All my text and image frames suddenly became unmovable

[JohnXYZ99_UK]

I'm using the latest version of InDesign on a Windows 11 PC. After working on a document for half an hour today all my frames suddenly became unmovable. I may have hit some combination of keys to do this, but on searching the menus and online help I can't find a setting to lock all frames. Is there one? In this forum I found a message from someone who had the same problem, and resorted to using the CC cleaner tool to fix it. For now, I've uninstalled the latest version and re-installed the last but one version 17.2.1, and everything is working normally again. Can anyone shed light on what is happening? 

[Derek Cross]

You can lock frames in the Layers panel (all or individual layers) – did you check the Layers Panel?

[JohnXYZ99_UK]

Derek, thanks but no that's different. The layers weren't locked. I could still edit text and delete frames, but not drag them, resize them or drag images into them.

[Derek Cross]

I suppose before reinstalling the application, I would have tried resetting the InDesign preferences first to see if that resolved the issue. It's difficult to discover what might have caused with the problem with the original file now that the  body has been disposed of, so to speak!

[Bill Silbert]

Did you try going under the Object Menu to "Unlock All on Spread"? That command will unlock anything on the active page or spread. It would need to be reapplied on any subsequent spreads.

[JohnXYZ99_UK]

Bill - thanks for the suggestion. I don't think that was the problem. I could see the lock icon if I lock individual frames. I forgot to say that I tried closing the application and opening it again and opened different documents none of which resolved the issue. Therefore for now I'll continue with the older version installed and will update at a later date when I've finished the job I'm working on.

[Derek Cross · Accepted solution]

Best to keep both versions of InDesign so you can easily return to the earlier one if you find you still have problems with the current version.