Indesign stops working after exporting epub with 50+ endnotes

Endnotes are quite a fragile feature in InDesign exports, and the problems are multiplied when the endnotes are imported from a Word file. There can be problems at every step, even when simply printing out the document or exporting to PDF for print. But EPUB is a whole different level of fragility, unfortunately.

I'm not sure if images in endnotes matter, as long as they are anchored to the note text (and not simply placed on the page where the note text is — everything for EPUB export must be part of one text flow, and "loose items" will be lost or simply dumped to the end of the export).

Let's try the simple fix first: export the document to IDML, then open it and save as an INDD file again, under a new name. That removes junk data from the file (which builds up as a doc is repeatedly edited), and rewrites the document structure, which can often fix things like broken or misdirected hyperlinks used for indexes, TOCs, and end notes. See if that exports properly.

One final gloss — try closing the (new) file and InDesign, then open the app and the doc and immediately export. There is a rare situation where a file will export when freshly opened, but glitch if any editing or other operations are done in that session.

If that doesn't help, report back and we'll try the next fix.