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URGENT ! InDesign CC won't save my files

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Hello I saw this in an unanswered forum discussion from 2016-2018 but it seems closed for posts .

I need URGENT help please!

worked all day yesterday with clients on a book design. noticed the undo buttons weren't working but with them here i couldnt take time to figure it out, i thought it was just a keyboard shortcut problem.

When time to save comes along i cannot save, at all.

So i try to package the file in order to make a copy. IN DESIGN CRASHED AND I LOST EVERYHTING!!!!!!

My clients are due back this morning to continue but the file opens with none of the work we did yesterday. I was hitting control s throughout the day but no error message came up and so i thought all was ok.

Please please please, someone. Is there any hidden place indesign could have saved my work yesterday or some sort of recovery file?

I am really very close to tears! Its a 300 page book and i just cannot imagine having to do all of this again...

J

JMG-TGDSCorrect answer

Participant

This happened to me too, no save function, no undo function, it's total BS. I am on current CC.

People on other forums were saying that these functions came back upon rebooting ID. Yeah but you may loose your work, not a hot idea.

I did have the export function, so I had hope, if you don't have the option to export either. It was nice knowing you, Sayonara!

Here's how I solved it:

Export>>IDML

Closed down Indesign, reopened, missing functionalities reinstated (if this doesn't happen try and reboot your entire computer).

Save as to INDD.

All good. File intact, sanity saved.

T

tiana_9457

Participant

2025, having the same issues lol....

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SaraUGP

Participating Frequently

My company completely cut out incopy from our work flow. We don't even use now because of these weird issues.

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tiana_9457

Participant

I was creating a flyer for work when it crashed so I downloaded that IMD
file and it’s taking forever to load. Now I know why in my indesign class
it says to save after every short exercise 🙄

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SaraUGP

Participating Frequently

My place of work is phasing out incopy because of the number of times we have lost files, files have become corrupted and hours and hours work has been lost. Moving forward without incopy we are seeing a lot less issues.

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eaustin409

Participating Frequently

It is stunning to me that the save feature on InDesign still doesn't work since my last go round with this program A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. It was a problem then, still a problem. I have never ever used software where the Save function just stops working. HOW HARD CAN THIS BE? Every other software vendor on Earth can do Save. And no, I don't want to do Save As when it quits, that's your idea of a fix? When working on a 300 page book we need to KNOW that what we just did is saved. With InDesign, it's a crap shoot.

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Alexey2869135459nb

Inspiring

Had the same problem.

I closed indesign ("force quit" on Mac), then when opening indesign again you can recover last session. Once it loaded up again with all my progress untouched I was able to save. Hope this helps anyone!

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Michelle5C98

Participant

I am also haveing the same issue. When I hid cmnd Z and it doesn't work, I know it won't save when I close. I have lost 30 to 45 minutes of my work. The only way to save is if I have a layout of items, I copy and paste into another file and save as a idml. Or I go so far save and close. I cant do it when I am adding prices because we have different prices on different layers. Wish Adobe would have a fix!

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SaraUGP

Participating Frequently

This issue is still persistent at my place of work here in November. Any extra advice, even with the updated incopy and indesign would be greatly appreciated.

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SmartMediaBE

Participating Frequently

Still this problem, February 2024... Both Alpha and Beta...
With all the subscription cash you guys are getting, pls hire a proper team and fix this.
Since 2019, are you kidding me...

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os87916702

Participant

Just here to say the problem is persisting in 2023! I've had this problem on and off with InDesign since it became online/subscription based. It's an absolute joke – I've lost countless hours of productivity with this issue. How about fix it, Adobe?!

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samw38462216

Participant

15th May - 2023 - Exact same problem .. still not fixed.

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kated18837890

Participant

This happened to me today. I'm on InDesign 2023 and Mac OS 11.7.1 Big Sur. Was working, saving along the way. Suddenly, I was unable to undo... When I went to close out it asked me to save but would not allow me to save it. Lost all my work. I closed out and opened the file again, made all my changes and it wouldn't save that time either! I finally found this page and did the Export > IDML and saved to a different location. I was able to open that file up and resave as INDD.

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Mary Pat25688415mfkj

Participant

Oh gosh! This just happened to me today as well. The "save" function does nothing but freeze everything...all my work gone. I can't even export. Running ID 2023 with Monterey 12.4 so everything updated. Ugh.

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Abelragen

Participant

I am having the save problem. I was trying to use the "Save As…" command. I was sure I had saved: why else would the "Save" command be dimmed? But I got a message saying the file couldn't be saved. Then tried to close the document, and got a message saving the file couldn't be saved by InDesign. Thanks to the advice below, I then "exported" it as an IDML file and quit InDesign. I found that the InDesign file I had been working on all day, thinking my work was being saved, said it had not been updated since 8:00 this morning. It's 4:00 PM now. I had pressed Command-S regularly, and if I looked at the "File" menu, "Save" was dimmed. I restart the program, opened that IDML file, and found I had lost only half an hour's work. Still, this should not happen. I am using the latest version of InDesign (17.4) and of the MacOS (12.6).

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Adam5C0B

Participating Frequently

Having the exact same issue. I was able to export an IDML as others have mentioned in this thread. After that, instead of quitting I force quit InDesign so the temporary autosave file was still there. Opened ID back up and the file was just as I left it and Save was actually working, so I ended up not needing the IDML.

Adobe, this issue is years old, quit screwing around with my money and developing half-baked new apps that nobody asked for. Fix the crap that you already know is broken.

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) / macOS 12.4 / InDesign 17.3.0.61

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Rishabh_Tiwari

Legend

Hi @Adam5C0B ,

We're so sorry to hear about the trouble, let me assure you, that I'll share your feedback with the team. Thanks for confirming that the issue stands resolved.
In addition to the troubleshooting mentioned in this discussion, I found an article that talks about how to recover an InDesign document just in case the file is not exported and the app quits.

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions or issues.

Regards

Rishabh

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