Inspiring

Question

Panels not expanding bug

Forum|Forum|8 months ago
November 25, 2025
9 replies
515 views

Ever since updating to the new version of InDesign (about a week or two ago), I encounter inconsistent behavior with expanding individual panels on the right side when you click on the panel name. Sometimes, the won't expand. When this occurs, I also cannot open the panel as a stand alone window by selecting it from the Window menu. However I CAN use the << at the top of the Panel menu to expand all the panels.

Once it occurs, if I close InDesign and reopen it, that usually fixes the problem.

I have not been able to find a consistent thing that causes this to happen. I think it might occur more when opening files that have not been saved in the current version, but sometimes doing that does not cause the problem.

Bug

jon@studentpress.org

Participant

I’ve been battling this for eight or more months. Multiple calls to Adobe Tech Support. They act like no one has ever reported the problem. Yes, all Adobe software has been removed and reinstalled. All preference removed (and rebuilt - ugh) twice. One point, they blamed it on file residing on OneDrive.

ISSUE DESCRIPTION

For me, it’s a Window 11 version issue. Not sure if Mac users are having the same issue, or not.
Operating system and Adobe products are all up to date.
Using custom Workspace.
When InDesign is launched and a file opened, the side panels open/close with a single click (like they’ve done for the past 25 years).
But then, at some point in using InDesign (with other InDesign docs) the panels stop responding.
Only ways to get the side panels to return to normal functionality is to:
- Quit and restart InDesign, or Window > Reset Workspace
- However, this is only temporary and the issue will quickly start happening again

ISSUE “CAUSE”

After hours of “testing,” I’ve narrowed down the action that causes the problem - the minimizing of the InDesign window.

Launch InDesign and open an InDesign file. Or, launch InDesign by opening an InDesign file.
Side panels work as expected.
Close document and open another document (either through File > Open or by double-clicking on an InDesign document). Side panels work as expected.
BUT, close the InDesign file (but don’t quit InDesign) and minimize the InDesign window. Restore the InDesign window and the side panels no longer open/close with a click.

So, I’ve narrowed down what’s triggering the issue, but now how do we get Adobe to fix the problem?

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @jon@studentpress.org,

I'm sorry to hear you're running into this issue, especially after spending so much time narrowing down a possible trigger. I really appreciate the detailed investigation you've already done.

I'd like to investigate this further with our product team. Could you please share a short screen recording showing the complete workflow, starting from launching InDesign, opening a document, minimizing and restoring the application, and then demonstrating the panels no longer expanding? I'll use it to try reproducing the behavior on my end.

It would also be helpful if you could confirm your exact InDesign version (for example, 21.4.1 or 21.5), your Windows 11 version, and whether you're using an external monitor. If so, does the issue only occur when the external monitor is connected?

Finally, to rule out any third-party interference, could you please test the same workflow in Windows Safe Mode and in a new local administrator account, then let us know if the behavior persists?

Safe Mode:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234

New local administrator account:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-user-accounts-in-windows-104dc19f-6430-4b49-6a2b-e4dbd1dcdf32

I look forward to your update so I can continue investigating this with the product team.

Abhishek

H

hayleyW18336215

Participant

Updated to Indesign 2026 yesterday and having the same issue. Tried deleting cache and it hasn't worked, have to keep minimising indesign everytime it does it to be able to use the side panels. Have they got a patch for this yet?

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @hayleyW3983916,

I'm sorry to hear you're having similar trouble with InDesign. Could you please confirm the exact version of the OS/InDesign installed and share a brief screen recording of your workflow and the issue, so we can review it with the team? Also, try to run InDesign under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

H

hayleyW18336215

Participant

Hi Anubhav,

It's Windows 11 and indesign 21.0.2 x64.

You open indesign files then go to the side menu panels on the right and click on them, it highlights but they don't open. The left hand side works fine. Have to minimise indesign and then reopen to get them to work. Have since found that it is doing this to all files that are older versions of indesign files - the ones I've saved as 2026 version all open and the menus will work fine. It will be an ongoing problem as not everyone is on the new version and we still need to open and use all the indesign files previously created before 2026 indesign.
Saw elsewhere about deleting preferences but don't want to try that as some have said it didn't solve the problem and causes other issues instead and I also do not want to lose my settings doing that.

Thanks

creative explorer

Community Expert

@davidfox@charter.net have you tried resetting the workspace? Also it might be corrupted preferences as well. Close InDesign completely. Hold down Ctrl Alt Shift (PC) or Cmd Ctrl Opt Shift (MAC) immediately after launching InDesign. Click Yes when prompted to delete preference files.

m

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