Participant

Question

Save/Save as are greyed out, as well as undo and redo. Key commands don't work either.

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
January 26, 2022
14 replies
13972 views

I'm running InDesign 2022 17.01 on a Macbook Pro 2019 OS Monterey V 12.1.

I use indesign on this computer every single day with no issues, but today, I am unable to save my projects or use undo/redo. I restarted indesign earlier to address the undo/redo problem and it worked for a while, but eventually was disabled again. At the time, I was able to save my files so I felt comfortable restarting the program. But now, both save and undo/redo are disabled. I was however able to succesfully export, which requires saving. Very strange.

other things that may or may not be related:

- Text boxes in one of my projects are creating duplicate edges and I have to double click them for the text to readjust inside the new parameters. Usually the text adjusts while I drag the box. This is only happening on one of my projects open, while the other is normal.

- Zooming with my fingers on my trackpad is randomly disabling and I have to relaunch the program to fix it. Zoom on trackpad works in other windows on my computer and in other Adobe Programs while this is happening.

As I was typing this, the program went unresponsive after I attempted to package my file as a work around to not being able to save. I got a pop up that said "InDesign is shutting down. A serious error has been detected."

Henry_Collins

Participating Frequently

This sounds like a corrupted InDesign preference or document issue rather than a normal save problem. try resetting InDesign preferences first hold Cmd + Option + Ctrl + Shift while launching InDesign and see if the behavior returns to normal. Since it’s happening mostly with one project, try creating a new document and moving the pages/content over, as the file itself may be damaged. Also make sure InDesign 17.0.1 is updated to the latest 17.x build if possible, since early versions had quite a few stability issues.

I

innovative_skill5F91

Participant

I am getting the grey-out problem too when I use the Fill> eyedropper tool. I tried restarting and clearing preferences but the problem soon reappears. I am tempted too revert to an older version of InDesign to finish my work--has anyone tired this? I am running Mac OS 26.4 and InDesign 21.4.1.4

J

jgwachs

Participant

I started using an older version (v20.5.4) and the issue hasn’t popped up again (yet). I have Windows 11.

J

jgwachs

Participant

July 2026 - I just started getting this issue. I have already tried updating to the latest version v21.4.1. Luckily I save relatively often but still lost 30 minutes of work. Very, very frustrating.

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @jgwachs

I’m sorry to hear you’re having similar trouble with InDesign. Would you mind trying to run InDesign after rebooting your computer in Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) and a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and checking if it helps.

Looking forward to your response.
Anubhav

J

jgwachs

Participant

No thanks, I’m not going to do that. My computer and OS are working just fine. This is Adobe’s issue with InDesign and clearly it’s not being fixed as I see posts from 4+ years ago.

M

maxg40277246

Participant

This is also happening to me across multiple InDesign files. I cannot save, save as, undo or redo - using the dropdown or the keyboard. Exporting as an IDML was the only way to prevent a total loss of work. I seem to associate this happening when I use the eyedropper tool - might just be coincidence. Please fix this Adobe!
Running InDesing 20.5 on MacOS 15.7.1

ruben_3281

Participant

In my case it also happens as soon as I use the eyedropper tool. InDesign 21.2 on MacOS 26.0.1

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @ruben_3281,

Sorry to hear that you still experience this issue. Could you please try manually clearing the InDesign preferences by following the video at the bottom of this article from Adobe:
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html

Also, please update InDesign to the latest version 21.3 using the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop app and check if the issue still occurs there.

Let me know how it goes after trying this, and I’ll be happy to assist further based on your update.

Abhishek

jamie7607

Participant

Same. It keeps hapenning, with different files, too. There doesn't seem to be any specific thing I'm doing except all of a sudden, I notice I can't undo anything, or when I try to save, nothing happens. It's really really annoying. Some other little glitches ... images rendering super-pixelated, selecting fonts taking FOREVER. I thought it was my computer but it's just started, and it's only InDesign acting up.

leo.r

Community Expert

Same. It keeps hapenning, with different files, too.

By @jamie7607

What are your InDesign and operating system versions?

N

Noelie36639055hbw2

Participant

I'm having similar issues right now. I have to create a simple cover for a class project. As soon as I add anything to my created file (text, rectangle, etc.) the undo/redo, save, save as, etc. is all greyed out. When I go to close the document, it will ask if I want to save the changes that have been made. If I click yes, it will tell me that the file cannot be saved under a different name, even if I make no changes to the name of the file. It will then ask me again if I want to save the changes I made. All I can do is click "no" and start from scratch. InDesign updated just a day or two ago for me, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

A

Amanda36502508dzsz

Participant

This just happened to me. 2 hours of work down the drain because i cannot freaking save. It won't even save on exit. WTMF...

leo.r

Community Expert

This just happened to me. 2 hours of work down the drain because i cannot freaking save. It won't even save on exit. WTMF...

By @Amanda36502508dzsz

Please check this recent similar discussion:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/command-z-greyed-out-in-indesign-2024/m-p/14916938#M592588

It has links to other discussions on the subject (although I'm not sure they include a definite solution to this serious issue.)

L

Lovelle267528063hgq

Participant

It's still happening!!!

I cannot save my file or redo/undo is greyed out as well. I cannot click 'save as..' neither.

I lost my hours of work for the second time...

leo.r

Community Expert

It's still happening!!!

I cannot save my file or redo/undo is greyed out as well. I cannot click 'save as..' neither.

By @Lovelle267528063hgq

Can you Export as IDML?

M

Marcella24156187um26

Participant

hi this is still happening!! just worked on a mega file of 500+ pages and I can't save any of the updates!!! it's hours of work!!!

it started glitching with the text being slow, then not able to undo and then all the actions for SAVE/ SAVE AS are greyed out!!! this is really really bad @Adobe!

leo.r

Community Expert

hi this is still happening!! just worked on a mega file of 500+ pages and I can't save any of the updates!!! it's hours of work!!!

then not able to undo and then all the actions for SAVE/ SAVE AS are greyed out!!!

By @Marcella24156187um26

First, try to export to IDML then open IDML.

Also, if it means that you didn't save your file for hours then make a habit to save often.

B

bentofty

Participating Frequently

this just happened to me too. Windows 10 - Indesign 19
Perhaps it is when you are saving your indesign files to a shared cloud service - this has caused issues for me in the past. And I think this time it seems to again (dropbox).
Perhaps try saving your files locally that isn't share cloud connected. Then when you have finished with them move to the cloud if need be.

B

bentofty

Participating Frequently

Update - nope thats not the cause. Still happening when working on local files.

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