Why is InDesign so incredibly slow with every edit?

Hi Abhishek,

Uodate regarding the issue:

• Latest version Indesign 2026
• Windows 11
• RAM 16GB
• Graphics card: Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics
• Slowness occurs to all documents including new blank
• Close the program using Task Manager
• Uncheck Preflight did work for a while, but consistend

Hi ​@Kraakie,

Thank you for reaching out, and sorry to hear you're experiencing performance issues with InDesign.

Could you please confirm the exact InDesign version you're using (Help > About InDesign), your Windows version, and whether the slowness occurs with all documents or only specific files?

As a quick test, please create a new blank document using File > New > Document and try basic operations such as typing, moving objects, and switching pages. Let us know whether InDesign is still slow.

You can also try temporarily disabling Live Preflight by navigating to Window > Output > Preflight and unchecking On. Additionally, go to Edit > Preferences > Interface and change Live Screen Drawing to Delayed or Never, then check whether performance improves.

If the issue persists, please try resetting InDesign preferences after backing up your custom settings.

Regarding the multiple InDesign processes you mentioned, could you please share a screenshot of the Details tab in Windows Task Manager, showing the InDesign processes and their CPU and memory usage? 

You can also refer to this helpx official InDesign performance troubleshooting guide.

Please share the results so we can narrow down the cause and investigate further.

Thanks!

Abhishek

Hi ​@Kraakie,

Sorry to hear that InDesign is running so slowly and occasionally becoming unresponsive.

To help us investigate, could you please confirm your InDesign version, Windows version, and system specifications (RAM and graphics card)? Also, does the slowness occur with all documents, including a new blank document, or only with specific files?

In the meantime, could you please try switching to View > Display Performance > Typical Display and temporarily disabling Live Preflight under Window > Output > Preflight (uncheck On) to see whether performance improves?

If the issue persists, please try backing up and resetting InDesign preferences and then restart InDesign.

Reference:
Troubleshoot slow performance in InDesign

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html

If the issue sustains, please test the issue in safe mode to isolate any third-party interference. Ref: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234

Looking forward to hearing back the observation. 
Abhishek

How much RAM and what processor are you using? I’m not seeing any serious lag or lock ups here.

post this in the id forum, https://community.adobe.com/indesign-669

and change your title slightly to avoid a duplicate post error.

I work on Windows. InDesign is very slow during any operation. Sometimes, when I close the program via Task Manager because it won't close otherwise, it seems like two InDesign programs are running. Does anyone know why this is happening and how to fix it?