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C
CD-BMWCCA
Participant
January 7, 2026
Question

InDesign Update breaks Links folder for packaged files when whole package is moved

  • January 7, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 254 views

For any packaged files (in my case full magazine issues), that have been finalized and moved to a backup drive, cloud storage, etc. InDesign now cannot find the Links folder sitting right next to the layout file without direct intervention. 

It appears the latest version of InDesign makes all linked files paths "absolute" and is unable to recover or even automatically seek the Links folder. This is the first version of InDesign to have this error (I've used ID since version 1.0). 

This problem is particularly sinister when utilizing any kind of cloud syncing service (though I suspect CC storage wouldn't be affected) such as Dropbox. Even when a file is fully packaged, if I use my laptop rather than the original workstation to open the fully packaged and synced file, InDesign reports all linked files as missing. I must then relink the files. While having packaged things previously means I only need relink one and the others will be "found," this only works most of the time. I've had InDesign freeze more than once when trying to relink several hundred files for a full magazine layout. And when one is trying to make an update to a layout error for a magazine that is at the printers, waiting 30 minutes because InDesign has gotten dumber isn't an acceptable workflow.

Any program/file  that cannot locate its own packaged Links folder that's stored within the same package folder has a serious problem. Whether this is a bug, a purposeful change to drive people to pay more for CC storage, or some other issue, it needs to be fixed. 

It is becoming a serious enough problem that we are considering a full test of Affinity for our next issue. We've already had more than one nightmare with Adobe Font activation to the point that it is now wholly banned across the organization. Add the increasing challenges with InCopy rendering and now this repeated broken-links issue and it's got the strong appearance of product neglect (while everyone coos over marginally useful AI tools). 

2 replies

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 7, 2026

Are you working on a local harddrive synced to Dropbox? Have you disabled any smart sync features which only download files on demand?

C
CD-BMWCCAAuthor
Participant
January 7, 2026

I initially discovered the issue while working on an issue that was Dropbox synced. However, I always make sure that "Make available offline" is selected for working folders. However, the problem persists regardless of whether the folder is cloud synced or on the archive hard drive that has no compression, etc. on it. It's just file storage with the fully packaged files. But if I packaged the file on my main drive, move the fully packaged folder to the archive drive, and then open the layout file, it reports all links as missing. A check in the links folder shows it's looking for them on the main drive at the original packaging point, rather than simply checking next to itself and the clearly labeled Links folder. What's particularly concerning is the length of time it takes to fix the links. At one point, the entire system froze for half an hour while it remapped the links. I've repeated the test multiple times, using updated versions of InDesign. 

So it's not a cloud syncing issue. It's not a Dropbox specific issue. It's the form of the links InDesign is using or has newly defaulted to. I've gone in and changed settings for file handling, but am not seeing any improvements. 

C
CD-BMWCCAAuthor
Participant
January 7, 2026

Just to do the due diligence, I just updated to the most recent InDesign 2026 version (21.1. x64 on Windows 11 Pro) and the links problem persists. I went to the archive drive, where each issue is fully packaged. Opening the layout file leads to an error stating 752 files are missing. 

 

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