Certain Variable Fonts crash InDesign 2026

Report · Oct 31, 2025

My software recently updated to Adobe InDesign 2026 on Windows 11. Whenever I try opening an InDesign document now, I receive a dialog box with the error message "Adobe InDesign 2026 has encountered a problem and needs to close." The program then closes.

I've sent multiple reports. I've updated Windows 11 to the most recent version. I've tried running InDesign as an administrator. Nothing seems to work.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? What can be done here?

Report · Nov 04, 2025

Hi all i've tried several different times over the passed week to use the new version of inDesign. It works great on newly created files and old files that do not have any links. But anytime I open a file created in the previous version with linked files it crashes immediately. I've tried resetting preferences and reinstalling the software but no luck. Is anyone else experiencing a problem like this?

Report · Nov 04, 2025

Yes, I am having the same problem as of today. Can only open files from the current version. All other files crash. Very frustrating.

Report · Nov 04, 2025

I am experiencing the same issue, with one particularly large file that is missing links. I was working on the file last night AEST and this morning it crashes on open and when attempting recovery. Macbook Air 1.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 running Sonoma 14.8.2 (23J126). Sonoma updated last night along with InDesign, which went to v21.

Report · Nov 04, 2025

Macbook Air 1.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 running Sonoma 14.8.2 (23J126).

By @toottootdesign

How much RAM do you have?

Report · Nov 04, 2025

Temporary solution is reinstall InDesign v 20.5.1 and use Open With > InDesign 2025 to access the file that's crashing. Install previous version of InDesign via Creative Cloud App using these instructions: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/download-install/apps/download-install-apps/creative-cloud-apps/install-p...

Report · Nov 04, 2025

Yes, I am currently using the same workaround.

Report · Nov 10, 2025

Hi, sorry that you're experiencing this issue. Could you share some information about the computer you're using, like the operating system version the amount of RAM, as @leo.r asked?

Thanks,
Nikunj

Report · Nov 10, 2025

System Version: macOS 14.8.2 (23J126)
Model Name: MacBook Air

Model Identifier: MacBookAir8,2

Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Core i5

Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 4 MB

Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled

Memory: 8 GB

System Firmware Version: 2094.40.1.0.0 (iBridge: 23.16.11072.0.0,0)

OS Loader Version: 580.140.1~106

Report · Nov 10, 2025

Memory: 8 GB
By @toottootdesign

We do know that you can open this particularly large file in InDesign 2025 but not in 2026.

You also have the lowest amount of RAM supported by InDesign (8 GB), which is barely sufficient to keep InDesign afloat.

I don't know if the low memory is the reason for this particular issue. It could be, but might as well not.

Try resetting your preferences and caches:

https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-rebuilding-preferences-cache/

Will it make a difference?

Report · Nov 11, 2025

Sure, feedback noted. I run InDesign 2025 concurrent with Illustrator and Photoshop with the above specs without issue. It is only InDesign 2026 experiencing a problem. Illustrator and Photohop have both upgraded to latest versions and are crash free while running simultaneously?

Report · Nov 11, 2025

PS: I already followed the troubleshooting advice to clear caches and reset preferences, and it made no difference.

Report · Nov 14, 2025

Hi @toottootdesign and @mike_5856,

Thanks for sharing your crash report. I've reviewed the submission and can confirm that a bug has been logged for this issue, and the product team is actively working on a fix.

In the meantime, please check the latest pinned response in this thread for the recommended temporary workaround and any additional details. If needed, you can continue using the earlier version until the fix is released.

I'll keep you posted on any updates as soon as they’re available. Thanks again for your patience while we work through this.

Abhishek

Report · Nov 16, 2025

I see @Abhishek Rao has reported a fix for this is already in the works, which is great to hear because – as someone who makes fonts – I have been fielding questions about this from my customers. Until that fix is available, I have some additional insight that may be of interest for other people who make fonts and have found themself on this thread looking for details. (If you are a graphic designer reading this and not a person who makes fonts, the rest of this message may not be very relevant to you.)

As far as I can tell – after spending literal days trying to figure out why some fonts were affected and others weren't – I believe this crashing bug is triggered by how the fontmake tool handles anchor points when generating variable fonts.

For example: If I use fontmake to generate a variable font that only has /A /acutecmb and /Aacute glyphs, that font will crash InDesign consistently … but only if the /A has a `top` anchor and the /acutecmb has a corresponding `_top` anchor when generating. Deleting the`_top` anchor results in a variable font that does not crash InDesign. It doesn't seem to be an issue with variable fonts generated using tools other than fontmake that I've tried, so presumably whatever fontmake is doing with the anchors is what is triggering InDesign.

I don't believe this is necessarily a fault of what fontmake does with those anchors, and it is more of an issue with how InDesign handles the resulting fonts. This hypothesis is backed up by the fact that the same fonts that crash InDesign now worked fine in previous versions, and still continue to work fine in the latest version of Illustrator (and all kinds of other non-Adobe apps).

Until a proper fix is shipped, people who make fonts can theoretically use different techniques to generate their variable fonts if they want to try to find a temporary workaround. But considering that fontmake is the standard tool for so many workflows, with options that don't exist in other font generating tools, the best bet is probably what Abhishek already suggested: advise your customers to use the older version of InDesign until the fix has been shipped.

Report · Nov 17, 2025

Greetings everyone,

I am grateful for all the information shared thus far. I recognize how disruptive these crashes with certain variable fonts have been, especially when they completely hinder file access. I wanted to give a quick update. The product team has released a hotfix today with version 21.0.1, and the crash related to specific variable fonts has been fixed in this update.

If you continue to face the issue, please update to 21.0.1 and try opening your files again. You can also check the full release notes here: https://adobe.ly/3K8uShQ

If the problem remains after the update, please let me know so I can take immediate action.

Abhishek

Report · Nov 18, 2025

Wow, that was quick! Thanks so much.
I just installed Version 21.0.1. and from a quick check I can confirm that a couple of documents that caused a crash before now work perfectly fine (opened, edited, saved).

Report · Nov 15, 2025

Hi,
I'm experiencing frequent crashes in Adobe InDesign 2026 (version 21.0.0, build 192) on Windows 11. The crash always shows an EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xC0000005) error, and the faulting module is CoolType.dll. According to the crash report, the error occurs during drawing/rendering operations (CShape::ProcessDrawShape and related UI functions).

It seems to happen when opening or working with certain documents.

Additionally, I need to open a .indd or .idml file that was created in Adobe InDesign 2025. Could that be related to the issue?

Any idea how to fix this or what might be causing it?

Thanks!

Report · Nov 16, 2025

A crash in CoolType.dll almost always points to font corruption, font conflicts, or a damaged text frame in the document. CoolType is Adobe’s font and text-rendering engine when it goes, it's nearly always because something in the document is triggering it.

Opening files from InDesign 2025 is normally fine (InDesign is forward–compatible with .idml), but if the source file has a damaged object or a corrupt font style applied, InDesign 2026 may choke on it.

1. Test if InDesign crashes with a blank document

Open InDesign
Create a new file
Add a few text frames, draw some shapes
If that does not crash, your installation is fine the issue is with fonts or the file you're opening.

If even a blank file crashes skip to 7.

2. Check the problem document using IDML

Since you're dealing with a 2025-origin file:

Open the .indd if possible
Save As .idml
Reopen the IDML in 2026

If the crash happens on opening the IDML the corruption is inside the document.

3. Identify corrupt fonts (most common cause)

CoolType.dll crashes are overwhelmingly caused by fonts.

Try:

Open Creative Cloud Desktop > Fonts > Validate / Remove problematic fonts
Temporarily move all non-system fonts out of:

C:\Windows\Fonts C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts
Restart InDesign

If it stops crashing one of your fonts is broken.
Use the half-split method:

Add back half the fonts
Test
Narrow down the culprit

4. Turn off GPU Performance

Sometimes corrupt objects or large vector shapes cause GPU-triggered CoolType crashes.

Edit > Preferences > GPU Performance > Untick “GPU Performance”
Restart InDesign and reopen the file.

5. Reset InDesign Preferences

Corrupt preferences can trigger drawing engine crashes.

Hold Ctrl+Shift+Alt while launching InDesign > agree to reset.

(can be done through InDesign Preferences too)

6. Delete the InDesign cache

Fully quit InDesign, then delete:

Let InDesign rebuild them.

7. Reinstall or roll back

If the crash reports happen on a blank document:

Uninstall InDesign 2026
Restart PC
Reinstall or roll back to InDesign 2025.3 (most stable recent build)

CoolType.dll is updated between major versions — sometimes new releases have regressions.

Reinstalling rarely fixes everything - you can do a complete reinstall using the
Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

8. Quick workaround for opening 2025 files

If you absolutely must work on the file:

Open it on a machine with InDesign 2025 (or reinstall 2025 through Creative Cloud),
Export as IDML,
Open the IDML on your Windows 11 machine.

(IDML strips out many problem objects.)

Likely Answer (what’s actually happening)

This is almost certainly a corrupt font or a corrupted style/text frame inside the 2025-era document. CoolType.dll usually crashes when something text-related breaks rendering. The GPU toggle and IDML round-trip will usually confirm it.

If it's still not working - attach the Crash Report as a text file and we can take a look.

Report · Dec 11, 2025

YES!! same. frustrating.

Report · Nov 30, 2025

I have a pretty intensive document that has a large number of fonts. It opens fine in ID2025 but consistently crashes ID2026 when I try to open it with that version. I tried a workaround by saving it out of 25 as IDML files. Still, crashes. I have not had any problems opening other documents in ID2026. My initial theory was that it had to do with rotated text boxes. I removed the rotations in 25, but it still crashed 26. I also tried removing vector images along with any vectors pasted directly into ID, but no luck. I guess I will stick with ID25 for now.

Anyone else encountering this issue?

Report · Nov 30, 2025

Here is ChatGPT's analysis...

Short version: InDesign 2026 is crashing in its font engine (AdobeCoolType) while composing/drawing text, almost certainly triggered by one or more fonts in that very font-heavy document. 2025 has a slightly different CoolType build that survives whatever 2026 chokes on. IDML doesn’t help because the problematic font/content is still there.

What the crash log actually shows

Key parts of the main thread stack (the thing that crashed):

Crash Report

Top of the stack:

0 AdobeCoolType ... CTGetVersion + ...
1–4 AdobeCoolType ...
5–9 Font Manager
10–20 Paragraph Composer
21–28 Text
31–40 CShape::DrawHierarchy(...), SnapshotUtilsAsync::BuildGraphix(...)
Then layout / UI / main()

So:

AdobeCoolType (Adobe’s font/typography engine) is where the crash happens.
It’s being called via Font Manager → Paragraph Composer → Text engine, while:
SnapshotUtilsAsync::BuildGraphix is building graphics for the layout — i.e., drawing/rendering the page, not parsing the file structure.

And the exception itself:

EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) at 0x0000000000000020

That “address 0x20” is classic “null pointer + 0x20 offset,” so:

InDesign 2026 hit a buggy code path in AdobeCoolType where it assumes a font/shape-related pointer is valid and it’s not.

That’s why 2025 opens the file fine: its older CoolType code doesn’t hit the same bad assumption.

Report · Nov 30, 2025

Isolate the problem to a font that is causing the issue and then you can file a bug report. You can file the bug report at https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs

-Manan