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Amberg Art
Amberg Art
Inspiring
January 30, 2023
Question

InDesign is driving me nuts. Laggy and super slow on Windows 11. (Solved)

  • January 30, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 2521 views

Hi
Since a couple of weeks, InDesign is behaving strange. Sometimes starting InDesign takes minutes, saving a small document also. Opening a document from Bridge can take a while too. My Windows 11 Pro system is new and powerful (it's eating the system requirements for breakfast) and all the apps are up to date. All other apps are working smoothly (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects). I reseted the preferences many times, deleted the preset folder etc.  I searched for solutions but the most recommended procedure is reseting the preferences.

Is anybody experience the same issues? I am greatful for any advice beyond the "resest preferences".
Kind Regards, Oliver

PS: Here are some specs:
Intel Core i7 12700K, 3.6 - 5.0 GHz, 12 Cores / 20 Thread
64 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce RTX3050

 

5 replies

V
VBL2
Known Participant
April 2, 2025

Same here. I practically have to quit ID, restart my computer, and then walk around my house 7 times before the Walls of Adobe Fonts fall down to make my fonts show up in my layout.

 

Love the idea, hate the lag.

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
Community Manager
April 2, 2025

Hi @VBL2,

 

Could you share which version of InDesign and OS you're using? Also, where are you saving your files? Locally on your system drive, an external drive, a remote location, or the cloud? Does this happen with all documents or just specific ones?

In the meantime, could you try clearing the font cache using the steps in this article and let me know if it helps? Ref: https://adobe.ly/3R0bHXu

If that doesn’t help, try running InDesign in Safe Mode to check for any third-party conflicts:
Windows: https://adobe.ly/3R0bLGI
macOS: https://adobe.ly/3XHCBao

Looking forward to your update!

 

^

Abhishek

Amberg Art
Amberg ArtAuthor
Inspiring
February 7, 2023

I tried a lot. But in the end I had to uninstall InDesign and installed it. This is a tiny bit a pain in the *** but it seemed to be the only solution. Now it starts fast again and opening and saving documents is on "normal" speed. 
Thanks to everyone!

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 30, 2023

    I have a very similar setup with no issues. Do you have any third party plugins especially font manager auto activation plugins?

    Amberg Art
    Amberg ArtAuthor
    Inspiring
    January 31, 2023

    Hi Bob
    No third party plugins. 

    James Gifford—NitroPress
    James Gifford—NitroPress
    Legend
    January 31, 2023

    If it's not clear from the pattern of answers, these super-laggy startups and doc openings trace, 99 times out of 100, to some resource ID can't access well enough. Network or cloud files, plugins that need to validate on launch, that kind of thing.

     

    Not a useful additional answer, but it's definitely not your OS, version or system. Many of us are running on Win11 just fine, and there are many more modest systems in use. (System power, within reason, has little to do with ID's operation unless you're working with large files, images, etc.)

     

    So keep looking for something ID is trying to do with a a buggy or remote resource.

     

      Rishabh_Tiwari
      Community Manager
      Rishabh_TiwariCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      January 30, 2023

      Hi @Amberg Art ,

       

      Sorry to hear about the trouble. Could you please share a few more details like:

       

      1. The version of InDesign.
      2. Is this happening while working on a specific file or multiple files?
      3. Is the file saved locally or on any network or shared drive?
      4. Please capture a screenshot of the InDesign process from the task manager to check memory utilization.

       

      We're here to help, just need more details.

       

      Regards
      Rishabh

      Amberg Art
      Amberg ArtAuthor
      Inspiring
      January 31, 2023

      Hi Rishabh

      1. I am running InDesign 2023 version 18.1.
      2. This is happening while working on one or multiple files

      3. The files are all local on my SSD drive.

      4. Done 🙂

       

      Best Regards,
      Oliver

        James Gifford—NitroPress
        James Gifford—NitroPress
        Legend
        January 30, 2023

        Do you connect to any network or cloud resources (files, fonts, etc.)?

         

          Amberg Art
          Amberg ArtAuthor
          Inspiring
          January 31, 2023

          Hi James
          BackBlaze Backup is always running in the background. I am using Adobe Fonts as well. But that's about it.

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