Inspiring

Question

InDesign 20.3.1: Blank Screen Returns After a Idle Time

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
May 1, 2025
6 replies
964 views

This has become an unbelievable joke. I'm once again getting blank screens upon returning to an open InDesign document after a short period of being away from my Mac.

I'm also STILL, after over a year+ STILL having to reselect my Workspace setting, which then reinitiates the unbelievably annoying popups.

Seriously, what is going on at Adobe?

G

gillians91716749

Participant

I'm having the same issue, when it goes idle. Nothing appears on screen. Very frustrating.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @gillians91716749,

I'm sorry to hear you’re running into the same issue. Could you please confirm the exact OS and version of InDesign you're working on? It would also be very helpful if you could try toggling GPU Performance in InDesign's Preferences to check if that makes a difference. Another step worth testing is running InDesign in Safe Mode(Windows: https://adobe.ly/4mDNNzf

macOS: https://adobe.ly/4fWYNVD) to rule out any interference from third-party software. If you’re using multiple monitors, try disconnecting the secondary one and see if the problem still occurs.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @jeffhalmos,

Thanks for the info so far! Is this issue happening with just one specific document or with all your files?

It would be helpful if you could try disconnecting your secondary monitor and use only the primary one for a test to see if the problem persists. Could you also let me know the physical connection type for your monitors are they connected via USB-C or HDMI? If possible, try swapping the connection types (for example, switch from USB-C to HDMI or vice versa) to see if that makes a difference.

To isolate the problem as suggested by experts, it's a good idea to test InDesign in Safe Mode to rule out interference from any third-party software on your Mac. Reference: https://adobe.ly/44HfrFs
Also, try toggling GPU performance in InDesign preferences like https://adobe.ly/45eJ4xT suggested.

Lastly, could you please share a short screen recording of the issue when it occurs? That would really help me check it with the product team.

Looking forward to your update!

Abhishek

einmanncombo.de

Participating Frequently

Hi!
I have the sami issue.
For the moment it helps in my case to activate/deactive GPU in the InDesign settings.

Best, Klaas

--www.einmanncombo.dewww.xing.com/profile/klaas_posseltwww.linkedin.com/in/einmanncombowww.twitter.com/einmanncombo

G

Grundoon Groundhog

Inspiring

If I leave my InDesign document untouched for a while, the screen goes blank. The only way to recover is to save, close, and reopen. I haven't timed it so am not sure what the time limit is.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Grundoon Groundhog,

I'm sorry to hear you're still running into this issue. Please assist in isolating the issue to get this resolved for you. First, could you please confirm if by 'latest' you mean you're using InDesign version 20.3.1? Also, is this happening with just one document or with all your files? And are you using a secondary monitor when the screen goes blank?

It would be helpful to test InDesign in Safe Mode to rule out any interference from third-party software on your Mac. You can find instructions here:
https://adobe.ly/3F9KWh2

Also, as Leo suggested, try toggling the GPU Performance setting in InDesign's Preferences and let us know if that makes any difference.

Lastly, if possible, could you share a short screen recording of the issue when it happens? That would really help us take it to the product team.

Looking forward to your update!

Abhishek

J

jeffhalmosAuthor

Inspiring

For me and my woes with this off again on again issue, I'm using ID 20.3.1, MacBook Pro M2 16" running MacOS 15.5 in clamshell mode set to 3008 × 1692 with and OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock and a DisplayPort USB C to DP cable into a 4K 32" Samesung monitor. No video needed: I can use ID successfully—though this version hangs constantly while changing lines in tables in the dialog box—but if I leave to make lunch and the Samesung goes dark because my monitor setting has ended the 10 minute screensaver and hit the spacebar, regardless of whether ID is on screen or hidden via Stage Manager (which is always active) the resulting state will be an active ID interface with all the usual abilities—I can even select and delete objects I can't see—and a dark gray field (as per my settings) and no image whatsoever. Switching GPU to CPU brings it back but is slow and jerky, and flipping it back to GPU just gets me back to the blank screen. Nothing at all works to bring it back which I've been trying to do for ~2 years that this has been happening on and off between versions, other than to quit the app or close the blanked window and reopen it. NO other app I've ever used including a handful of other Adobe apps does this. The version released before this one did NOT have this issue and I've kept my system stable for over a year. I do use the version of Typeface via SetApp which apparently has some issues with ID recently and was resolved.

MAYBE it's connected to custom Workspaces settings which has been a disaster for years, randomly, and more times than not booting without my Workspace setting which then leads to having to watch all the popups over and over...and over. Point being, MAYBE switching to a differernt workspace and back might help. I'll try this next time.

Bill Silbert

Community Expert

Are you using any third party plug-ins for either InDesign or your OS? Are you using the Magnet app on your Mac? If so try disabling Magnet as well as any plug-ins and see if the problem persists.

J

jeffhalmosAuthor

Inspiring

Using MacOS 15.5 release candidate, but the last version of ID fixed the issue. It's back. Using it clean, too. Have two 32" monitors. No other app I use has this issue. It's Adobe's fault.