Recently saved .ai files greyed out in Place dialog — InDesign and Illustrator on macOS

...and I just realized that Photoshop also has the Save in Background option. Maybe it causes the same issues as the same option in Illustrator? Just a speculation at this point, try to disable it in Photoshop, too.

I ran a test briefly and all I know is that I can’t reproduce this so far with the latest InDesign and Illustrator on Tahoe.

As a daily InDesign user who works a bit speedy, this literally happens all day every day with Illustrator files. I figured I was just trying to place in InDesign too quickly after saving Illustrator files, but I just now moved a large folder of icons (.svgs) to import to indesign and over half are greyed out. I reopened the place menu many times, which previously has never failed to let me place, but I am still unable to place any of my .svgs after ~25 minutes. 

Full disk access (which I initially had off) does not fix this issue when turned on for both apps. I also save all files locally and am not signed into iCloud.

System specs are Mac Studio M4 Max Tahoe 26.6.2, InDesign 21.6

Hi ​@tresyolie,

Sorry to hear that you're experiencing this issue. Adding to the suggestions already shared by our experts, please make sure that both Illustrator and InDesign have Full Disk Access under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access, then restart both applications and test again.

If the issue persists, please try saving a new .ai file to a completely local folder outside Desktop/Documents and compare Save As with a regular Cmd+S to see if both produce the same behavior.

If you're still able to reproduce the issue, please test it in a new macOS administrator account and let us know the results. You can follow Apple's instructions for creating a new user account here:

https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh15191/mac

These tests should help us narrow down whether the behavior is related to file permissions, the current macOS user profile, or the application itself.

Thanks,
Abhishek

Make sure to disable Save in Background in Illustrator preferences (although you mentioned it can also affect PSD so maybe it's not related). Also, like ​@derekwatson mentioned, check if you happen to save into folders that are being synced to iCloud (I think only Desktop and Documents can be potentially synced, not sure). 

This sounds like the saved file is still being uploaded/synced to iCloud Drive when you try to immediately place. Check in the Finder to see if the cloud icon is showing it has finished sync

I am experiencing the same issue in both InDesign and Illustrator, and it has been happening since I started using this Mac.

System:

• MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023), Apple M2 Max, 96 GB RAM

• macOS Tahoe 26.6.2

• Adobe 2026 applications; InDesign 21.6

• Files stored on the internal drive

• Full Disk Access already enabled for both Illustrator and InDesign

Reproduction steps:

1. Modify an existing .ai file in Illustrator and save it with Cmd+S.

2. Immediately open File > Place to place the saved file. The issue occurs in both InDesign and Illustrator.

3. The newly saved file appears greyed out and cannot be selected.

Waiting 10 seconds does not help. Navigating to another folder and back does not help either. However, closing the Place dialog and reopening it makes the same file selectable immediately.

Dragging the same file directly from Finder into InDesign also works on the first attempt.

Is there a confirmed fix or a permanent workaround for this issue, beyond reopening the Place dialog or dragging files from Finder?