Adobe InDesign 2026, full screen toggle change - BUG

[Coldd]

I use Adobe inDesign in pallet mode, so not 'Application Frame' mode, with toolbars at the top and left docked and pallets docked to the right.

Click the the expand traffic light button in the top left used to just expand the window so that it still showed the dock at the bottom and the pallets to the right, if they inadvertently went behind the pallets or dock.

Now it just goes full screen mode which I don't use and is useless for a pallet rich application like InDesign, and is impossible to get out of, unless you move & undock the toolbars out of the way so that when you move your mouse to the top, the window buttons reappear.

This is so broken it's unbelivable you've shipped it like this.

The only fix for this is to go into Application Frame mode which doesn't work for me because I need to see the Finder desktop when there's no documents open.

It's a bug because holding down the option key and hovering over the expand button, changes it into a + sign but it does nothing when you click it.

Adobe Photoshop 2026 behaves the same, but Adobe Illustrator works as InDesign used to..

So the fix is to just make it work like Illustrator.

[laubaz]

Après avoir passé quelques heures à chercher, je crois avoir trouvé la solution. Il faut activer le cadre de l'application, puis le désactiver. Pour moi, la fenêtre se place bien à gauche avec les outils, mais pas bien à droite avec les fenêtres. Alors je ferme mon fichier et je l'ouvre à nouveau. Maintenant, ma fenêtre est bien calée à droite et à gauche.

[leo.r]

Après avoir passé quelques heures à chercher, je crois avoir trouvé la solution.

By @laubaz

It's just a shaky temporary workaround. Try to option-click the green button at any time and see what happens... Regardless, Adobe acknowledged this bug and, hopefully, will fix it soon

[laubaz]

Indeed, it’s a temporary way to work around the bug until Adobe fixes it, so we can work under good conditions. Also, this solution works as long as you don’t quit the software.

[Laure_igamy]

Génial merci ! 🙏

[JamieMcKee]

For those of you who chose to uninstall InDesign 2026 due to this bug, did any of you lose QuickLook functionality of InDesign files after uninstalling?

[donaldw26805303]

Yes.

[Diguru-Studio]

Err, not wanting to jinx it but mine has JUST started working correctly.

New docs and opening existing docs now fill the screen but not behind the palattees!

Its not updated so no idea whats up, only thign I have done is delte the PS, AI & ID betas and their settings - so try that if you have the betas inatalled.

PS Beta kept insisting on opening PNGs however many times i told it No and no toi all PNGs hnce I remved it

[Diguru-Studio]

ok, stoped again

[Damian5FE4]

That must've hurt!

[Diguru-Studio]

lol yep, 

I updated Tahoe and rebooted, so it could be either or none!

[.33904303rds7]

I have the same problem, I have to change to Application Frame and then back to back, but if I quit and re-open the window goes off the screen size.

[Steve Milne]

Please tell me this is getting fixed ASAP. It is driving me nuts. I can't open more than one file at a time as they all end up massive sizes and I have to resized them all one at a time as it doesn't reduce down all at the same time. How on earth did this get missed in testing?

[Coldd]

I agree, it's a massive oversight for Adobe to release software with these UI bugs that are in Adobe inDesign and Photoshop as well (I have not tested in in anything else apart from Illustrator where it works as normal).

Someone in this thread said that Adobe is aware - it would be nice if one of the Adobe Employees in this thread would confirm that and we can all just get on with our work and wait for the fix.

[epicwonder25]

I have this issue too - and additionally annoying is my toolbar now covers up the other window buttons (red and yellow), whereas it used to position a new window next to the toolbar, not on top! Why is the UX conflicting with itself?

C'mon Adobe.

[MikeMac966]

I feel your pain. Really frustrating and you have to wonder what Adobe was attempting to do when they compromised basic functionality. 
The current workaround is to hit the tab key, so that tool palettes and sidebars disappear, then hover again in the top left corner. The traffic lights should reappear, and you can exit full screen mode. Then hit tab key again to bring back your tools and you should be good to go.

[Design-9]

I'm also very annoyed by this!

[John37860678uub5]

Please fix this guys, It is bad enough on windows. The aplication frame is a virus. Just stop.
AND EMMIDIATELY FIX HOW WINDOW SIZING WORKS IN INDESIDN. 
For the Love of God!

We pay big bucks to Adobe so we can WORK and the programs just WORK. Stop moving the Cheese Please!!!

[good_Wave1110]

And the next one: It's pain!!! Please bring back the old "plus"  feature in the top left corner, to expand the window the old fashioned way!!!!11

[susanr97390151]

DITTO! This is a bug. Please stop telling us to use Application Frame or to click the green button (which leads to yet another bug). Better be in the first update. Note to those who work in a team environment: turn OFF automatic updates so that the rest of us are not forced to use any .0 version of an Adobe app.

[Dog Watson]

The full screen mode or however you call it is a pain in the a. It´s not really possible to work with a 2nd monitor and different applications. Please fix that. 

[Laura Tea Tree]

This was driving me nuts! I'm both glad and sad to hear that it's a UI bug...
I'm having the same issue with documents opening underneath toolbars on my main monitor, and the scroll bars are off the monitor width and height. Have to resize documents to fit the window manually now.
I don't use Application Frame mode - InDesign version 21.0.
I miss the maximize "+" button that would neatly fit the document in the available window space, underneath the top toolbar and alongside the tool palette I keep docked to the left side. 
Hope this gets fixed soon!

[Steve Milne]

Man alive. This is driving me round the BEND. Its been over a week Adobe. Sort this out, its slowing all work progress right down. Can we pause payments for software when its released broken and doesn't get fixed? Seems fair to me...

[ellephillipsdesign]

Just another VERY frustrated InDesign user reporting the same problem and begging, pleading that you fix it. This is one of the most irritating bugs I've ever come across and I'm spending far too much time adjusting my windows so they're not hidden behind the palettes. 

[mariajean]

Glad to have found this thread. Long time user here and just wanted to chime in, never used Application Frame, experiencing the same issues, lost time and look forward to a fix. Thanks leo.r for the "option-click the green button"  and MikeMac966 for "The current workaround is to hit the tab key, so that tool palettes and sidebars disappear, then hover again in the top left corner. The traffic lights should reappear, and you can exit full screen mode. Then hit tab key again to bring back your tools and you should be good to go." , saved me some time today and much appreciated!

Graphics people see the world in a different way, we literally need to "think outside of the box." That's why we gravitated toward Macs in the early days of desktop publishing while evolving from our drawing tables and still why the application frame is not preferred by many of us.

[Coldd]

So a bit of an update, and a workaround that's made this bearable for me, until Adobe fixes this.

This applies to InDesign and Photoshop, which both exhibit this bug.

Undock the toolbar palette from the left and the palletes from the right, moving them in from the sides so they float in from the sides of the screen.

Re-dock the pointless floating bar at the top of the screen.

Then when you open a document, it defaults to the wide screen document size, but you'll be able to see the close, minimise and expand buttons, and the scroll bar to the right.

It still doesn't save the document size between saves, it also sometimes doesn't stop it going behind the dock.

And for me, option clicking the full screen button does nothing, but at least this way, I don't have to manually re-size every single inDesign document I open dozens of times per day.

It would be nice if someone Adobe would acknowledge that a fix is coming.