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.

[HONZA LAMAC]

Great, finally we can work in it again.

[Ben__P]

So while the one issue is fixed it is not fixed entirely. When working without an application frame you can use the green toggle button to fit to the size of your tool bars. This unfortunatly does not translate to every tab you have open, so you have to keep clicking this when switching tabs or when opening a new new document it goes bigger again till you click the green button. Indesign is at least usable this way but still an annoying little bug. If the frame could stay consistent among all the tabs.

[Coldd]

Agreed, I don't normally do that in my work but I can confirm that is still a bug.

Also noticed these bugs as well:

1: InDesign does not save document window size between saves. If you make the document sizes smaller and save then re-open, it opens to the full size document.

2: The document occasionally goes behind the dock (although this has been the case for a while).

3: Adobe Photoshop 2026 has the bug that InDesign has just fixed - I've mentioned this before in this thread, if an Adobe Employee could confirm this is being fixed also, or do I have to raise this in the Photoshop forum?

[Coldd · Accepted solution]

Just to confirm on point 3, where Photoshop had the same bug as InDesign, this has now been fixed this monring with update 27.1.

Points 1 and 2 remain, where InDesign doesn't save document sizes between saves and documents occasionally go behind the dock.

Plus points made by Ben_P & TracyBien still remain - but we are making progress.

[Ben__P]

21.0.2 still speratic in how it is handling expanding the window when frameles son a Mac. So close, but annoyingly not there yet. 

[TracyBien]

Is it just me, or does this still not work quite right when it comes to the hight of documents?

If you show the dock at the bottom of the screen the pallets will resize but the document(s) do not, which makes the info at the bottom hide behind the dock icons. And if you have multiple documents open they will/can have different hights.

[Gavin at MRP]

The problem of the document bottoms hiding below the bottom of the screen (or behind the dock, if you don't have dock hiding turned on) has been a long-standing probem, going back several major version releases. Or, at least this has always happened to me when I have more than one InDesign document open. Clicking on the green jewel brings them all back above the screen bottom for me, a work-around, but less than ideal.

[Rouge]

Oui, c'est exactement cela :
Quand on a un seul document ouvert, tout est visible, mais quand on ouvre d'autres documents, la fenêtre descend de l'équivalent de l'onglet en haut et on ne voit plus le bas de la fenêtre. Il faut cliquer sur le bouton vert pour retrouver l'affichage complet de la fenêtre.

C'est sûr que c'est dommage, cela pourrait être corrigé facilement !
Mais cela n'est pas handicapant comme le problème à la sortie de la version 2026 qui rendait le soft impraticable (moi je suis revenu à InDesign 2025).

[Derek Holiman]

This is what I have noticed, perhaps it is the same issue.

On Mac. NOT using application frame. 

Having the documents open as tabs, a single document opens and behaves as it should. My dock is hidden on the left, but the document stops at the bottom of the display. Open a second or more document and the tabs push it all down below the display bottom. Green button brngs everything back up, but you would think Adobe could reaxct automatically.

Basically Adobe has no sense of its document windows in relation to the applications boundaries.

Been having this issue (although not horrible) as well as another with Illustrator for years. In Illustrator with application frame not used, the documents open as a tiny, narrow window... 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-cc-2019-document-window-size-on-o...

[leo.r]

Open a second or more document and the tabs push it all down below the display bottom. Green button brngs everything back up

By @Derek Holiman

Yes, I can confirm that this bug is still there.

[Cathleen24]

This still happens to me and I've updated the software (twice). I have to do a alot of copy and paste and open a dozen files at a time. I have to physically click the green button, resize the frame, rinse and repeat over and over. THIS IS A HUGE pain in my bottom. Any other ideas?

[angelo von scallywag]

Unfortunately, the issues with the user interface remain. When I have multiple documents open and resize them so that Indesign is beside another program (Acrobat in my case) and then change from one InDesign document to another that's also already open, the InDesign windows resizes. I'm using 21.0.1.

To reproduce, just open multiple documents (Application Frame is off), resize the window, then switch to a different document. The window will resize.

[leo.r]

When I have multiple documents open and resize them so that Indesign is beside another program (Acrobat in my case) and then change from one InDesign document to another

I'm using 21.0.1
By @angelo von scallywag

Can you please elaborate on what you mean by "so that InDesign is beside another program"? Maybe post a screenshot of what kind of setup you're referring to. I can't reproduce the issue by just switching between InDesign documents. (Also, make sure to update to 26.1, just to make sure you're running all the latest patches). 

[angelo von scallywag]

See attached for example, when I change from SA_rund_LB2 to SA_rund_LB1 the window resizes and takes over my whole screen. This has not been an issue until indd 2026

I have to set up multiple indesign docs based off a spreadsheet and  this worked fine up until now.

[angelo von scallywag]

Now each individual file seems to "remember" what state it was last resized to. Which means when you open say 10 at a time they will all default to full screen, previously when you would open 10 files at a time, they would all open at the size of the window you last had open - which makes a lot more sense.

Bear in mind this is with on a mac with application frame turned off obviously

Thanks for your help

[leo.r]

Now each individual file seems to "remember" what state it was last resized to...

Thanks for your help

By @angelo von scallywag

Ok I can confirm this bug. This can also be reproduced within InDesign itself (that is, without having any app open beside it) by reducing the window size, then switching between documents.

Sadly, I can't offer any help here as we can only hope that Adobe listens and fixes it as soon as possible.

You can submit the bug here:

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs

I'll also mention this on the prerelease forum.

[angelo von scallywag]

Thanks for the validation leo!
I have submitted here for anyone stumbling upon this
https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs/suggestions/50742836-with-applicati...

[amandar7465499]

Why in the new InDesign 2026 does the file you open up, not dock in the upper left corner anymore? It now opens UNDERNEATH your tools and pallets. THIS IS EXTREMLY ANNOYING! You have to physically move it each time you open a new file. But it's partially offscreen, so this make it hard to do. And when you save it, close it, and reopen... it's still DOES NOT DOCK. It STILL opens under your tools and pallets. I do not use the application frame and will not use it. I have to be able to access folders quickly on my desktop, so I need to see my part of my desktop. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FIX THIS ADOBE. 

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @amandar7465499,

Thanks for sharing the details. I tried testing this on my end but couldn’t reproduce the issue, the files dock correctly when opened in InDesign 2026. Could you please share a screenshot showing how it looks when you launch InDesign 2026 compared to how it appears in InDesign 2025? That will help me better understand the difference in behavior.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

[amandar7465499]

I just tried it again on my end. InDesign 2025 works perfectly, the files open up docked to upper left corner. The "traffic light" buttons are all visable. The file is NOT underneath my tools or pallets. When I launched InDesign 2026 the file I opened, opened underneath my tools and pallets. The document was not docked. The "traffic light" buttons are partially hidden under my tools. I have to physiacally pull the document to the left to be able to grab the bottom right of it to make the it smaller. I do not use the application frame as I had stated in my initial post, nor will I ever use it. I have to be able to see my desktop.

[leo.r]

By @amandar7465499

It's a known bug in InDesign 2026:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/adobe-indesign-2026-full-screen-toggle-change-bu...

There's no solution until Adobe fixes it. You can find some workarounds in the thread above.

[amandar7465499]

UGH!!!! ADOBE PLEASE FIX THIS!!! I'm a graphic designer so this is my lifeline. I HATE when they mess with things! I need my programs to work smoothly! I have enough "client" headaches... I don't need any "progarm" headaches! ADOBE - please listen to your users beause we're the one's paying for your subsriptions! PLEASE FIX THIS!