Skip to main content
C
claudia2323
Known Participant
June 23, 2026
Answered

Media panel disappears after each restart of InDesign

  • June 23, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 0 views

The Media window/panel out of the interactive group in InDesign disappears after each restart of InDesign from the workspace since the upgrade to version 21 (yes, since 21.0 but I’m now using it more often so it got annoying). 

 

When I add the Media panel to any sidebar (as open or collapsed… any position or group, it doesn’t make a difference) it’s always gone again after an InDesign restart, even if I specifically save it to a workspace. I’m on Windows 11 if that matters.

 

Has anyone else this issue or is it just me? Any solutions for it to stay included?

 

Another related question - 

Now by default, if I add a video to a frame, the poster frame is empty by default and I have to change it to “From current frame” every single time. In the old version (20.x) I could change the default so it would always take the current frame as poster frame. I haven’t figured out how to do that with 21.x. Is it possible and how?

 

Thanks for your help. 

    Correct answer Abhishek Rao

    Hi ​@claudia2323,

     

    Thanks for reaching out, and I'm sorry you're experiencing this issue.

    I tested this on Windows 11 using InDesign 21.4.1 and was unable to reproduce the Media panel behavior. After adding the Media panel to a custom workspace and restarting InDesign, the panel remained in the same location as expected.

    Could you please try manually resetting your InDesign preferences by following the steps shown in the video at the bottom of this article and let me know if that helps?
    https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html

    If the issue persists, please create a new local administrator user account on Windows and test the behavior there to help isolate whether this is related to the current user profile:
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-user-accounts-in-windows-104dc19f-6430-4b49-6a2b-e4dbd1dcdf32

    Regarding the poster frame behavior, I tested the workflow in InDesign 19.5.5, 20.5.3, and 21.4.1, and all three versions behaved the same way on my end. I was not able to find any version where the poster frame defaulted to From Current Frame by default. In all cases, it defaulted to None. Could you please verify this on your end as well? Since Creative Cloud Desktop allows multiple InDesign versions to be installed side by side, you may want to install a 20.x version alongside 21.x and compare the behavior directly.

     

    Please let me know how it goes after testing the preference reset and the new user profile.

    Best,
    Abhishek

    2 replies

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    June 23, 2026

    Hi ​@claudia2323,

     

    Thanks for reaching out, and I'm sorry you're experiencing this issue.

    I tested this on Windows 11 using InDesign 21.4.1 and was unable to reproduce the Media panel behavior. After adding the Media panel to a custom workspace and restarting InDesign, the panel remained in the same location as expected.

    Could you please try manually resetting your InDesign preferences by following the steps shown in the video at the bottom of this article and let me know if that helps?
    https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html

    If the issue persists, please create a new local administrator user account on Windows and test the behavior there to help isolate whether this is related to the current user profile:
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-user-accounts-in-windows-104dc19f-6430-4b49-6a2b-e4dbd1dcdf32

    Regarding the poster frame behavior, I tested the workflow in InDesign 19.5.5, 20.5.3, and 21.4.1, and all three versions behaved the same way on my end. I was not able to find any version where the poster frame defaulted to From Current Frame by default. In all cases, it defaulted to None. Could you please verify this on your end as well? Since Creative Cloud Desktop allows multiple InDesign versions to be installed side by side, you may want to install a 20.x version alongside 21.x and compare the behavior directly.

     

    Please let me know how it goes after testing the preference reset and the new user profile.

    Best,
    Abhishek

    C
    claudia2323Author
    Known Participant
    June 23, 2026

    Hi ​@Abhishek Rao,

     

    Thanks for your fast response. The full preference reset did the trick. I had tried multiple variations with workspaces and other things but I guess I avoided doing a full reset so I wouldn’t have to do all my preferences again.

     

    Regarding the poster frame behavior, I remember playing around with it a long time ago and then all of a sudden it changed to the current frame default (to my pleasure) but I do not remember how I actually accomplished it. But I’m sure it worked that way under 20.x in my set up since I’m using it a lot in certain archive documents where I put videos in a frame just to know what video the text below belongs to, so the poster frame is a great help and it was automatic. Considering I don’t remember how I actually got it done, installing an old version will probably not help. That said, this would be a great feature for future versions and it might be little effort to implement. 

     

    Thanks for your help. 

    Mike Witherell
    Community Expert
    Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 23, 2026

    Hi Claudia,

    Are you patched up to InDesign version 21.4.1 ?

    Are you on Windows 11 or macOS? What version?

    Did you give InDesign full disk access?

    Are you making a named custom workspace? Whenever a user makes a custom workspace, it is a good practice to put the workspace together, then save it as a custom name, then shut down InDesign and restart InDesign. That gives the best chance for it remembering the custom workspace, and defaulting to it when it starts up.

    On the other hand, I sometimes find that InDesign has a tendency (since 2023) to forget my custom workspace, and it keeps changing back to Essentials. Sometimes a reset of InDesign preferences helps correct this fault; but sometimes that doesn’t work. A work-around is to put all my favorite panels into the Essentials workspace. That way, if it resets itself, you still have your panels in the same place. I hope this helps.

    Mike Witherell
    C
    claudia2323Author
    Known Participant
    June 23, 2026

    Yes, I have the latest InDesign version but it’s a problem on any version since 21.0. I’m on Windows 11 as mentioned (latest update) and yes, InDesign has full access. 

    I’ve tried creating a specific named Workspace already as mentioned. And it doesn’t have any issues with any of my workspaces or keeping other panels. Only the media panel disappears after each restart - no matter in which workspace it is or if it’s a newly created named workspace with it in it. The issue is not that the panels or workspaces are resetting themselves, only the media panel disappears. I can add or change any other panel and it stays/acts as intended. It’s specifically the media panel only. 

    Mike Witherell
    Community Expert
    Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 23, 2026

    Hi Claudia,

    You might need to experiment with reset method #3 of the 4 ways to reset InDesign, as detailed in the hyperlink in my first answer. This means deleting the cache files as InDesign restarts and rewrites fresh cache files. I’m just guessing, of course, but you might try it.

    Mike Witherell
      Firefly Community Gallery
      Adobe Firefly

      Remix with Firefly Community Gallery

      Thousands of free creations to fall in love with and remix in Firefly.

      Explore now
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices