Read only InDesign files on external drive on Mac Sequoia 15.5

Question

Hi eveyone,

I have updated my computer and InDesign software recently and am having trouble with InDesign files. I have a mac mini m1 from 2020 and I'm working with InDesign 20.3.1. The computer only has 16GB memory so I save files onto a hard drive to save space and keep the computer running at a decent speed but my apps are on the computer hard drive.
InDesign files open as read only and I cannot save them to the external drive. In newly created files, as soon as I save them to the external hard drive they become read only. I can save them to the hard drive and they are ok (not read only) but I am about to start working on a large book file with many images, figures and tables and don't want to clog up my hard drive with all of that.

I have looked through past posts and there are quite a few from a few years ago but the workarounds were for PC's or earlier OS versions and didn't work for me.

Can anyone help me please?

leo.r · Accepted Answer

That's definitely highly unusual. I've been working with InDesign files located on various external drives with no issues for many years (and so have countless other users).

First, update InDesign to its latest version, 20.5. Will it make a difference?

Also, make sure that Full Disk Access is granted to InDesign in System Preferences.

If it doesn't help: do you have this issue with InDesign only or other apps as well?

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