Skip to main content
A
analytical_Dusk16B8
New Participant
June 28, 2025
Answered

Audio Button Not Working in InDesign 2025 Interactive PDF

  • June 28, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 543 views

Hi everyone,

I'm using InDesign 2025 and trying to embed audio in an interactive PDF. I’ve followed the standard steps:

  • Added MP3 files to the Media panel, following Adobe’s guidelines.

  • Created a button, set the action to "Sound", and linked it to the appropriate MP3 file.

  • Exported the document as an Adobe PDF (Interactive) with "Include all forms and media" checked.

The result:
The button appears as expected in the PDF (the cursor changes to a hand on hover), but nothing happens when I click it—the audio doesn't play. There’s no error message, just no response.

Has anyone run into this issue or have tips on how to troubleshoot it?
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:556d3070-641a-4a89-949c-75ab46b9837f 

Thanks in advance!

Correct answer Abhishek Rao

Hi @analytical_Dusk16B8,

 

Thanks a lot for clarifying and sharing all the details. I completely understand how confusing this can be. I checked this with the team, and it turns out that the issue is happening because Acrobat has mostly deprecated support for interactivity in PDFs. This is not a limitation on the InDesign side.

When creating an interactive PDF, there is also a blue banner that mentions 'Interactive PDF may not support playback controls for audio and video files'. Even if the setup looks correct in InDesign, playback actions often do not work reliably once exported to PDF and opened in Acrobat or other readers.

The good news is that this use case works perfectly fine if you use Publish Online instead of exporting to interactive PDF. So, I recommend using Publish Online to share your document if you want to include audio playback and other interactive elements.

Let me know if you try this and how it works out for you.

 

Looking forward to your update!

Abhishek 

2 replies

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Abhishek RaoCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
Community Manager
July 3, 2025

Hi @analytical_Dusk16B8,

 

Thanks a lot for clarifying and sharing all the details. I completely understand how confusing this can be. I checked this with the team, and it turns out that the issue is happening because Acrobat has mostly deprecated support for interactivity in PDFs. This is not a limitation on the InDesign side.

When creating an interactive PDF, there is also a blue banner that mentions 'Interactive PDF may not support playback controls for audio and video files'. Even if the setup looks correct in InDesign, playback actions often do not work reliably once exported to PDF and opened in Acrobat or other readers.

The good news is that this use case works perfectly fine if you use Publish Online instead of exporting to interactive PDF. So, I recommend using Publish Online to share your document if you want to include audio playback and other interactive elements.

Let me know if you try this and how it works out for you.

 

Looking forward to your update!

Abhishek 

BobLevine
BobLevine
Community Expert
June 28, 2025

Is the issue with PDF or Publish Online. You're going to need to be very clear on this because it should work in Publish Online but multimedia in a PDF is a fool's errand at this point.

A
analytical_Dusk16B8Author
New Participant
June 29, 2025

Hi - thank you for helping me.

Its PDF publishing. Do button not work in this case?

Frans v.d. Geest
Frans v.d. Geest
Community Expert
June 29, 2025

Not in PDF, no. Buttons with actions are not supported...

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices