Skip to main content
T
The Parabolica
Known Participant
April 9, 2026
Answered

InDesign freezes when placing/updating placed files. Help

  • April 9, 2026
  • 13 replies
  • 514 views

For the past month or two, any time I try to Place a file or update a Placed file, InDesign usually freezes. The cursor turns into the spinning circle. I can close and save the files after this, but cannot close the InDesign app. I try various ways to place the files. File > Place or Ctrl D or copy and paste the placed file from another InDesign file. The files I use are typically on my Google Drive and I’ve installed the Drive app on my machine.

This is REALLY getting annoying. Adobe used to be so good with bugs. Any ideas? I’ve read a few posts that say they thought version 21.3 fixed this issue but I’ve still got it.

I’ve reset preferences, cleared old versions of InDesign, reinstalled InDesign. 

InDesign 21.3
Core i9 processor
Windows 11 home
64 GB RAM
500+ GB hard drive space

 

Thanks in advance for any tips.

      Correct answer Abhishek Rao

      Hi everyone,

       

      Thank you for your patience and for sharing all the detailed observations and troubleshooting steps. I’ve now logged this as a bug with the product team, and the issue is currently being investigated. I’ll continue to keep this thread posted as soon as I receive further updates from the team.

      In the meantime, the current workaround is the one already mentioned earlier in the thread: please try disabling the Generative AI options in InDesign Preferences via the Edit menu and then test the workflow again to see if that helps prevent the freeze while placing or updating files.

      Please let me know if disabling those options improves the behavior on your system, as that information will also help with the investigation.

       

      Thanks again for your support and patience while we work through this.

      Abhishek

       

       

      <Marking as correct for better visibility on the thread>

      13 replies

      Show previous replies
      T
      The ParabolicaAuthor
      Known Participant
      April 13, 2026

      One last item...I am not able to close InDesign once the cursor starts “spinning” after placing a file. And an alert comes up that says it can’t close because there is a background process going on. Does that help anyone figure out what may be causing the issue?

      leo.r
      Community Expert
      leo.rCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 13, 2026

      Keep the Background Tasks panel open. Maybe it will show something suspicious there. Also, can you post a screenshot of that alert?

      T
      The ParabolicaAuthor
      Known Participant
      April 13, 2026

      Also, I have not had any problems placing files from a network drive or anywhere for over 3 years. But all of a sudden I’m having issues the last month or two. 

      leo.r
      Community Expert
      leo.rCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 9, 2026

      > The files I use are typically on my Google Drive

       

      Does it happen with files on your local drive?

      T
      The ParabolicaAuthor
      Known Participant
      April 13, 2026

      Yes. It still happens on the local drive.

      Firefly Community Gallery
      Adobe Firefly

      Remix with Firefly Community Gallery

      Thousands of free creations to fall in love with and remix in Firefly.

      Explore now
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices