Opening a 2004 indd file in InDesign 2026 fully fails...

I can also give it a try. I have versions going back to CS6 on this machine, and even earlier on some archives.

Marcus, let me try to open it?

Hi ​@marcus_007, 

Sorry to hear you're running into this.

In addition to the suggestions already shared by the experts, could you also try opening the file on a different machine or OS, if available?

If you still have access to an intermediate version of InDesign, it may also help to open the file their first and then resave as IDML before opening it in InDesign 2026.

Could you also let us know which exact InDesign version originally created the file, if you know it?

If possible, please share the file here or send it to me via DM if it contains confidential content. I’d be happy to investigate further on my end and take it up with the product team if needed.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

I had a similar experience a month or so ago (not connected error even though I was logged in) while trying to open another user’s file. I was ultimately able to partly recover the file using a windows-only tool before getting the error on the adobe server, but the file’s owner was able to repeat the process and successfully recover the file.

See 

I wouldn't assume the file is actually corrupt yet.

A 2004 InDesign file is extremely old by current standards, and sometimes the problem is the file format conversion rather than corruption.

The interesting part is that InDesign is offering to upload the file for server-side repair, then immediately failing with a Creative Cloud authentication error despite you being signed in. The subsequent crash report suggests the repair process itself may be what's failing.

A few things I'd try:

Confirm you're signed into the Creative Cloud Desktop application, not just InDesign.

Sign out of Creative Cloud completely, restart the machine, sign back in, then try again.

Try opening the file while holding Shift+Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or Shift+Option+Command+Ctrl (Mac) to reset preferences.

If possible, try opening the file in an older version of InDesign first and then resaving it. Very old INDD files sometimes convert more reliably through intermediate versions.

If you still have access to the original machine or an older backup, look for an IDML, INX, or a later-saved copy of the document.
 

Out of curiosity, what exact version created the file? Was it InDesign 2.0, CS, CS2, etc.? That may help determine whether this is a compatibility issue or genuine file corruption.