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

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
October 23, 2024
42 replies
39374 views

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!

Bug

Correct answer Abhishek Rao

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for your patience and for staying engaged on this thread.

I wanted to let you know that our product team has made some performance improvements in the latest InDesign 2025 release (Version 20.1), now available via the Creative Cloud Desktop app. The issue with the spinning beach ball and general lag has been addressed as part of these updates.

If you haven't already, please install the latest version and let us know how it goes. We’re hopeful this resolves the disruptions you were facing, and we’d love to hear your feedback once you’ve had a chance to test it out.

Looking forward to your update!

Abhishek

Show previous replies

R

robert_7293

Participant

I have the same issue - on a small (3-page) document. Every click is followed by 3-5 seconds of spinning beach ball.

M1 Mac Studio 32GB memory Running Sequoia 15.2

T

tscalway

Participant

I am still exeperiencing this on an iMac ...can Adobe fix this ....cant do anything in this 2025 update with a spinning ball speed bump and work with a large community of designers that downgrading to 2024 means I have to convert files and that doesnt seem to work at the moment ... worst update ever!

K

kcdizzle

Participant

For the love of God, has this been fixed yet? i have a macbook, it's older, running ventura. PLEASE FIX THIS!!!! i never had an issue running any adobe programs until this new 2025 version. My working speed has been cut in HALF waiting for the stupid curser to move. UGH!!!

BobLevine

Community Expert

What version of Ventura?

W

WayneS-HFS

Participant

I have reset preferences, tried saving as IDML, and then eventually uninstalled ID (20.0) and reinstalled. Nothing has worked. It has become unusable at this point. Every command or movement results in the spinning ball.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

A new OS (September 2024) and a new InDesign version (October 2024) do not make a good combo. Neither have been user tested for any length of time. Back down to ID 2024 for a few months.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

J

jenshauge

Participating Frequently

I have downgraded to 19 and uninstalled 20. I have run CleanMy Mac and I am holding my breath and only drinking water and coffee, but the problems have followed the file like a ghost …:
I cannot copy & paste without file crashing. Text on pages disappear. Illustrations disappear. Suddenly, some elements are visible on the page. And then gone again.
I have 90 pages with lots of text and illustrations that need to be ready tomorrow afternoon. This is so horrible!

J

Jeroen357688072isn

Participant

Same problem here.

Opening one file seems okay only slight performance drop versus version 2024.
When opening two or more files, it is no longer workable and I get the wheel spinning continuously.

Running on iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020 with Sonoma 14.7.1 (23H222)

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

@Jeroen357688072isn

Downgrade to 2024 / 19.5

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thank you for sharing the details regarding the performance issues you’re facing. In order to help the product team further investigate and identify the root cause, they’ve requested that you provide a spindump. This diagnostic report will help us analyze any potential factors contributing to the crashes and performance slowdowns.

Here are the steps to capture a spindump on your Mac:

Reproduce the issue by opening InDesign and performing the actions that cause the spinning beach ball or crash.
Open the Console application:
- Go to Applications > Utilities > Console.
In the Console, go to Action > Send a Report.
Then, select Spindump and save the file.
Please share the saved spindump file with us by uploading it here.

This will provide valuable insight to the product team and help us resolve the issue more effectively.

Looking forward to your response!

Best,
Abhishek

Hello Everyone,

We wanted to share an update from our product team regarding a recent performance concern.

It has come to our attention that a combination of the Documents Fonts folder and the Contextual Task Bar may be contributing to slowness in some workflows. If either of these elements is absent, no performance degradation is observed.

The product team has outlined the following workflows to help confirm this behavior:

Workflow 1: Documents Font Folder + Contextual Task Bar

1. Open any InDesign document (all fonts should be displayed, and no missing fonts dialog should be shown).

2. Enable the Contextual Task Bar.

3. Toggle between selecting a text frame with text (document fonts applied) and empty space in both GPU and CPU mode.

Expectation: Slowness should be observed.

Workflow 2: Documents Font Folder + No Contextual Task Bar

1. Open any InDesign document (all fonts should be displayed, and no missing fonts dialog should be shown).

2. Disable the Contextual Task Bar.

3. Toggle between selecting a text frame with text (document fonts applied) and empty space in both GPU and CPU mode.

Expectation: No slowness should be observed.

Workflow 3: No Documents Font Folder + Contextual Task Bar

1. Open any InDesign document without the document’s font (missing fonts dialog should be shown).

2. Enable the Contextual Task Bar.

3. Toggle between selecting a text frame with text (document fonts applied) and empty space in both GPU and CPU mode.

Expectation: No slowness should be observed.

Workflow 4: No Documents Font Folder + No Contextual Task Bar

1. Open any InDesign document (missing fonts dialog should be shown).

2. Disable the Contextual Task Bar.

3. Toggle between selecting a text frame with text (document fonts applied) and empty space in both GPU and CPU mode.

Expectation: No slowness should be observed.

We would appreciate it if any users encountering this behavior could try these workflows and confirm the results. Your feedback is valuable and will help us further refine and improve the product.

Thank you for your time and support!

Best,

Abhishek Rao

R

RobFrease

Inspiring

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

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

@RobFrease

InDesign 2024 or 2025?

R

RobFrease

Inspiring

2025

Herbiedriver1

Inspiring

And here I thought it was just me!!! Not an M1 but an i9 imac that never had problems before the new version of inDesign. Very frustrating when trying to work on a multipage document. Every time I select an object, scroll, try to type, select a font, pick a style, I get the spinning beach ball. Hard to be a professional using 'professional tools' and having to wait like I was using Pagemaker on an IBM XT.

G

Greg Harbour

Inspiring

Same problems with 2024 on Sonoma now

L

Lucas32264817wik8

Participant

I'm commenting because me and my fellow designers on my team have been dealing with the same issue and none of the fixes are working either. We have had to downgrade to 2024 if we want to get work done.

G

Greg Harbour

Inspiring

Same problems with 2024 on Sonoma now

B

bibiss

Participant

Bonjour

J'ai installé la version 2025 de indesign cette version ne fonctionne pas bien ça mouline !!! tout le temps impossible de travailler normalement.

Avez-vous des retours sur ce problème

Merci

S. Bisson

kglad

Community Expert

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.

<"moved from using the community bugs">

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

There are a lot of threads about problems with 2025 - but no more problems after downgrading to 2024.

Have you tried resetting preferences?

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/reset-indesign-preferences-and-other-troubleshooting/td-p/11990234

dominico54545139

Participant

Hi All,

Just a note to say that I also experienced this issue on my M1 and that resetting the preferences did not work.

I am back to using 2024.

Fingers crossed for a solution.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi cg91002266!

In addition to resetting preferences, I recommend trying a Safe Boot on your Mac to see if it improves performance with InDesign 2025. This can help identify if any background processes are causing issues.

Also, if you have any 'third-party plugins' installed, please try disabling them, as they can sometimes lead to conflicts. Let us know if these steps help! Thank you for your patience!

Best,

Abhishek Rao

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