Relink to folder - filenames with accents doesn't work

Hi @michaljanata,

Thanks so much for sharing the files and detailed notes. I tested the package you sent and was able to reproduce the issue, but only with your provided INDD file. When I created a new document and placed the same images (including those with accented filenames), then moved the folder and used Relink to Folder, everything worked fine. However, in your original file, the accented links were not detected, even after saving as IDML or moving the pages into a new document, so it seems to be related to your document.

I'm checking this behavior with the product team. I'll update you as soon as I hear back.

Appreciate your patience while we look into this.

Are your Mac files stored on rotating disk (as you mention 6 years)?

That could indicate a HFS+ rather than APFS file system.

They could also check using Disk Utility or command line.

Were the folders involved created in that time frame?

Does it still happen for folders created by macOS 13.3 or later?

Does it still happen for folders created by you and synced back via Dropbox?

MacOS had some changes in this area, file names were once stored "decomposed" and maybe your DropBox copies those names verbatim. Ventura 13.3 also had changes.

When you send example documents to Abishek, include duplicates where you relinked in both ways.

Relink to folder doesn't work for filenames with accents (czech language in my case)

Indesign just updated to InD 2026 on Win 11.

By @michaljanata

I understand your frustration, and I agree that if this indeed happens, then it's a bug.

However, if you ask me, it's simply not a good practice to use any special characters in your file names - in any language and on any platform. You can run into all kinds of problems with countless third-party tools, cross-platform operations, cloud solutions, and the web in general (just to name a few). Not to mention bugs related to the processing of special characters, similar to the one you already witness. 

Hi @michaljanata,

Thanks for sharing the details. I tested this on InDesign 21.0 on Windows 11, and the Relink to Folder feature worked fine for me. I was able to relink multiple files, including those with accented characters, without any issue. Could you please confirm if this happens with all folders or only a specific one? Also, let me know if your images are stored on a remote location such as an external drive, network folder, or cloud storage.

Please try creating a new document with a fresh set of images and test if the problem persists. You can also try manually resetting InDesign preferences and checking again. Ref: https://adobe.ly/4occROp.

Let me know how it goes.

Abhishek