InDesign 2025 Performance Issues on Mac M1: Spinning Beach Ball and Crashes in 2024 Version

[cg91002266]

I installed the new Indesign 2025 and it has been unsuable (I get the spinning beach ball everytime I try to scroll). So I have gone back to 2024 but now have issues with it crashing and I lost work. Anyone else having big issues with 2024 since the update of 2025? Or anyone know how to solve the 2025 issues so it is actually usable? (I am on a Mac, Apple M1 Max chip, 64 GB memory running Sequoia 15.0.1). Thank you! 

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[johnr75230036]

I respectfully disagree :-). As soon as one of yoru team member is on an older version of Indesign you get an error saying "this was created with an newer version...".... If you working in an team environment it ALL or noone based on my experience. I too am experiencing very frustrating lagging... very frustrating!

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

@johnr75230036 I don't understand your post. Multiple users always had to have the same version to share files smoothly. The exception would be a one-way flow of documents, going from older version to a new version--but that's pretty unusually. 
This sounds like the company needs an upgrade policy for all users, such as turning off auto updates and not removing older versions. 

[johnr75230036]

Thanks for your response. I don't know what the issue is but every time I received a document folder from the Designer and if my InDesign was not uptodate, I couldn't open the file indd File unless I was using exactly the same version...

BTW - I figured out my lagging issue. I was working directly from the Google drive so every time I made changes, Google would sync the changes and that caused the lagging. This one was on Google and on my Internet....

[oeilcarre]

La version Indesign Beta V 20.1 semble fonctionner 🙂  

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@takayukionishi

Start from resetting preferences and lowering number of fonts - double check for duplicates.

[Manan Joshi]

Lots of reports related to slowness of this version. I would suggest you hold on to making this version as your main version for now and revert back to the previous one.

-Manan

[Bernie5E0A]

Yep, having the same issue. Unusably slow, constant whizzing wheel every time you do anything. Reverted to 2024 version.

[Gary at Brand-ing]

I cannot believe Aobe would actually release a version like this. It's incrrdibly poor of them. Beyong belief.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

You already stated that. 

[michaela74685873]

Same Issue.  Totally unusable software. I going to have to revert back to 2024.

[Don30229011tva4]

FWIW, I too was frustrated by this. I knew it couldn't be all my documents suddenly being corrupt, and I keep my installed fonts pared down, so I bit the bullet and emptied caches and reset Preferences. This seems to have worked.

I would suggest deleting that caches first to see if that resolves the issue. If not, then reset preferences. I did scren shots of all my preference settings before I reset them so I could get back where I liked to be. Be sure to note your panel layout and  workspace too!

The bottom of this page shows where the cache files (and preferences) are: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html

Good luck to yahs all!

[Frans v.d. Geest]

Same here, on Mac M1 Max... disabled Context bar, emptied caches, rebuild preferences... There is something wrong with this version.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Same here, on Mac M1 Max... disabled Context bar, emptied caches, rebuild preferences... There is something wrong with this version.

By Frans v.d. Geest

Looks like it hasn't been tested at all... especially on Apple CPUs... 

[Frans v.d. Geest]

I've reported the slow behavior with the Context bar many times during pre release testing. They released it anyway...

[Abhishek Rao]

Hello everyone,

To help us further investigate and resolve the performance issue with InDesign 2025, could you please provide the following information:

1. Does the issue also exist with InDesign 19.5.0 or is it specific to InDesign 2025?
2. Is this issue only happening on MacBook Pro devices, or are users also experiencing it on iMacs?
3. Is the issue specific to macOS Sequoia, or does it occur on other macOS versions like Sonoma or Ventura as well?

Your input will help our team prioritize the fix and improve the overall performance. Thank you for your cooperation!

Best,

Abhishek Rao

[jenshauge]

MacBookPro M1 here with Sonoma 14.6.1 and after installing 2025-version of InDesign horrible times with spinning beach ball and crashes especially when copy paste. 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

MacBookPro M1 here with Sonoma 14.6.1 and after installing 2025-version of InDesign horrible times with spinning beach ball and crashes especially when copy paste. 

By jenshauge

Unfortunately, for now, the only solution for you is to downgrade to 2024 / 19.5. 

[jenshauge]

Thank you.  Please, I have two questions: 
1) Do I need to uninstall the 2025-version first?
2) Will I be able to open my 90-pages document in the previous version of InDesign?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Thank you.  Please, I have two questions: 
1) Do I need to uninstall the 2025-version first?
2) Will I be able to open my 90-pages document in the previous version of InDesign?

By jenshauge

1) no, you can have multiple major versions 20, 19, 18, etc. - installed at the same time, but you can't have 19.2 and 19.5 - minor versions of the same major version. 

2) were you able to create this document in 2025 already? Anyway, when you try to open document created in 2025, in 2024,you should see a warning and question if you want Adobe to convert it for you.

Or If you can still open it in 2025 - export it as IDML - then you'll be able to open it in 2024. 

[jenshauge]

Thank you so much! 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Thank you so much! 

By jenshauge

You're welcome. 

[Faith25033361ol39]

Having this issue with version 20.0.1, on a macOS Sequoia running on a MacBook Pro

[Abhishek Rao]

@Faith25033361ol39, 

InDesign 20.1 version is available for update. Would you mind testing this on the latest version and let us know if it helps? Also, confirm if you have tried the workarounds pinned on this thread and if works for you. 

^

Abhishek 

[Abhishek Rao]

Hello everyone,

It’s clear from this thread that many of us are experiencing frustrating performance issues with InDesign 2025, especially regarding the constant spinning wheel on macOS Sequoia. To help bring this to the attention of the product team and prioritize a solution, I encourage you all to upvote and comment on the relevant UserVoice suggestion.

Your feedback is vital in demonstrating the impact of these issues and pushing for a fix. Let’s ensure our voices are heard!

Upvote and comment here.

Thank you for your support, and let’s hope for a swift resolution!

Thanks, 

Abhishek Rao

[RobFrease]

I updated my Mac to new Macos-Sequoia. I have Mac Studio, 2 x 32 inch 4K monitor, 64gb ram.

Now InDesign is laggy,  I click an object and wait for 1 second delay for InDesign to select.

On my end I did these to improve:

-Mac up to date

-Adobe up to date

-Reduced file sizes

-Turned off Preflight

-All images in same links folder

-No Transparent effects

-Unchecked GPU performance

-Nothing running in the background

Nothing worked

Open for more recomendations