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A
Anthony274639151s3h
Inspiring
March 27, 2026
Answered

New Cross-Reference Dialog Takes a Long Time to Load in InDesign

  • March 27, 2026
  • 5 replies
  • 83 views

I have just upgraded from CS4 to Creative Cloud, so I am still discovering things that are different . .

This problem is that the dialog box for creating a New Cross Reference takes about 40 seconds to load. That doesn’t seem right, so what am I doing wrong?

  • I place my cursor in the desired location.
  • Open the Cross References window
  • Click on Create New Cross Reference
  • Wait 40 seconds (it seems even longer!)

Thanks for your help.

    Correct answer Anthony274639151s3h

    This is the answer I finally settled on . .

    Google reports the following:  Slow performance when opening the New Cross-Reference dialog in InDesign is a known, long-standing issue, particularly in large documents, books, or when working on network drives. The dialog often stalls because it attempts to load all available paragraph styles and existing cross-references, sometimes taking several minutes in 1000+ page documents.

    So, the easiest workaround is to Duplicate an Existing Cross-Reference: Instead of creating a new one from scratch, copy-paste an existing cross-reference and edit it. This often bypasses the long loading time entirely.

    5 replies

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    March 31, 2026

    Hi ​@Anthony274639151s3h,

     

    Thanks for sharing the workaround here, this will definitely help others facing a similar issue.

    I hope the suggestions shared by the experts helped improve the behavior. If the delay still persists, please confirm whether this is happening only with this specific file that has a larger number of cross-references or across other files as well.

    Additionally, you can try manually resetting the preferences by following the steps in the video at the bottom of this page: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html and see if that helps.

    Also, if your workflow involves cross-references across multiple documents, try keeping the related files open while working, and share the observations.

     

    Looking forward to your update.

    Abhishek

    A
    Anthony274639151s3hAuthorCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    March 29, 2026

    This is the answer I finally settled on . .

    Google reports the following:  Slow performance when opening the New Cross-Reference dialog in InDesign is a known, long-standing issue, particularly in large documents, books, or when working on network drives. The dialog often stalls because it attempts to load all available paragraph styles and existing cross-references, sometimes taking several minutes in 1000+ page documents.

    So, the easiest workaround is to Duplicate an Existing Cross-Reference: Instead of creating a new one from scratch, copy-paste an existing cross-reference and edit it. This often bypasses the long loading time entirely.

    Bill Silbert
    Community Expert
    Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 27, 2026

    CS4 was released 18 years ago. Are you saying that you installed the latest Creative Cloud version of InDesign on the same computer that you had CS4 installed on? It seems highly unlikely that the current Creative Cloud could even be installed on a computer old enough to run CS4. And even if it could be then it’s almost guaranteed that performance would be totally unpredictable. Please give specifics as to your actual situation in regard to your computer, operating system and exact version of the Creative Cloud InDesign that you’re using.

    A
    Anthony274639151s3hAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 27, 2026

    No, it’s a totally new computer and it’s Windows 11Home, 32Gb RAM and 64-Bit.

    The version of In Design is the Creative Cloud Desktop (21.3 x64).

    I have attached the screen recording in mi answer to Anubhav below.

    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 27, 2026

    What are your computer specs and how many x-refs are in the file? 

    This was recorded on a four year old MacBook Pro and the speed seems to be as expected.

     

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    A
    Anthony274639151s3hAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 27, 2026

    My new computer is Windows 11Home, 32Gb RAM and 64-Bit.

    The version of In Design is the Creative Cloud Desktop (21.3 x64).

    I have about 75 cross references in the document - these were created and operated normally in the old CS4. In fact, the old ones are fine - it’s new ones that are causing me grief. Thanks.

    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 27, 2026

    Ok, that is unexpectedly slow.

         This is a file that was converted to v21 from CS4? I wonder if saving it to IDML and then back to InDesign .indd would straighten out any file corruption that could be causing this. 

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    March 27, 2026

    Hello @Anthony274639151s3h

    Thanks for reaching out. Could you confirm the versions of the OS/InDesign installed and share a brief screen recording of your exact workflow and the problem, so we can better assist you?

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Anubhav

    A
    Anthony274639151s3hAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 27, 2026

    I just upgraded my computer and it’s Windows 11Home, 32Gb RAM and 64-Bit.

    The version of In Design is the Creative Cloud Desktop (21.3 x64).

    I attached the screen recording as requested. Thanks.

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