Crash when deleting text (or box, or page with that text).

[Kim Hi]

InDesign 2021 (and 2020), MacOS Catalina.

A text with footnotes where the footnote numbering have somehow become corrupted. If I delete any part of the text that contains a footnote number (or a text box with one or a page containing a text box with one, or any part of the text, boxes or pages containing the footnotes themselves) InDesign crashes.

I tried updating from InDesign 2021 ver. 16.1 to 16.2.1.

I tried saving it as an IDML file and opening it both in InDesign 2020 and 2021.

It crashes every time.

I can change the text, make it invisible for instance by making it white, or make it any size I want, move it off the pasteboard and so on and so on. But I cannot delete it. Or I can delete it, but then InDesign crashes and when I open the file again, text is still there. (I can delete other text boxes or text or anything else anywhere else in the document fine.)

For two other similar reports I can find on here, the save as IDML has been the solution. But in my case this does not work.

I have no idea what to do. This is concerning 12 pages of a 340-page publication that is due tomorrow.

Any suggestions much appreciated...

[BarlaeDC]

Hi,

Are you able to share the file?

[Kim Hi]

Hi,

That's incredibly kind of you to ask. If you have any chance at all to take a look – that would be amazing.

I managed to delete all the main text, and all the main text text boxes, save for a last one (which, if I delete that, it crashes). Also left is the text box with the footnotes themselves, neither of which I can delete without crashing (footnote numbers now all reading "<?>" as the corresponding text is gone).

I've colored the text box yellow and the footnote box magenta, they are on page 22 and 23.

File is 15MB.

Thank you in advance for anything – anything – you may be able to glean from this and share.

[Kim Hi]

First upload didn't work for some reason. Here it is! Thanks again.

[Kim Hi · Accepted solution]

Wait.

I had only used "Save As..." to make the IDML version. Not "Export..."

When using "Export..." to create the IDML file, then opening that file, I am able to delete the text boxes and there is no crash.

So the IDML solution does work! I just hadn't done it the right way.

Apologies for not being more thorough or systematic in my troubleshooting – and thanks so much for the reply and offer to look at the file!

[jktweed1]

ah thank you thank you for this! this has helped so much. i had a file that kept crashing when i tried to delete a bit of text and nothing worked till i exported it as IDML. cheers 🙂

[DJA Design]

I can't thank you enough — almost a year later and your suggested export to IDML did the trick and worked. I had a pesky text box that that was causing multiple crashes everytime I tried to delete it. It wouldn't even let me export and save a PDF. It was aweful. I googled the problem and your answer came up first — I tried it and it worked. Thank you so much! 

[Nina26690446fuyh]

This worked for me as well! Thank you!!

[levi_7624]

Had the same problem in InDesign 2025, just how does this STILL occure? Anyways, the IDML-Solution worked for me aswell – thank you so much!