InDesign 20.5 – Paragraph and Character Styles Lag/Freeze Issue

[G.Fares]

Hello everyone,

I've noticed an issue in the latest two InDesign updates — whenever I try to add or edit paragraph or character styles, the program becomes extremely slow or unresponsive.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Could this be a bug, or is there a known workaround?

Thanks in advance!

[leo.r]

Does this help:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/paragraph-and-character-styles-very-slow-when-ma...

[G.Fares]

Hi leo.r,
No, it doesn’t.
I’ve also tried uninstalling and reinstalling version 20.5 several times, but it didn’t help. In InDesign 18, everything works flawlessly.

[G.Fares]

Hi, I forgot to mention that the CPU got very hot when using InDesign, but not when using other apps like illustrator or photoshop.

[Bill Silbert]

Do you have any third party plug-ins installed with your InDesign? If so, try disabling them and see if the problem persists. If doing this solves the problem then make sure that any plug-ins that you're using have been updated for full compatibility with the latest InDesign.

[G.Fares]

Hi Bill Silbert,
No, there aren’t any third-party plug-ins installed.

[Dhorsfall3@gmail.com]

Hi there! If you're working with a large document, that could definitely be the problem. What helped was breaking the text frames into several stories. Since then, I haven't experienced any lag.

Hope that helps!

[G.Fares]

Hi,

I understand most of the problems, but this one is unclear.

All new documents, have same issue.

I am using the English version of InDesign with Arabic support

[Dhorsfall3@gmail.com]

Hi, I have the Arabic/Hebrew version as well.

I experienced the lag issue, even with previous versions. I found it does it with large documents. To resolve it, I split the text frames into multiple stories—and the problem disappeared. For comparison, I reattached the frames into a single story, and the lag returned.

Take it easy

[G.Fares]

You're completely right. In my case, even working on a small brochure, becomes very painful.

[Dhorsfall3@gmail.com]

Hey, Sorry for the late reply. I am glad it worked. It is still a hassle having to break the text frames. Especially, if you have to reconnect them again for export, or for whatever other reason. 

Take it easy

Dave

[G.Fares]

Hi, sorry!

But it didn't work. I was just trying to explain how time-consuming it is, even for a small brochure. Imagine that - if it takes 1 minute to change a color for just 2 or 3 styles. What will happen with a book that has more pages and more styles?

[Dhorsfall3@gmail.com]

Hi there, I’m really sorry to hear it didn’t resolve the issue for you. Once I applied the fix, I haven’t encountered any further problems, so I’m surprised it didn’t work—especially since my book has over 250 pages.

I have quite a number syles becuase I have headings, sub headings, bullets, quotes, tables and flowcharts.  I hope Adobe acknowledges that the lag is a real problem and gets to work on a fix soon. I feel for you—what a frustrating experience.  Take it easy

[G.Fares]

Thanks, I really appreciate your kind words.

[Dhorsfall3@gmail.com]

No worries. 🙂

[Halit010203]

Hello there, I've got the same issue with the app. When I open a document there's no issue but when I try to make changes the app freezes.  While using color picker the app gets crazy. I removed the app and reinstaled it. but no solution for the issue. 

[leo.r]

Hello there, I've got the same issue with the app. When I open a document there's no issue but when I try to make changes the app freezes.  While using color picker the app gets crazy. I removed the app and reinstaled it. but no solution for the issue. 

By @Halit010203

What are your InDesign and operating system versions?

Also, try these general troubleshooting steps:

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

Will it make a difference?