File disappeared after auto update to INdesign 2024 (v 19)

[Kari5EB5]

This is more a comment than help--as I don't think there is any. I will redo the file. But I also wanted to add that I encountered this problem, in case anyone else wants to add something similar about update issues. I don't like seeing posts that are sometimes treated dismissively because not a lot of  people reported a problem.

 Finding how to post on this community forum is unnecessarily convoluted and difficult. After having read Adobe Community forum articles all day, as well as looking for on-topic material on the internet, and trying the chat function (I stopped at speaking with someone, bc there was a high possibility of lengthy conversation with no result. (Done it before years ago, twice was enough.) Not to mention--except I am--the list of topic choices doesn't cover this topic, and I don't see how to add to it.

I have worked with Indesign for many years, but am not an "expert" or intensive user. I had my CC preferences set to manual, not automatic updates, because I like to wait a bit on updates. Recently I changed my password, which is the only thing I can think of that may have reset my preferences to automatic update. I have done it manually in the past.  (My computer is a not-new  laptop Windows 11.)

 I worked on a file using InDesign 23 at the end of last week. It was nearly done. A trifold brochure with images, color selections, and text. The last time I opened it, I viewed, but made no changes. When I closed it, instead of selecting "save changes",  I just closed it, as I had made none. When I went to reopen that file a few days later  from the apps list, I saw that InDesign 24 had been installed and Indesign 23 (and Indesign 22) were no longer there.

 What opened was a message that my preferences would have to be reset and an overlay about the new touch function which I am not interested in--and there was no way to do anything but view the running animation about the fab new feature. Any supposed selections were greyed out. I couldn't even quit the application. I have encountered some issues with new updates in the past (which is why I'm reluctant to install 'til I read multiple completely enthusiastic comments about them.)

I restarted my computer and looked for an answer online, which was to open the app from file explorer--and that worked to open the app without the overlay-- but not to find my document. Also, all the list of recent files was blank.

The folder that contains the other elements of my project still contains them, but the Indesign file is gone. I will have to do it over, and I am going to re download InDesign23, anyway,  as I hate having to convert and rename files upon closing.

 One other thing (I saw a post or two about it)  when Indesign asks (when closing a document) if you want to save changes, is that what it literally means? I originally thought, when I saw the file was gone, that since I  clicked "no", not to save changes --because I had only viewed the file--that was maybe the reason it disappeared. But it isn't.

[Steve Werner]

The problem I have with your story is that you make it sound like InDesign decided to install InDesign 2024 (19.0) without your choosing to do it.

"When I went to reopen that file a few days later  from the apps list, I saw that InDesign 24 had been installed and Indesign 23 (and Indesign 22) were no longer there."

In all the years I've run InDesign since the beginning, the program has never installed a NEW major version without asking me. At least for recent major updates, when you choose to install a new version, you're give the option of deleting (or not) the previous version, and whether to try to restore its preferences. NEVER has it ever deleted the previous version without asking me. 

[leo.r]

@Steve Werner : If Enable auto-update is selected in the Creative Cloud app, then it can silently update to the new version without preserving the old one. I think it's a relatively recent setting which became enabled for some users for no apparent reason. Many users fell into this trap including expert users.

[Steve Werner]

What a terrible setting! And it even seemed to be turned on by default!

[leo.r]

What a terrible setting! And it even seemed to be turned on by default!

By @Steve Werner

Indeed. You can also monitor and change its state directly in the Creative Cloud app top bar (as you probably know anyway):

[George33793920n1si]

I am in this discussion right now I am being asked, in Bridge, whether I want to enable the InDesign v19 extension.  I use IN Design.  I have no rational basis for accepting the extension.  I have worked with Adobe for 15 years. Upgrades can be detrimental to a successful workflow.  Now that it exists on an annual subscription basis, they are forced to have some kind of upgrade all the time.   Yes, it is 'my fault' when I accept an upgrade and some important feature doesn't work, has been depreciated, or simply moved around, unannounced, in the menu system.  It would be nice if, in exchange for handing them money every single year, if they had effective follow thorough in their documentation.

[Steve Werner]

You can also REINSTALL InDesign 2023. It still appears in the Creative Cloud app. You can run BOTH VERSIONS. I've always kept the previous version in case I need it.

[Steve Werner]

Here is a screen capture from the Adobe Creative Cloud on my MacBook Pro:

[BobLevine · Accepted solution]

Files don't erase themselves typically.

There have been some reports of INDD files losing their icons in Explorer or Finder. If you have file extensions enabled (and for life of me, I'll never understand having this off by default on Mac and Windows) and this has happened you won't see your InDesign file easily.

Also, if you have worked in a Dropbox or OneDrive folder, you'd be able to recover a deleted file very easily.

[Barb Binder]

Yikes. Like you, I keep Auto-update off for my Creative Cloud apps (though I do let the CC Desktop app auto-update). I find it stressful that you knew enough to turn it off but you were still auto updated. I can't believe a password change would do that but it's certainly a reminder to all of us to double check that setting. Mine was unchanged.

If your file is actually gone, then you are the first one to report that as an version 19 bug. We have had a fair number of reports about missing icons, which means that you might not see the InDesign file immediately, particularly if you have extensions turned off (which is a default in windows). In the past we have also had reports about the wrong icons assigned to a file after a update, i.e., the InDesign file shows an Acrobat icon. I think I would focus first on showing extensions in your folders, and then look very closely to see if the InDesign file is actually there and was just not immediately obvious. If it turns out to have a missing icon or the wrong icon in front of it, come back and let us know, and we can help you with it.

~Barb

[Kari5EB5]

Thank you all for your comments. There is a happy ending for me. The InDesign file that I'd referred to was missing from the folder it had been in. It was not a matter of altered icons or being in another folder. It was just gone.  The list of recent InDesign files was gone, too.  Just after I posted my comment, I uninstalled InDesign 2024 (v 19) and reinstalled INDesign 2023 and voila! There was the file, tucked back into its folder again. The most recent changes I'd made to it weren't there, but  it didn't matter. I was able to redo them and continue on my way. 

"The problem I have with your story is that you make it sound like InDesign decided to install InDesign 2024 (19.0) without your choosing to do it."   --Steve

Steve, that is just what happened! One of the reasons I decided to post my (I apologize for such a long) comment was that sometimes commenters seem to me to  dismiss  issues that other people have had because they haven't experienced the issue themselves.

I have also used InDesign since it became available, though my level of expertise is diminishing in inverse proportion to the increasing level of depth and technological capability of the application . However, one of the things that I have had acquaintance with in the past is buggy beginnings with new versions (especially long ago) so my preference is to update the app myself when I am ready.  (And when  choosing to update, sad experiencelong ago taught me not to do it while in the middle of a project.)  I would never choose auto update. And after I read your comment I checked my email and spam folder to see if I'd gotten an update announcement. Which I didn't. 

@leo.r" If Enable auto-update is selected in the Creative Cloud app, then it can silently update to the new version without preserving the old one. I think it's a relatively recent setting which became enabled for some users for no apparent reason. Many users fell into this trap including expert users."

Thank you.

[leo.r]

May I also suggest to run incremental backup at all times. You should never be in a situation where your file got missing for whatever reason - but you don't have any backup of your work.

[L2821337375il]

This is how I always leave my ongoing project to make sure it it up to date~with newest tweaks. Although yesterday, it was a spinning wheel for over 4 hours plus.~overnight. This AM I had to force shut down my laptop to get it to shut down and I am in this loop offering to recover it.  It must  be somewhere...I  see the last commented  versions in "reviews" but no access to the actual file I was working on. It's all grey, can't click on those previous  and the current project. Is it really about deleteing the newest version?

There is this new folder thing that  happened yesterday~showing where my files will  be but it just has  a random photo  from a previous project and that is all.  It's ever since I got that,  "info on files now are stored..." That, my project updates stopped  updating and the spinning wheel.

Where do I begin from here?

[defaulta81e9lszdu8l]

Just wanted to pop in and say this happened to me too.  I have different versions of my resume saved on my computer, and now all the .indd files I use to edit them are gone.  I guess the solution is uninstalling 2024 and reinstalling 2023? Is that what I'm understanding?

[tdsham]

I had something similar but I am still on 2023. I created master files and placed them in separate folder from other Indesign files, essentially templates. Yesterday morning, 10/17, I had one file in the folder and it disappeared, so I recreated it. This morning, 10/18, I had previously put 3 files in the folder and all files in the folder were gone. I have no clue why this is happening, I feel like I am going crazy, but being it happened twice and I didn't even have the files open when I put my computer to sleep, it seems like a legitimate issue. I did have files with the same name open, but those are in a different location and those files do remain in their location. I am super-thrilled that I am going to have to recreate them again... I am going to put these recreated files in a completely different location with a different name and make them read only. 

[Barb Binder]

Hi @tdsham:

This is a different question since you didn't update to 2024. Are you saving these files locally or on a network drive?

~Barb

[Kathy24285405d8go]

I am having same issue. I can open them as a recent file from InDesign, but they do not appear in the folders. This will be a problem for older files when I need to access them. Has anyone determined what the solution is?

[Barb Binder]

Hi Kathy:

It's unclear if this is the same question as the original, or not.

• What version of InDesign are you using?
• Did this happen after the 2024 update?
• Are you saving your files locally or to a network drive?

~Barb

[Kathy24285405d8go · Accepted solution]

Hi Barb, Thanks for the follow-up. My IT team was able to resolve the issue, it was a file association issue that somehow got crossed with Acrobat after the update to 2024. 

[defaulta81e9lszdu8l]

Hi Barb! Any way you can advise how to resolve the issue for myself? I'm having the same problem.

[Barb Binder]

Hi @defaulta81e9lszdu8l:

As we said earlier in the thread, files don't delete themselves during an InDesign update. That said:

We do know that sometimes when InDesign is updated, InDesign files may randomly display the wrong file extension so it looks like the files are gone. (That's what @Kathy24285405d8go reported.) If you can find one of your resumes that you know is an InDesign file, you can reset the file association manually. (Lots of online tutorials, for example: https://gearupwindows.com/how-to-restore-file-type-associations-in-windows-11/)

@Kari5EB5 reported that uninstalling 2024 and reinstalling 2023 worked for her. 

I haven't encountered either of these errors in real life, so I don't have any personal experience to work from. I'm just going on what others have shared with us. I'm thinking that if you reinstall 2023 you should be go to go. And once you are, you might try uninstalling and reinstalling 2024. I think it's something that goes wrong during the installation and probably won't happen twice.

~Barb

[JENinATX]

I've tried so many things recommended by so many people. Uninstall, reinstall, edit the reg editor, stand on your head. Can't beleive resetting defaults is the one that finally worked. THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!

[Barb Binder]

That's great news, Kathy. We have seen this happen on occasion after past upgrades (see my first reply to Kari). As you found out, fixing the file associations is pretty easy. 🙂

~Barb

[oliver_1608]

what is the password for update my computer