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A
Arch. Luca Basile
Participant
April 22, 2020
Answered

Lag using the Text Tool

  • April 22, 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 6293 views

Hi everyone,

 

I'm using the last version of inDesign 2020 on a Windows 10 machine and until recently I hadn't any problems, but in the last couple of weeks I'm experiencing huge lags using the Text Tool every time that more than a single document is opened. I searched the old posts and tried to delete the preferences folder with the software closed, but it doesn't solve the problem for me.

 

Any suggestions?

    Correct answer David Larsson B

    I had the same issue with ID just lagging whenerver I was going from select-tool to text-tool and back.

     

    I removed the "Document fonts"-folder from that project. And now it works just fine.

     

    Thanks!

    7 replies

    FredS63
    FredS63
    Participant
    October 23, 2025

    I realize this thread is a few years old, but I experienced this in the 2025 version of ID. I resolved it by making sure that the content of the box that my text was overlaying in was set to unassigned. Obviously this is not pertinent if your text box is not sitting on top of a colored background frame. But, if the text box is in a frame with a colored background, try copying the text out of it, converting the box content to unassigned and pasting the text into a seperate text box and positioning over the colored background box independent of the background. I had too many text boxes pasted into frames that were assigned as text frames and it played havoc with the text tool.

      T
      TNoel7150175
      Participant
      November 5, 2025

      Just wanted to say THIS ^ was the thing that fixed my file, for some reason. It was just this one document that was lagging and cut/pasting the text out of just one of the frames solved the whole bug for some reason. Thanks!! (2025 Version of InDesign too)

      Kevin Stohlmeyer
      Community Expert
      Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 13, 2023

      ..

      K
      Kyle Poff
      Participant
      January 13, 2023

      I have this issue all the time with IDML and type tool lagging, but I fixed it just like someone said here you go to the packaged folder find the document font that is system oriented (mine is always minion for some reason) you just delete the minion font and all of a sudden the type tool is back to normal. 

       

        D
        defaultl2dcn3pi5o8u
        Inspiring
        September 20, 2022

        1. Check the used fonts. Some maybe damaged/contain an error

        2. Complex fonts such as grunge fonts can lead to this. just more demanding to render

        3. Check if you have anchor'd elements to text. This contributes to text lag unfortunately. Maybe Adobe can fix it.

        duyk80808376
        duyk80808376
        Participant
        September 20, 2022

        Finally i solved that problem. Delete document font in your package folder, if want to send file to someone just package again.

          D
          David Larsson BCorrect answer
          Participant
          May 16, 2024

          I had the same issue with ID just lagging whenerver I was going from select-tool to text-tool and back.

           

          I removed the "Document fonts"-folder from that project. And now it works just fine.

           

          Thanks!

            Derek Cross
            Community Expert
            Derek CrossCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            April 24, 2020

            How much RAM do you have?

            A
            Arch. Luca BasileAuthor
            Participant
            April 24, 2020

            I've got more tha 100 GB of free space on the main hard disk (on wich the software is installed) and 320 GB of RAM (of wich only 23% is in use by the whole system. The Task Manager signals that inDesign is barely using 1 GB).

            @mj
            Community Expert
            @mjCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            April 24, 2020

            Gotta cover all bases right @Arch?

             

            Cool, keep us in the loop.

              @mj
              Community Expert
              @mjCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              April 22, 2020

              Try the folowing:

               

              1. Reset your preferences by restarting ID, then holding in Ctrl+Alt+Shift, while the application starts up. It will take a little longer than usual to start up.
              2. Choose save as and save a copy of the document
              3. Choose View Menu > Display performance > Typical Display
              4. Choose Edit Menu > Preferences > Display performance. Change your default view to typical. Up the greeking value to 1pt more than your body copy. This will help ID not draw out each charcter when you are zoomed out. 

               

               

              A
              Arch. Luca BasileAuthor
              Participant
              April 24, 2020

              Thank you for the reply,

               

              I've tried all the suggestions above, but none is working for me.

              1. I already reset my preferences, before writing this post.

              2. It is not a problem of a single document that is not working, but a recurrent problem every time I open two or more documents in inDesign.

              3. The View Menu > Display performance was set on Typical Display all along.

              4. I've tried this, but the lag (about 30-45 seconds each time I try to use the Type Tool) persisits even with values greater than 1pt more than the body copy of my documents.

                @mj
                Community Expert
                @mjCommunity Expert
                Community Expert
                April 24, 2020

                Thank you.

                 

                We work by a process of elimination, so your patience is appreciated.

                 

                Do you have a lot of fonts installed on your computer?

                 

                If yes, you may want to disable those you never use.

                 

                You obviously know what you're doing. So I'm sure you've checked this. You do have adequate free hard disk space and memory?

                 

                If all else fails, you may want to try rebuild the windows font cache. Here's how: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-other_settings/how-to-reset-font-settings-in-windows-10/e3739be7-31e0-4dcd-aa52-2f662e1b8fcf

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