InDesign 2023 makes a read only file

[Christina228449123bw0]

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?

[Isabel31870497ggqk]

I reverted back to 18.4 and is seems to have temporarily fix the problem, but we will see how long...

[pifath67]

We have just updated to InDesign 19.0 (MAC/Ventura) and both the problem of read-only files and the problem already mentioned in this thread that PDFs cannot be overwritten during export still exist.
Apart from the introduction of new "features" with dubious benefits, is work also being done on eliminating such serious errors?
Or do we have to prepare for another year of inefficient work and high risk of errors with expensive software?
Can we expect any reaction at all from Adobe?

@HARSHIKA_VERMA 

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @pifath67,

We apologize for the frustration you're experiencing with the read-only issue on your macOS. We would request you please try disabling the Mac preview for InDesign files and let us know if this resolves the issue.

We will try our best to investigate further with the team.

Thanks,

Harshika

[J-Dubbs]

That did not help us as we've been disabling the Finder previews since 10.6.8. This problem happens despite that old workaround. The "don't open it by clicking on it, open it via the Open command" one didn't help either FYI.

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @J-Dubbs,

Thank you for checking and letting me know that disabling preview isn't helping. Would you mind telling me the details of your operating system? Is it possible for you to share the file with me so that I can escalate it to the right team for further investigation?

I will try my best to help you all here.

Thanks,

Harshika

[pifath67]

The preview is not switched on at all, so that can't be the problem.
And I think sending you a file won't do any good, because it happens once with the same file and not the other time.
Besides, it happens with many files. Sometimes more often a day, sometimes less.
Sometimes you have to open a file that is read-only the first time you open it three or four times in a row, and then all of a sudden it is no longer read-only.

[Jim27186468bpg8]

@pifath67

My thoughts EXACTLY.  and my experiences exactly.

Some sort of official announcement from Adobe would go a long way in easing our frustrations that have been going on for a year now. Maybe some sort of proof that they are working on it, besides the spokesperson here who chimes in every few months asking the same questions. It's not preview!

[Tom24990841upiw]

The only work around I’ve found for this is to disable your virus protection.

Isn’t it convenient for Adobe to have this space for US to figure out the issues with their software.

You know…just give them some time, they’ll figure it out.

[PetrolFumes]

Hi,

Which Anti-virus are you using? 

Do you have scheduled scans during working hours? 

Thanks. 

Petrol Fumes. 

[pifath67]

Hello,

we use Sophos Antivirus.
No scans are scheduled during work time.
The problem happens irregularly. Sometimes only few times a day, sometimes almost every file I open.

[Tom24990841upiw]

Sophos.

Adobe and Sophos do not play together well.

The problem is InDesign wants to open the file before Sophos completes the scan and that causes the read only issue.

[pifath67]

I'm afraid that these messages every few months are the only thing Adobe does.
Eventually the error will disappear by itself. Just as it came.
Maybe with the next update, but maybe not for another three years....
I think it's enough that we depend on this software and pay regularly...

[Dean27672471wbrl]

@HARSHIKA_VERMA Hi Harshika. As this seems to be a problem with InDesign not working properly with local IT set ups, have you come across any common themes from those who have shared details of their working environments, network/operating system etc, that could be causing the issue? 

[pifath67]

Our setup is as follows:
File server with Windows Server 2019 / SMB3.
3 MACs with Ventura 13.6 and InDesign 19.
I think this is a widely used network setup and if it doesn't work with it, I wonder what was programmed there.
And any workarounds with deactivation of the virus protection are absolutely unacceptable in a company network with internet connection.

[Tom24990841upiw]

We're using Sophos virus protection on and SMB network.

Sophos has a lot to say about this topic, but nothing as far as a fix.

It's the "It's not our fault, it's Sophos", and Sophos say's "It's not our fault, it's the Apple OS", blame game.

So we’re stuck, risking our livelihoods with multiple versions of the same file residing on our servers.

I've come to the same conclusion everyone else has. If it's not in Adobe's finacial intrest, nobody cares.

Thanks for expressing your gratitude.

[Nöllsn McNölle]

Hello!

I think I have a solution to the problem (works on MacOS Sonoma).

you have to enable full hard drive access in design:

Go to Security & Privacy Preferences > Privacy and click Full Disk Access from the left panel. Then activate indesign.

then it should work.

try it out!

[Jim27186468bpg8]

This doesn't sound like a solution, but instead a sketchy "workaround"...and only for Mac users? 

I want this FIXED.. For everyone.

[pifath67]

That is EXACTLY what I think.
BTW: I did this weeks ago and it didn't work, just like many other users.
@HARSHIKA_VERMA: Is Adobe actually doing anything to fix the problem or are they just leaving us alone with this problem?

[Nöllsn McNölle]

yes yes, I just wanted to say what worked for me. but you are right. It's a shame that such a bug exists in the program. But that's nothing new with Adobe. It would be best if all users switched to affinity.
I can really get upset about this. the main thing is firefly and ki, but the standard program doesn't work.

[pifath67]

Unfortunately, this seems to be the trend - especially among large software companies: More and more dodgy "features", ever more expensive and ever more sloppily programmed.
In the past, there was obviously more testing. Today, features are rolled out quickly and the user, who pays a lot of money, is also turned into a tester.
Unfortunately, the bugs that are discovered are not fixed. After all, the customer has already paid...

[BriGuyOSC]

The thing is that, not everyone is experiencing this issue, myself included. Only people posting here.

I work on both a Windows PC (full-time position) and MacBook Pro (freelancing in the evenings), and InDesign is working fine for me on both machines. So, I still think it's something else. What else, I'm not sure -- perhaps a hidden system setting/issue. Have you checked your Properties on some of those problem files, unchecked the "Read Only" box and apply across all .indd file types (just one idea/guess)?

I still think it's individual user-based or else literally *everyone* with InDesign would be having this issue. But *everyone* is not.

[pifath67]

All files are writable in our system, the users have full access and Indesign also has full hard disc access. Nevertheless, the problem occurs with the same file one day and perhaps not the next. So there are no "problem files".
Sometimes the status of the file changes to "read-only" after saving while it is open. This has nothing to do with the file properties.
And since the only change that was made before the problem occurred was the Indesign update, it is very likely that it is not due to anything else, but to Indesign.

[BriGuyOSC]

That's fine, maybe it has nothing to do with the properties. Maybe it has to do with how/where the files are saving. I've seen that a lot of people are saving to various remote servers/drives. I am also doing the same -- we save to a Synology NAS here at the office (Windows environment). I had the issue briefly around July of last year, but since August (update 18.5, IIRC) I did not have the issue, looking back at some of my previous comments. I know at some point not too terribly long ago, our IT guy changed out our endpoint security software (now using ESET; previously used SentinelOne). Perhaps something on that side of things?

I am not saving to a remote drive on my Mac, so it's just local on that machine. Even when I was having the issue on the Windows PC, I could save locally, no problem. It was only when I saved directly to the remote drive that I had the Read-Only issues. I feel like the problem has something to do with saving to remote drives (considering all of us here can do that w/o issue, I just don't feel the issue is specific to InDesign... or if it is, then it's something with InDesign that isn't working with *your* specific setup).

[Stephen283171470wfc]

This issue is specific to InDesign 18 and upwards, occurs with no other software, and is for absolute 100% sure a bug in InDesign and related to something that changed in version 18.

I suspect it's very likely a timing issue in its threading model.  

[Jim27186468bpg8]

Which is why the survey idea that pifath67 came up with is a great idea. If Adobe would give us a survey to fill out, then everyone could document and answer specific questions that our IT departments could answer, to help isolate the cause. Chatting about it here will not solve it.... But they do not seem to care.