Hi all,I’m hoping someone has seen this before, because I’m running out of things to try.I’m using the latest version of InDesign on Windows 11 Pro. While working on presentations, InDesign initially behaves normally, but after several minutes it gradually starts to malfunction.The first symptom is usually that Ctrl+Z / Undo becomes unavailable. After that, other problems begin to appear:Images become difficult or impossible to resize or place Scrolling through the document becomes intermittent The spinning blue Windows cursor sometimes appears I can usually close and save the document, although occasionally saving also fails InDesign itself will not close normally I have to force-close the application through Task ManagerThere are no error messages and the application does not fully crash. It simply becomes increasingly unresponsive.The issue happens during normal work, including selecting objects, editing text, moving items and placing or resizing images. It does not appear to be limited to one particular document.Troubleshooting already completedComplete clean installation of Windows 11 Complete reinstall of Adobe Creative Cloud and InDesign Reset InDesign preferences Cleared InDesign caches Disabled GPU Performance Disabled Preflight Fully updated Windows Fully updated Adobe applications Fully updated graphics drivers Tested files stored on both an external SanDisk SSD and the internal SSD Tested a packaged file with all links stored locally on the internal driveThe behaviour is identical even after the clean Windows and Adobe reinstall.I initially suspected the SanDisk external SSD might be causing delays while InDesign accesses linked files, but the same problem occurs when the document and all linked assets are stored on the internal SSD.System specificationsOperating system: Windows 11 Pro, 64-bit Processor: 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13850HX, 2.10 GHz RAM: 32 GB Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU, 8 GB Integrated graphics: Intel UHD Graphics Storage: 1 TB internal SSD, with approximately 174 GB used InDesign: Latest available versionHas anyone encountered this behaviour before, particularly the Undo function becoming unavailable before the rest of the interface starts failing?I would also appreciate advice on which InDesign logs, crash reports or Windows diagnostic tools would be most useful for identifying the cause.

Participant

Question

InDesign freezes every few minutes, even after a clean Windows and Adobe reinstall

Forum|Forum|26 days ago
July 10, 2026
14 replies
109 views

Hi all,

I’m hoping someone has seen this before, because I’m running out of things to try.

I’m using the latest version of InDesign on Windows 11 Pro. While working on presentations, InDesign initially behaves normally, but after several minutes it gradually starts to malfunction.

The first symptom is usually that Ctrl+Z / Undo becomes unavailable. After that, other problems begin to appear:

Images become difficult or impossible to resize or place
Scrolling through the document becomes intermittent
The spinning blue Windows cursor sometimes appears
I can usually close and save the document, although occasionally saving also fails
InDesign itself will not close normally
I have to force-close the application through Task Manager

There are no error messages and the application does not fully crash. It simply becomes increasingly unresponsive.

The issue happens during normal work, including selecting objects, editing text, moving items and placing or resizing images. It does not appear to be limited to one particular document.

Troubleshooting already completed

Complete clean installation of Windows 11
Complete reinstall of Adobe Creative Cloud and InDesign
Reset InDesign preferences
Cleared InDesign caches
Disabled GPU Performance
Disabled Preflight
Fully updated Windows
Fully updated Adobe applications
Fully updated graphics drivers
Tested files stored on both an external SanDisk SSD and the internal SSD
Tested a packaged file with all links stored locally on the internal drive

The behaviour is identical even after the clean Windows and Adobe reinstall.

I initially suspected the SanDisk external SSD might be causing delays while InDesign accesses linked files, but the same problem occurs when the document and all linked assets are stored on the internal SSD.

System specifications

Operating system: Windows 11 Pro, 64-bit
Processor: 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13850HX, 2.10 GHz
RAM: 32 GB
Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU, 8 GB
Integrated graphics: Intel UHD Graphics
Storage: 1 TB internal SSD, with approximately 174 GB used
InDesign: Latest available version

Has anyone encountered this behaviour before, particularly the Undo function becoming unavailable before the rest of the interface starts failing?

I would also appreciate advice on which InDesign logs, crash reports or Windows diagnostic tools would be most useful for identifying the cause.

N

Núria1674

Participant

I don’t have a dual monitor setup.
With Indesign 20.5.4 everything works fine.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Núria1674,

Thanks for the update. It's helpful to know that InDesign 20.5.4 works correctly, while the latest version does not. I'm sorry you're experiencing this issue.

Could you please try disabling both Generative AI options under Edit > Preferences > Generative AI (available from InDesign 21.2 onwards), then restart InDesign and check if the issue persists? We've seen several users with similar freezing and performance issues report that disabling these options resolved or significantly improved the behavior, and we're currently tracking this issue.

Reference: https://adobe.ly/3RAhzKX

Please let us know the outcome.

Abhishek

nik.m

Community Manager

Hi @Design_Driven, just following up on this conversation to check if you were able to try the steps suggested by our Experts, and if they helped?

If you’re still experiencing the same behavior, please let us know and we’ll be happy to help further.

Thanks,

Nikunj

N

Núria1674

Participant

I have the same issues. I contacted the experts, but it didn't help. The chat closes automatically.

nik.m

Community Manager

Hi @Núria1674, I’m sorry to hear that you’re experiencing the same behavior and about the experience with chat.

Please let us know the version of InDesign on you’re using along with your computer’s operating system. Have you tried any troubleshooting steps so far?

If not, you can try steps suggested here: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/desktop/troubleshoot/launch-and-crash-issues/issues-on-startup.html

Let us know how it goes!

Thanks,

Nikunj

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Hi DD,

Have you made sure to turn off Preferences > Generative AI … those two checkboxes … in order to see if it has any effect on your operation of InDesign. (I realize this is a wild guess, but you mentioned trying everything else.)

Mike Witherell

Derek Cross

Community Expert

Presumably you have plenty of RAM and spare hard disc capacity?
Try using the Adobe Cleaner Tool to see if that sorts out your issue.
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

Design_DrivenAuthor

Participant

Thank you, worth a try

S

Sylvia_Barkhoff

Participant

Hi, I had the same problem. Everything fine, enough RAM etc. I did everything you did and put everything local, just placing a photo let my InDesign freeze ...
In the end I switched back to the old Version 20 of InDesign - and everything works fine now!
Not that way it should it be, turning back to an old version, but there must be a bug in the newest Update.

I hope that helps for the moment …
Best regards

Design_DrivenAuthor

Participant

Thanks I will give this a go!

Troubleshooting already completed

System specifications

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.