InDesign 2023 makes a read only file
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I have just updated to the 2023 InDesign, and now suddently my documents are read-only and I cannot save the file, but have to make a save as version and give the document a new name everytime I have to save my work.
Do you know why this is happening? And how to avoid this?
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Hi All,
We would like to express our gratitude for your patience. The team has fixed the issue on the Windows machine in InDesign 18.4, and you should restart the machine once after updating to InDesign 18.4 version.
Please let us know if you're still experiencing the issues on your Windows or Mac machine.
Please also try the workaround suggested below:-
- Disable Preview Pane in Explorer- >View-> Preview Pane.
- Close InDesign, Restart the system.
We will escalate to the team for furthe
...Hello @pifath67,
Thank you for your patience. I discussed this with the product team, and they have informed me that a bug has been logged for this issue. The team is currently investigating it, and I will keep you updated with any progress or if further information is needed.
^
Abhishek
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A long shot if it's a MAC, please check if the InDesign application has full disk access or not. If it does not then grant it the permission and test.
Also, where exactly are these documents saved? On the computer's internal harddisk, external drive or a network drive.
-Manan
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With major updates documents saved with an earlier version open as converted, and you are forced to Save As either to a new name or overwrite the original. It’s a safety feature in case you are forced to drop back to an earlier version—the title bar title will include [Converted]. If you are sure you want to overwrite the original you can script the overwrite. I give this script the Command-S key command;
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var fp = doc.filePath;
var n = doc.name;
if (doc.converted) {
doc.save (File(fp + "/" + n))
} else {
doc.save()
}
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This script saved another user.... had a user call me after 3-4 hours of editing and no longer could save since it had converted. Saved as .jsx and ran perfect. Save, Save your Ass as we used to say. Thanks for the short but perfect script!
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Sorry to hear about the trouble. Please try the steps shared here https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/problem-saving-documents-to-external-drive-and-b...4 and let us know if this helps or if you need any further assistance.
Regards
Rishabh
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Hi @Rishabh_Tiwari , If I open a file saved from an earlier version, the Titlebar will show it as [Converted]. In that case the regular File>Save command doesn’t work in the usual way—I get a Save As dialog instead:
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I'm having a similar problem after updating to ID 2023. My files don't say [converted] in the filename; they say [Read-Only] after the original filename. I can get around this by remembering to glance up and check the name, then close it and reopen it, making sure to select "Original" in the Open dialog box, instead of the default ("Normal," which has always worked before). It only happens with some files, but they are all on our server (which is in the same building)... It's a mystery.
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I am having this exact issue. I work on two different computers (one is on site and the other is working from home), when I try to access it on my computer on site I have to save a new file because it won't let me overwrite the file that I saved on my laptop (both are InDesign 2023). All my files are stored on a server and not saved locally on the device.
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I tried these steps, allowed full access, and still having the same issue as the original poster.
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Hi All,
We apologize for the frustration. Would you please try renaming the file before attempting to save it? Please see if you can open the renamed file, and let us know if it works.
We'll try our best to help.
Thanks,
Harshika
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This worked when I first experienced this problem. The issue is that I use the "Share for Review" feature to share a link for other stakeholders to leave comments on my projects. If I rename the file that breaks the link I have for the file. Then when I want to "Share for Review" again it makes a new review and all the previous comments that were made in the past are gone. In my case I had to make 3 or 4 different Review Links because I had to keep doing this to work around the issue which feels counterintuitive.
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Ive had to stop using Share For Review feature for this exact reason, Very annoying!
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Hello Harshika,
Do you mean rename it by using save as? If I rename the file using save as, then yes it will save it and open. However, the new file still opens as a Read Only. The other problem is everytime I do this, I have to delete the original file and change the name of the new one to match the old one. This is a tedious step that gets repeated several times a day that disrputs my work flow.
Interestingly, I tried changing the name of the file on the server before opening it in InDesign and that works. So for example, if I had a 1 to the end of the file name and open it, it will NOT be a read only file. I can also change the name by adding a 1, then immediately remove the 1 to get back to the original file name and it will open as a normal INDD file too. Still not ideal, but a little quicker than Save As method. Hopefully this will help troubleshoot the issue.
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Thanks for trying the suggestion. Have you noticed this happening only with the current version? Could you please try this on the previous version and let us know if the problem persists?
Is it happening with the new files or old files?
We'll try our best to investigate the issue.
Thanks,
Harshika
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This problem is driving us crazy. Looking forward to a fix soon.
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Hi Harshika, when can we expect an update on this [Read-Only] issue?
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I have exactly the same problem, except: the renaming trick does not work. Files are on the server and open as "read only". Saving the under a new name does not help either.
Please, I cannot work like that.
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I should add: This problem only affects Indesign files, not PS or Illustrator.
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I am having this exact issue and nothing helps. I cannot find the settings accessibility in Win11. the path given above does not exist. I've checked permissins and does not work. The files themselvs do have read only assigned to them prior to opening. If I make it read only and then make it not read only (beforee attempting to open), I can then open without the [read-only] added to file name. So frustrating as there are issues with mulitple copies of files and filling up server space with duplicate fles. Can anyone help with this issue on win 11?
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sorry for typos there - the files do NOT have read only assigned to them prior to opening. Prior to opening, if I make it read only and then deselect read only, I can THEN open the file without the issue.
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For me it helped to uninstall my anti-virus program sophos. It’s not a good solution, but it worked. Now I have encountered a new problem. If I try to save a file in Photoshop 2023, I get the message: couldn’t save file – Volume error. If I save it under a new name it works. Replacing existing files does not work.
I’m sick of producing dozens of files for every step, that I want to save.
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I am getting the same issue since upading to v.18. I'm working on Windows from a local server. Some (not all) files open as Read Only (thees are not converted from previous ID versions). Close and reopen the same file and it opens fine. I was hoping v.18.1 might have fixed this, but no. Having the rename files all the time is VERY frustrating and time consuming.
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Same here. Thank you. I had no idea you could open the file, then close it and reopen it....and then it opens the way it should.. I just tried it and it worked.... I guess we can call that a "work-around" but a time-consuming one at that.
Ready for this to be fixed.
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We're also seeing this problem, however our users are running Windows 10 in a Citrix Environment, they have access to edit the file. It is possible for them to 'File / Open' choose the file and 'Copy' rather than 'Normal' or 'Original', this gives them a new file which they can save as, and then reopen as normal. They can then save on this file for a while, but if we close Adobe InDesign down and then reopen, the new file opens as Read-only.
We're also seeing lots of files that are being opened [Converted] due to 2023 release being installed. We understand these need to be opened and saved again so both the original and the converted file exist. But we don't understand why various files are opening as [read-only]
Have Adobe been able to reproduce this problem yet?
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Also running off Win10 and Citrix and having the same issues. Adobe PLEASE fix this.

