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Lorenzo.secchi
Lorenzo.secchi
Participant
Mar 10, 2026 1:01 PM UTC
Question

InDesign ligatures replaced by special caracters

Recently, I noticed that InDesign sometimes replaces certain ligatures (fl, fi) with other special characters.

The problem is resolved by closing and reopening InDesign, but it can still cause serious errors if these incorrect characters go unnoticed.

    7 replies

    Lorenzo.secchi
    Lorenzo.secchiAuthor
    Participant
    Mar 12, 2026 2:14 PM UTC

    Thanks a lot everybody, I will try the proposed solutions and get back to you with the results !

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    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    Mar 16, 2026 2:54 PM UTC

    Hi ​@Lorenzo.secchi,

     

    Just following up to check if the suggestions shared by the experts helped resolve the issue. Were you able to test the recommendations regarding the font activation or trying the Document Fonts folder?

    If the problem still persists, please let us know so we can continue investigating this further with you.

     

    Looking forward to your update.

    Abhishek

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    Peter Spier
    Community Expert
    Peter SpierCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Mar 12, 2026 11:28 AM UTC

    I stopped using Extensis products 20 years ago, so can’t comment on how reliable they are now, but perhaps you can get this to work by creating a Document Fonts (case sensitive, I believe) folder in the same folder as the .indd file and put a copy of your font in there.  InDesign is SUPPOSED to use fonts from there before loading any other.

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      Community Expert
      Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Mar 10, 2026 4:23 PM UTC

      Usually a font clash, a version of that font is not supporting the glyphs for the ligatures. 

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        Peter Spier
        Community Expert
        Peter SpierCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        Mar 10, 2026 3:32 PM UTC

        What version of InDesign? OS? What is the font? How is it installed? Do you use a font manager?

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          Lorenzo.secchi
          Lorenzo.secchiAuthor
          Participant
          Mar 12, 2026 7:23 AM UTC

          It’s Windows 25H2 running InDesign 20.5.2.

          We use Extensis Connect Fonts.

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          Community Expert
          Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          Mar 12, 2026 10:38 AM UTC

          Yeh it’s trying to use a system font, or a font that is clashing in extenis. I use connect fonts too and have the same issue on Mac - except on mac it’s impossible to get rid of system fonts (well it’s not easy). I’ve come across it before, and need to get the correct font to activate.

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