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Participating Frequently
January 24, 2023
Question

InDesign keeps crashing with a certain file

  • January 24, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 925 views

Hi!

I was diagraming a book in InDesign and it suddenly crashed. Now, when I open the file, InDesign keeps crashing everytime, so I can't even access the file. Does anyone know how to solve this?

Thank you!

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2 replies

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Community Expert
January 24, 2023

Is this problem happening with just this file or all files? If it's just this document then do you have a previously saved copy of the file? If so try opening that one and see if the crashing still happens. If not, then for future reference it would be a good idea to always keep a copy of important files made periodically during the course of a large project so that you don't get stuck again. If this crashing is happening with all files then try resetting InDesign's preferences. This will restore the program to its defaults and hopefully, restore full function.

To reset preferences:

For Macintosh Users: The User Library folder in which InDesign’s preferences are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that InDesign is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N). With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the folder called “Adobe InDesign” and the file called “com.adobe.InDesign.plist” and delete both that folder and that file. When InDesign is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

For Windows Users: You can try the quick way of resetting on a PC which is to hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching InDesign and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. There have been some recent reports that the window asking if you want to reset is not popping up but that the prefs are being reset anyway. If this works great but if it doesn’t you may have to manually delete them.

To do so: On Windows 7 and above the preference files are hidden. To find them go to the Control Panel and open Folder Options and then click the View tab. Then select “Show hidden files and folders” or “Show hidden files, folders or drive options” in Advanced Settings. Then delete (or rename) the folder at the end of this path: C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\<Version #>\<Language>. Make sure that InDesign is closed when you do this. When you relaunch the program it will create new preference files and the program will be at its default settings.

The advantage of manually deleting preference files is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.

Natalie Rucando
Participating Frequently
January 30, 2023

Hello Bill, I came across this forum for Indesign crashing and have read your response. I tried your suggestions. The Ctrl + Alt + Shift does not bring up the pop-up box for me. I then tried the option of changing the name of the folder at the end of the path you listed. Not sure if I found the correct folder though. So after uninstalling and re-installing the latest version 18.1 and also trying an older version, the program is still crashing. 

 

A few days ago Indesign was working just fine. My project is a book. So, I have created a template file and then have been dragging and dropping Microsoft word docs. This was working brilliantly, and I was able to add each of these chapters to the Book file. 

 

I ran the compatibility test; results indicated Windows 8. I have Windows 11 apparently. 

I have deleted the initial Indesign files and recreated the template file.

I can drag and drop 1 Word doc and save as with the specific chapter name.

Problem occurs when I try to delete the text from the template file and drag and drop a new Word doc for another chapter. The app spins and closes. 

I don't have any plugins in Indesign

I use the Grammarly plugin in Word. (Although the crashing began before I installed the plugin in Word)

I don't use any anti-virus

I use a VPN.

I have signed-out of Adobe Creative Cloud and signed back in.

The crash report seems typical: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION 

 

Perhaps you have some insight.

Thank you,

Natalie 

 

 

Smeared Vampire, Author of the Smeared Lavender series
Rishabh_Tiwari
Legend
January 24, 2023

Hi @defaultwo0pjd4fvyt4 ,

 

Sorry to hear about the trouble. Please try the suggestions shared here https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/large-indesign-file-keeps-crashing-when-opened/td-p/13487646 and let us know if this helps or if you need any further assistance.

 

Regards

Rishabh