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Participant
October 14, 2025
Question

Unable to Open InDesign File in Version 20.5

  • October 14, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 169 views

I am attempting to open a file created in May 2025 in Adobe InDesign 20.4. I now have 20.5 installed on my device, so I'm getting an error message. I try to "Convert File" and nothing happens. When I click "Update," nothing happens as I already have the latest version of InDesign.


HELP!

4 replies

nikunj.m
Legend
October 22, 2025

Hi, just checking in to see if you're still experiencing the same behavior. If you are, please let us know and we'll be happy to help further. 


Thanks,
Nikunj

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 14, 2025

Is this happening with all of your files or just the one that you've shown the screenshot from? Was that file created using any third-party plug-ins? If so make sure that the plug-in gets updated for full compatibility with 20.5.

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Community Manager
October 14, 2025

Hi @Tranquil_Lullaby7573,

 

Thanks for reaching out, and I'm sorry to hear you're facing this issue. From the error message, it seems you might be on an older version than 20.4, which is likely why you're seeing this prompt. Could you please confirm your exact InDesign version by going to Help > About InDesign, as well as your operating system details?

If you're already on version 20.5 and still running into the same problem, please share a packaged copy of the file so I can test it further. You can upload it to a public cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox (Ref: https://adobe.ly/42EfYGg). If the file is confidential, feel free to share it via DM on the community instead.

 

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

leo.r
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 14, 2025

 

are you sure you're indeed running InDesign 20.5? is it possible you opened, for example, InDesign 2024 by mistake?