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tmurphy1020
Participant
September 20, 2025
Question

"You Cannot Reverse" Warning

  • September 20, 2025
  • 5 replies
  • 578 views

"You cannot reverse this change with the Edit > Undo command. Do you want to continue anyway? (Yes, No) every time I open InDesign now, this window pops up. It comes up again when (at a minimum) the first document is opened. There is nothing I am trying to undo. Any insight as to where this is coming from or how to fix it?

    5 replies

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    ThomasBates
    Participant
    April 24, 2026

    was this problem ever resolved?

    I have been having this issue too, to the point I cannot get (simple) work done and InDesign crashes over and over.

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 24, 2026

    Hi ​@ThomasBates,

     

    I can understand how frustrating this must be, especially when it starts impacting even simple tasks and leads to repeated crashes. To help narrow this down, could you please confirm the exact InDesign version and OS details you’re currently using?

    In the meantime, I’d recommend trying the steps in this article to rebuild the InDesign cache and preferences, as this can often resolve unexpected dialogs appearing at launch:
    https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-rebuilding-preferences-cache/

    If the issue still persists, please try the suggestions shared in this similar discussion where the same behavior was reported and addressed:
    https://community.adobe.com/questions-671/you-cannot-reverse-this-change-with-the-edit-undo-command-dialog-box-launching-randomly-897842

    Additionally, you can try using the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool to completely remove InDesign and then reinstall it fresh, which helps eliminate any corrupted components:
    https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

     

    Let me know how it goes after trying these steps, and I’ll be happy to assist further.

    Abhishek

    M
    Community Expert
    Manan JoshiCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 22, 2025

    Did you install any 3rd party plugin or script off late? This seems like a code is executing and it is failing. So if you have any such thing installed remove it. Did you follow the instructions given by @leo.r? That should take care of the scripts. For plugins you would have to check the Plug-ins folder inside the InDesign installation directory. There could be other things like CEP extension etc. We will check for those when you tell us more about this troubleshooting

    -Manan

    -Manan
    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 22, 2025

    Then the next thing I would try is rebuilding cache and preferences. 
    https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-rebuilding-preferences-cache/

     

    ~Barb 

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 21, 2025

    Hi @tmurphy1020:

     

    This message seems to be related to exceeding InDesign's undo history or RAM capacity. You haven't done anything on open, so unless you uncover a complex start-up script causing the issue before you start working, let's focus on RAM.

     

    InDesign requires 8GB of RAM (16GB recommended)—how much do you have? Does restarting your computer and only opening InDesign bypass the message? 

     

    If no to all of the above, the next think I would try is rebuilding cache/preferences.

     

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    T
    tmurphy1020Author
    Participant
    September 21, 2025
    I have 8 GB of RAM. When opening ONLY InDesign after a restart, I still get the message.
    TPM
    leo.r
    Community Expert
    leo.rCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 23, 2025
    quote
    I have 8 GB of RAM. When opening ONLY InDesign after a restart, I still get the message.
    By @tmurphy1020

     

    I hope the reset suggested by @Barb Binder helps (at least temporarily). But I also think the low memory issue mentioned by Barb contributes to your problem. While 8 GB RAM is officially supported, in reality it's barely sufficient to keep InDesign afloat. (Plus the amount of free space on your startup drive also matters).

     

    I know you're on Mac so depending on the model you may still be able to add memory (if your Mac is about 6 years old or older). Otherwise, the only way to increase memory is to replace your machine with one with a higher amount of RAM installed.

     

      leo.r
      Community Expert
      leo.rCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 21, 2025

      Check your Startup Scripts folder:

      <InDesign folder>/Scripts/startup scripts

       

      Is it possible there are scripts there that do something upon InDesign launch or document opening?

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