InDesign freezes when placing an image

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
June 29, 2026
12 replies
224 views

I've followed all the suggestions made by the virtual assistant and other AI, but my InDesign still freezes whenever I place an image. Any image, large or small, png or jpeg. I have reset all preferences and checked RAM and CPU - all good.

Correct answer Enchanted_arta760

Hi Rob, the images are either PNG or JPEG. I dont think i ever used a PSD format image. I mostly either places JPEG images or export PNG images that i created in Illustrater. However, the problem has gone away. I am not sure what caused it to go away but all the images go in fine now. Thanks for the suggetions!

E

Enchanted_arta760

Participating Frequently

Hello i have my image from my image folder (in a project folder) and i drag it from there to a placeholder area in my InDesign document. WHen i do this i get a loading icon that does not go away and InDesign stops functioning normaly i can still do some thing like clicking and such but i cannot type or do mostly anyhing else.

I got version 21.6 i run it a windows 11 system.

How can i overcome this annoying thing

nik.m

Community Manager

Hi @Enchanted_arta760, we're sorry about the trouble. As a workaround, try disabling the Generative AI options in InDesign by going to Preferences, then Generative AI. Once done, restart InDesign and let us know how it goes.

Thanks,
Nikunj

E

Enchanted_arta760

Participating Frequently

Hi @nik.m, I already disabeld generative AI. It does not seem to change. i installed and uninstalled it. I switch from a Dutch version tot a (United States) English version. Yet no change.

one thing in my workflow that mey differ from others is that the template i use to make my current project in is from a iMac running iOS and i send it over to my windows computer via mail. Not sure if this has any impact but just some detail.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @m_designs,

Thanks for your patience, and I'm sorry you're experiencing this issue.

This is a known issue affecting versions after InDesign 21.2, and our product team is actively working on a fix. In the meantime, as a workaround, please try disabling the Generative AI options in InDesign Preferences, then restart InDesign and test placing an image again. Please let us know if this resolves the issue or if you're still experiencing the freeze, and we'll be happy to assist further.

Best,

Abhishek

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for all the reports and testing shared in this thread.

To help with the ongoing investigation, could anyone who previously experienced the spinning cursor/freezing while placing or updating files please confirm whether the issue still occurs in InDesign 21.5 or later?

If you can still reproduce it, please try the workaround mentioned earlier: go to InDesign Preferences via the Edit menu, disable the Generative AI options, and test the workflow again to see if that prevents the freeze.

Please share your results here. In the meantime, I’ll continue to keep this thread updated with any further information from the product team.

Thanks,
Abhishek

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @m_designs

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind sharing more details, like the exact version of the OS/InDesign installed, and if this happens with specific files or files from a particular folder location (internal/external/network drive or a cloud-synced folder like Dropbox/iCloud Drive/OneDrive/etc.), so we can better assist you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

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