenshots of the missing font behavior, and we'll be happy to investigate further.

Thanks again for all your patience, testing, and feedback throughout this process.

Abhishek

Show previous replies

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Emma309851271704

Participant

For several days I have been unable to save anything from InDesign. I get this message:

“InDesign is unable to save this file. We tried, but it appears to be damaged.”

Then, when I try to close the file, I get another message:

“Could not complete your request because of a database error. The file ‘InDesign Defaults’ is damaged (Error code: 1).”

I’ve tried:

- Uninstalling and reinstalling InDesign

- Resetting preferences

- Saving files as a mark-up and then opening and resaving as an InDesign file

- Testing files saved locally

Has anyone got a fix? Currently InDesign is unusable / I have no trust that if I start working in a file it's going to save.

Thank you

leo.r

Community Expert

Uninstall the latest Windows update:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-files-corrupted-and-unable-to-save-afte...

Nix5tar404

Inspiring

This isnt an option for a lot of people. I asked my IT department, they said no can do. So do I just sit and wait for it to be fixed?

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Anonymous

Bonjour,

J'ai effectivement le m^me problème que vous. et je n'ai pas de solution au problème. comment faire ?

M

Madeleine5E49

I want to post an update for the indesign team- I deleted windows update KB5074109 and paused dropbox syncing. I've been able to work no problem for the last couple of days. I've just tried working with syncing unpaused, and Indesign crashes- different error message, but there's still a problem.

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REfan82

I started getting the same/similar errors as mentioned in this thread last week. Not syncing with dropbox has worked for me over the last two days and allowed me to save files without errors. I also uninstalled the KB5074109 windows update today after reading your post and have had no errors so far, although syncing is still disabled.

katinac13237708

I do not have an option to uninstall the Windows update (I have rolled these back before, but the option does no exist for this one). I installed the pre-release of InDesign as suggested, and continued to get the error when trying to save to my Dropbox folder.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reporting this and for sharing detailed examples.

We've been able to confirm that this issue occurs after the Microsoft Windows security updates released on January 13, 2026 (KB5074109 on Windows 11 and KB5073724 on Windows 10). After installing these updates, InDesign may show Error 2, fail to save files, or crash during the save process. This can happen with both newly created documents and files originally edited on macOS, and is more commonly seen when working in cloud-synced folders such as OneDrive or Dropbox.

The issue has been successfully reproduced and is currently under investigation by the InDesign team. You can track progress and add your vote or details on the related UserVoice thread here:
https://adobe.ly/4qUhzkS

Temporary workaround:

Uninstall the affected Windows update (KB5074109 / KB5073724), which multiple users have confirmed restores normal save behavior
Alternatively, save and work from a local (non-cloud-synced) folder until the issue is resolved

We'll continue to share updates in this thread as more information becomes available.

Thank you for your patience and for helping us investigate this further.

Abhishek

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Angie Wolfe

Microsoft won't let me uninstall this update. Any other work arounds?

G

Gabriele_Sonnberger7006

Me, too! Did you solve the problem? Or have we to wait for a new update? I'm a little desperate of this ...

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Anonymous

For me solves, when start working, open Copy of document (InDesign 21.0)

leo.r

Community Expert

For me solves, when start working, open Copy of document (InDesign 21.0)
By @40822452

If you experience this widespread issue in Windows, then you need to uninstall a recent Windows update:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-files-corrupted-and-unable-to-save-after-windows-11-update-kb5074109-january-2026/m-p/15667809/page/6#M647738

(If you indeed report the same issue and your solution helps, then it's also good info to know.)

A

Anonymous

Thanks, leo.r! Me also have no permission to something uninstall. Maybe after some time IT specialist can help....

davidl75906951

Hi, I just wanted to confirm that InDesign Pre-release build 21.2.0.27 does not resolve this problem (Windows 11 Pro x64).

Some details:

Confirmed that KB5074109 had automatically installed into my Windows 11 a few days ago.
Windows did not allow me to revert.
One work-around I discovered was that disabling OneDrive or copying the file over and running loading/saving the file on a standard local drive worked (e.g. C:\temp), after finishing I would copy back to the OneDrive folder and restart OneDrive to sync for colleagues
I enrolled in the Pre-release program for InDesign, however it took about 6-8 hours for the application to populate in Creative Cloud which I was then able to install (build 21.2.0.27)
Using 21.2.0.27 it seemed to work initially, but on further testing - it failed to save, and InDesign completely crashed and had to kill the task from Task Manager.
I'll have to go back to running off C:\temp using 21.1 - that was more stable at least, until this is resolved with another build.

Thanks,

L

LottevdNoortNL

Known Participant

Hello, I have a big problem and I can't solve it...

Since a few days ago, InDesign keeps telling me I can not save my files anymore because the files are broken or corrupt (error code 2).

It's not only 1 or 2 files, but every file I am making from now on. I've tried re installing InDesign and Adobe Cloud, but nothing seems to work.

If I save as an IMDL it works for like 5 minutes, after that, InDesign keeps giving me the same error. What can I do to solve this?

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @LottevdNoortNL,

Thanks for sharing the details, and sorry to hear about the trouble you’re facing. Could you please confirm your OS version and, if you're on Windows, let us know whether any recent system updates were installed? 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, this is a known problem and is currently being worked on. If it's not similar, please share more details so we can look into it further.

Looking forward to your update.
Abhishek

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LottevdNoortNL

Known Participant

Hi there!

Thanks so much for you reply. I've read the topic you just send me and I have the exact same issue! Indeed, an update from windows happened and since then, I got this problem.

For me it's solved (for now) to save the InDesign file on my C-drive. I prefer not to do that actually, because of workspace, but for now it's working.

I will wait for the update in the other topic. I can't turn around the windows update so I guess for now I have to deal with it. Glad I am not the only one!

C

chaimm14507597

Same Indesign problem, not saving the files, and giving error message that files are damaged. What I have determined is that the files are being saved in a synched Dropbox folder. And that is the new problem. Indesign does not save a file in the process of being synched to Dropbox. So I moved the file out of the Dropbox folder, and now the files are saving correctly. The new problem is to resolve working with a different Dropbox style service.

kyles85970985

I did NOT do the Windows Update and I'm getting this issue. Worked on January 17 at night, today I can't save the file I use every week at work. I've tried saving it as different names ... copying and pasting into a new document. I uninstalled InDesign and re-installed.

P

Paul22519508f4zv

Participating Frequently

experiencing the same issue.

B

Blaaze

I posted this in another thread. I am having the same issues as everyone else.
Could not complete your request of a database error
The file "DBTmp3912245282959093" is damaged (Error Code 2).
I saw in another discucssion post that they repaired the "Repair the C++ Redistributables" Would this work? Unfortunarly I'm on a work laytop and do not have admin right to perform this.

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