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Ink Stain Studio
Participant
Jan 10, 2024 2:00 PM UTC
Answered

Pages turn grey in Indesign and content on pages dissapear

We are working with an Indesign file where the pages suddenly turns grey, and the content on the pages dissapears.

 

- We have tried saving the document as an idml file, but cannot open it.
- We are using Indesign version 19.1 and have tried to open it in an older version, but that didn't solve the problem.

- We have also tried to turn of the CPU to no avail.

Does anyone have any suggestions to solve the problem? That would really be a great help - else it will be MANY hours wasted...

    Rishabh_Tiwari
    Rishabh_TiwariCorrect answer
    Legend
    Mar 2, 2024 11:16 AM UTC

    Thank you for your reply.

    Unfortunately turning them off has no effect...


    Hi,

     

    Sorry to hear about the trouble. Please update macOS to 14.3 and let us know if that solves the issue or if you need further assistance.

    Thanks

    Rishabh

    View reply

    22 replies

    obsessoprocesso
    Participant
    Oct 23, 2026 10:59 PM UTC

    Having the same issue on Tahoe 26.5, Indesign 21.4.1. 
    The only solution I have found is to restart Indesign. Happens at least once a day. Very frustrating.

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    o77o
    o77o
    Participating Frequently
    Jul 30, 2025 2:15 PM UTC

    Having the same issue. All apps and operating system are updated to the most recent. It started about 3 weeks ago.

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    leo.r
    Community Expert
    leo.rCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Jul 30, 2025 8:51 PM UTC
    quote

    Having the same issue. All apps and operating system are updated to the most recent. It started about 3 weeks ago.


    By @o77o

     

    What's your operating system version and how much RAM do you have? Also, did you try toggling GPU Performance on or off as suggested above?

    Translate
    ngarf
    Participant
    Mar 18, 2025 9:50 AM UTC

    Same, and it's totally effecting my productivity. Happening more frequently now too!!! Ugh

     

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      utkesen
      utkesen
      Participating Frequently
      Mar 18, 2025 7:44 PM UTC

      Same for me aswell, only workaround seems to be quit and restart. Very frustrating

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        kristina_2878
        Participant
        Oct 25, 2024 9:11 AM UTC

        Same here. I have to quit Indesign when it happens, several times per day my layout/pages turn grey.

        Very irritating. So force to quit and re-open. But really hard too know if I should save or not save befor quit, because I dont see the layout and the recent changes, tests, schetches I might have done.

         

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          Eric22301895t80g
          Participant
          Nov 8, 2024 2:43 PM UTC

          Myself and fellow colleagues have also been having this issue more quite a while now. If my computer goes to sleep mode of if I disconnect from a external monitor, this greyed out artwork issue will ALWAYS happen. It's been a real nuisance and pain to always save, close and reopen the files. I wasn't sure if it was connected to us working from files off a onedrive server, but this seems like an issue that will never go away. Adobe needs to fix this issue or let users know a solution.

          Translate
            Admirable_Buttercup01AC
            Participating Frequently
            Dec 20, 2024 10:54 PM UTC

            Same issue and has happened for a while. I am now on Sequoia 15.1.1 and InDesign CS 20.0.1.

            The "solved" answer above all were applied to Sonoma, so I am wondering what is going on. It is very frustrating.

            I have reset my preferences multiple times.

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              graysonc7507806
              Participant
              Oct 23, 2024 2:32 PM UTC

              I am also having this issue and nothing is making it go away.

               

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                xian0118518552
                Participant
                Apr 13, 2024 10:49 AM UTC

                I'm have the same issue whenever I plug/unplug my laptop from my desktop monitor. In order to see my layouts I have to force quit and reopen. I've updated software and now on macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 so that didn't help as I've read in other forums.

                Translate
                  Sasga
                  Sasga
                  Participant
                  Jun 14, 2024 9:14 AM UTC

                  Fighting with same issues, been for more than a year. Always updated OS and CC to the latest versions. Newest InDesign 19.4 and Sonoma 14.5 make the documents turn gray as well.  - nothing is respondind or selectible. Restart is the only help and annoying many times a day.

                   

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                    BobLevine
                    Community Expert
                    BobLevineCommunity Expert
                    Community Expert
                    Jan 10, 2024 2:35 PM UTC

                    What operating system? This sounds like the Sonoma bug that causes display issues. If that's the case try turning off the rulers in InDesign.

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                      Ink Stain StudioAuthor
                      Participant
                      Jan 11, 2024 9:29 AM UTC

                      Thank you very much for your reply!

                      We use mac with Sonoma 14.1.2.
                      We have tried deleting all the rulers in the document. It didn't recover the grey pages - but sofar no more pages have turned grey.
                      Do you know if there is somewhere we can get more information regarding this problem?

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                      Bill Silbert
                      Community Expert
                      Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
                      Community Expert
                      Jan 11, 2024 11:13 AM UTC

                      At the present time only InDesign CC 2024 (Version 19.x) is even partially supported for Sonoma. So make sure that your InDesign is up to date (19.1 is the latest version). For more info about Sonoma compatibility with Creative Cloud apps see: https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/macos-sonoma-compatibility-common-issues.html.

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