Cannot apply Paragraph/Character Styles in Indesign

[smc_creative]

Affects: Indesign 19.5 and 20.0.1 (across iMac and Macbook Pro)

Steps I tried to resolve issue:
Reinstalling latest Indesign (20.0.1), restarting my iMac, reverted to a previous version of ID (19.5), copied the file to my desktop to open from there, started a fresh document and tried to create new Styles (doesn't let me), opened another document which has styles that worked (they also don't work any more), deleted preferences, and finally I have updated my iMac and that hasn't fixed it either.

Expected result:
Font Styles panel should work as it should be (and as it did 3 days ago before the weekend. Have no idea what has changed!) in that you click on a Style and it applies it instantly. I should not have to Right Click/Apply Style.

Actual Result:
Cannot select or apply styles from the Style panel. Clicking on the style in the panel makes the selected item flicker, but nothing gets selected or applied and it stays the same default font. I can only change the style if I right click on the Style and 'Apply Style' which is clunky OR if it go to Type/Font/etc from the top menu, but that doesn't help with the Styles Menu. Sometimes trying to change the font from the dropdown panel produces no results and it's very laggy to change.

The whole fonts system seems to be broken across both my iMac and laptop. 

FYI - Its got NOTHING to do with Character styles being applied as well as this isn't the case. It's a bug in Indesign in that it just won't let me select ANY styles via the panel. I can keep clicking and clicking on the style but nothing happens. Hugely frustrating as I have a large White Paper to edit!

[Abhishek Rao]

Here’s a concise response:

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Hi @smc_creative,

Thanks for sharing the details! To help us understand this better, could you clarify:

1. The exact version of InDesign you're currently using (e.g., 20.0.1).
2. The macOS version on both your iMac and MacBook Pro.
3. Is this issue occurring with all InDesign documents or only specific files? Does it happen in newly created documents as well?

Additionally, could you share a screen recording demonstrating the workflow leading to the issue? This will help us analyze the problem more effectively and provide a solution.

Looking forward to your response!

Thanks,
Abhishek Rao

[smc_creative]

Hello,

1. Firstly I was using the latest version of Indesign (20.0.1), but I then thought perhaps it was a bug in that version so reverted back to installing 19.5. The issue occurs on both.

2. My iMac is running Sequoia 15.1.1 but it was the previous version when this first happened with Indesign. I did an update to see if that would fix the bug but it didn't. I also tried on my MacBook Pro which is running Sonoma 14.5 and the issue still occurs on there too (although it briefly reverted to normal but then the bug happened again).

3. I thought it might be file specific but I then opened an Indesign file from another location which I know for sure was working perfectly okay on Friday just gone (using Para/Char Styles) and this is now also displaying the same behaviour. I also opened a fresh new document and the same thing occurs. I cannot get the Styles panel to apply a style in a click as it simply won't select any style in the panel.

I have provided a video attachment. Pls note, the document in question was already formatted and I am adding new content using existing styles created for the previous version (only a few weeks ago), however as you will see in the video even adding a new style won't apply.

Thank you 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Have you cleared your preferences? This is a first step whenever ID is doing something inexplicable/weird, especially after an update. (Reinstalling does not necessarily reset your prefs and cache — in fact, reinstalling almost never solves any problem.)

Reset InDesign Preferences and Other Troubleshooting

[Robert at ID-Tasker · Accepted solution]

@smc_creative

Turn off Magnet.

[Eric Dumas]

Hi @Robert at ID-Tasker can you clarify what you mean by 'magnet' ?

[Robert at ID-Tasker · Accepted solution]

Hi @Robert at ID-Tasker can you clarify what you mean by 'magnet' ?

By @Eric Dumas

A lot of people report lately, that they can't click anything - OP wrote that it flickers for him - and the culprit is a Magnet app on Macs. 

[smc_creative]

OMG!! That worked! Thank you... Is it a compatibility issue?

To the person who asked, 'Magnet' is a little app which snaps your windows/apps to the screen. I've had it running for ages mind you without any issues. Must be a confliction somewhere. 

Anyway, it appears to have fixed the issue. Many thanks Robert! 👍🏻

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@smc_creative

You are welcome. 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/problem-with-swatch-pallette/m-p/15000996#M59912...

[Bill Silbert]

Problems within Panels can often be fixed by deleting your InDesign cache files. This is not the same as deleting preferences. 

To delete caches on a Mac:

The User Library folder in which InDesign’s cache files are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that InDesign is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N). With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the “Caches” folder. Within the Caches folder find and delete the entire folder “Adobe InDesign”. I find that deleting the InDesign cache folder completely leads to a lasting change.