InDesign Freezes/Spins Beachball EVERY TIME I Place (Cmd+D) or Drag & Drop Images (macOS)

Quick update: I found a workaround and possibly the root of the issue.

InDesign freezes when placing JPG/JPEG images, but PNG images place normally with no delay. Converting the same image from JPG to PNG resolves the problem immediately.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Hopefully this helps narrow down the cause of the issue.

Hello ​@Mostafa FATHY 

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I hope the suggestions shared by our experts helped resolve the problem. If not, could you please temporarily disable the Generative AI options in InDesign’s preferences and test the workflow again to see if that prevents the freeze?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

Given everything you've already tried, I'd be inclined to look outside InDesign for something interfering with the import process.

The fact that copying and pasting from Photoshop works, but placing or dragging images doesn't, suggests there could be something interfering with file access or the import process itself. 

I’d completely stop copying and pasting from Photoshop - that is not a good workflow.
 

One thing I'd try is booting the Mac into Safe Mode and testing InDesign there.

This can help rule out third-party software, background processes, VPNs, security software, extensions and other utilities that might be interfering.

Start a new document on your desktop. And have an image on your desktop and try it. Then try it from your normal save locations and workflow.
 

If it works in Safe Mode, that's a good indication something loading during normal startup could be responsible. You can then start narrowing it down.

If it still happens, I'd try creating a new macOS user account and testing there. That would help establish whether it's something specific to your existing user profile.

Another thing I noticed is your version information. InDesign 21.6 is actually InDesign 2026, not 2024. You're also running macOS 27, which isn't currently listed in Adobe's published system requirements for that version of InDesign. So compatibility is another possibility worth considering.

Did this start happening after upgrading macOS, or has it always behaved this way?

I'd try Safe Mode first. It's a relatively quick way to narrow down where the problem might be coming from, without changing anything else.

You’ve wisely tried all of the things we would have suggested—the only thing I don’t see is the acknowledgment that InDesign is not yet supported on Golden Gate (macOS 27).

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/desktop/get-started/system-and-product-info/adobe-indesign-technical-requirements.html

There have been reports of other odd Finder issues.

If you updated to Golden Gate, you might roll back the OS. Be sure to review the return to Tahoe process thoroughly, and back up everything prior to starting.

Looking ahead, always check the technical requirements page above before a major OS update on a critical work machine. Once support is available, the HelpX page linked above will be updated.

This is the Premiere forum. Your question will be moved by a mod to the InDesign forum shorly.

Hi everyone,

I am dealing with a completely workflow-breaking issue on my Mac and I am completely out of ideas. Every time I try to place an image using Cmd + D (Place) or drag and drop any image into InDesign, the app freezes completely (Spinning Beachball) and takes an agonizing amount of time to respond.

Here are my specs:

• InDesign Version:  2024 v21.6

• macOS Version: Version 27.0.1 (26A434)

• Mac Model: Mac mini

To save everyone's time, here is an exhaustive list of the standard troubleshooting steps I have ALREADY TRIED, and absolutely none of them worked:

1. Trashed InDesign Preferences and Caches completely (Using the shortcut on launch and manually deleting the folders).

2. Exported the document to IDML and reopened it.

3. Disabled "GPU Performance" in Preferences.

4. Turned OFF Live Preflight completely.

5. Set Display Performance to "Typical/Fast" and set Live Screen Drawing to "Delayed/Never".

6. Granted InDesign "Full Disk Access" in macOS Privacy & Security settings.

7. Removed all Offline Printers from macOS settings.

8. Tested completely different, lightweight files: Even a tiny, standard JPG downloaded from the web causes the freeze. It is not an issue with heavy PNGs, PSDs, or metadata.

9. Moved files to the local "Downloads" folder to guarantee iCloud/Network sync isn't causing a Finder bottleneck.

The ONLY workaround that works instantly without freezing is copying the image directly from Photoshop (Cmd+C) and pasting it into InDesign (Cmd+V). This proves the machine can handle the graphics instantly, but the Place/Drag workflow is broken. However, pasting is not a real solution as I lose the "Live Link" feature which is essential for my workflow.

This seems like a deep conflict between InDesign and the macOS Finder / Import Dialog. Has anyone experienced this specific stubborn bug recently or knows a hidden system fix?

Any help would be massively appreciated!