InDesign 2025 SLOW

[Bigwig]

Just started using ID 2025 this morning and I'm noticing a LOT of lag time with pretty much any activity. I'm running a Mac Studio with an M2 Ultra, so it's not my computer. I've tried some simple troubleshooting but it is simply not responding like ID 2024. Help!

[Todditron]

Just piling on, M2 mac mini with 32gig ram, try to nudge an single object, sometimes it doesn't repaint at all, othertimes it takes about 2-3 seconds. Also get flickering background when useing the select tool over the page. What the hell?

[Todditron]

Also, this is the least of my concerns, but sometimes when I scroll like half the screen turns red. There is no red in this design outside of the image with the chart.

Fun times.

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

These weird coloured artefacts happen when GPU is enabled in the ID settings. Simply switch off... https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/gpu-performance.html

[Pete Walters]

I am also struggling with incredibly slow SELECTION of any item (Text box, image etc).  When I click on a text box the 8 small white perimeter boxes take approx 4 seconds to show up, BUT it turns out that the box is selected before the 4 seconds, it just doesn't show you it is.  I did notice that if I select a text box and then move the cursor off the page, the box instantly shows as selected.  Come on Adobe!  WAKE UP!!!

[Mike Witherell]

Hi Pete,

Tell us, what have you tried? Could you also supply the version of InDesign? What OS system and version number?

Would you care to experiment with this compendium of troubleshooting tips?

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

I have already tried so many tips, uninstalled ID and freshly reinstalled, turned off all non-relevant functions (Font-Preview is off, Preflight is off, contextual bar is disabled, Display performance view is setting as low), have no firewall active, have 24 GB Ram and yet ID is always slow after some time. The documents react slowly after any certain activity, when I switch from a program to ID I see the beach ball roll for almost a minute... If I close ID, it just crashes by itself. I always have to restart my MacPro or close and open ID - but you can't work like that!!! I guess ID has become slow because of all the AI implementations, otherwise I can't explain it to myself... Please Adobe: Help!

[Anubhav M]

Hello @aniri5j9ox8tw2ln,

I am sorry to hear about your experience. Could you share more details, like if InDesign behaves this way when working with specific files or files from a specific folder location (internal/external/network drive or a cloud-synced folder like iCloud Drive/Dropbox/etc), and what workflow exactly causes this slowdown, so I can check this with the team?

Also, try running InDesign under a different administrator account (macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

It mainly behaves when I open documents from OneDrive, it then hangs for a few seconds and the beach ball can be seen. But it also happens when I work offline, I specially tested that! Bad if I then work on the document for a long time and switch from the Finder or another app to ID. Then it hangs every time. It helps if I occasionally delete the cache from ID or restart my MBP. But you can't work that way.

I wanted to do that with the testing under a new user as soon as I have time, it is my work computer and it just has to work. Maybe I have to try to work with ID after a safe boot, there are also many processes and apps turned off in the background... I even asked my IT department if the Microsoft Defender app could slow down my MBP, but they rule it out. I even had a report created with the help of Etrecheck Pro after the app analysed my device. But I have already taken many measures. My disk is half full and my RAM is always free for the big apps like Photoshop and Indesign...

I don't know what else to do!

[BobLevine]

OneDrive? Make sure you have cloud only turned off and set the files to available off line.

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

Unfortunately, I can't take all files and folders offline. It would blow my MBP off the memory. In any case, I worked for half an hour yesterday after a safe boot, which means that many background processes were not automatically activated, I also tried to work offline, then only with Wi-Fi instead of with Internet from the network, even without Microsoft Defender. It made no difference!!! So I still don't know how to solve the problem. It's crazy!

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Just an FYI: You can selectively choose what files to download. Technically, the files are not "offline", they are stored locally and synced to the cloud.

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

Sure, I already know that and also use this function - as I said, it doesn't really solve the problem. I have also tested ID offline with locally stored files, the same errors occur (ID hangs when I switch between the apps and ID, ID needs a long time to open an import-export or save under dialogue, etc.)

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

I was mainly just clarifying the "offline" term for future readers. There are 261 replies to the original post, so I didn't bother looking but did you ever post your detailed computer specs?

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

MacBook Pro, Apple M2, 24 GB Ram, macOS 15.5 (24F74). SSD 166 GB free from 500 GB

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

I downloaded certain folders for testing (Always available on this device) and opened them in ID and edited them: eternal beach ball! ID hangs, as soon as I'm in the Finder or in another app ID doesn't react anymore! That's just bad!!!

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi all,

We're sorry to hear you're experiencing slowness with InDesign. If the issue persists, please ensure you're using the latest version (20.5) and try reproducing the issue in your operating system’s safe mode: 

Windows: https://adobe.ly/3Uuoweh

MacOS: https://adobe.ly/4kQ9CcZ 

If you're already on version 20.5, please share a screen recording that captures the slowness, along with your operating system details. This will help us investigate further.

We’re happy to assist you further and appreciate your patience.

Thanks,
Harshika

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

I'm already working with the very last ID version and I'm still having the same problems with the eternal beach ball, but now it's even worse! Because it hangs not only when I switch between the apps, but also when inserting text that I have previously copied from somewhere else. ID thinks forever before I can finally continue working, insert the text, etc.! I tried to work it under Safe Mode, but it doesn't change anything. I also don't need to show screen recordings, because you can imagine an eternally rotating beach ball and a document that hangs almost every second (on top of that, I am not allowed to forward recordings from my work tool to strangers). I had already written the operating system details above: MacBook Pro, Apple M2, 24GB Ram, macOS 15.5 (24F74). SSD 166 GB free from 500 GB.

I agree with @ndelcastillo that there is now always a similar discussion since every new update from ID. I think it started with version 20.0... And I am now also angry and tired to look for solutions for myself again and again! Do I really have to lose time and install an old version of ID at the same time, set everything up again and test if it works better? Also, I'm not a fan of working and saving documents in older program versions! Should I waste time and look for solutions with my IT department, like creating a new user to migrate there should it go better there (which I doubt!)? I just want to work in peace and without problems!!!

[zevendesign]

I've yet to find any solution. I've tried all the tips here. The fact of the matter is that InDesign (as with Photoshop) has gotten progressively slower/more buggy with the last few releases. It would be really nice if Adobe actually did something about this rather than responding to hundreds of users with the same steps which all amount to "turn off this functionality and it might fix it." 

[cyclopsdx]

Just updated to 20.4.1, hoping to have a better user experience due to the claims Adobe have fixed various bugs and issues but clearly, they haven't done so. Switching to Overprint Preview is still as glitchy as previous versions, even when switching off GPU performance in Preferences. 2024 version works way better than this (and no, I'm not even attempting to update to 19.5.3 as it's working fine without your further 'improvements'). Unsurprisingly, 2021 version works better than both of them. What an embarrassment and an utter, utter shambles.

[Craig McLaughlin]

After months (year?) of waiting, I decided to give ID2025 another try. Hoping that version 20.3.1 resolved the issues, and I'm happy to report I've been running it now for a few weeks and it's running just as fast as ID2024. I think the issue is the problem is so spuratic that IT is having a difficult time chasing it down. 

I'm running ID2025 v. 20.3.1 on an iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017 with 3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 processor, Radeon Pro 570 4 GB Graphics, 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM, running Ventura 13.7.6 and using Connect 26.0.5 font management. I keep most files on my local HD and external HDs, but also use Dropbox and (on occasion) Google Drive. I haven't disabled any features of ID. No special settings have been made. Running it in the default settings. Hope this helps. 

[Lorenzo MENHIR PACKAGING]

I honestly don’t know what’s going on with Adobe’s release cycle lately, but this is getting out of control.

With InDesign 20.5, we’re seeing severe performance issues — and I’m not the only one. Multiple users are reporting the same thing: just switching from the desktop to the app gives you a 10-second beach ball for no reason at all. It’s absolutely maddening and makes the software borderline unusable in a production environment.

But here’s the cherry on top:

In this same version, InDesign no longer imports .doc files. Not even an error. Just… nothing happens. It silently fails.

And yes, it still imports .docx, but as we all know, support for .docx is far worse and less reliable in terms of formatting. This is a huge step backwards.

We’ve just come out of the Illustrator font substitution disaster — now InDesign is joining the party with new problems of its own.

Our team is frankly exhausted from jumping between versions, hoping each time the next one won’t break something else.

Adobe needs to take version stability seriously. We’re not beta testers — we’re production professionals. This endless cycle of “new version, new problems” has to stop.

We need real QA and urgent bugfixing. This isn’t sustainable.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Since you mentioned "beachball", I'm assuming you are on a Mac. I have no problem importing .doc files on my Mac. 

What happens if you take a problem Word file, save as RTF, and then back to .doc?

What data do you have to back up the .doc vs .docx statement? I perfer that format for formatting.

[Lorenzo MENHIR PACKAGING]

Yes, I’m on macOS — Sequoia 15.6 — and the issue appeared only after updating to InDesign 20.5.

Before that, importing .doc files worked as expected. Now, with the same files and same system, nothing happens at all. No error, no dialog, just silence. So yes, something clearly changed in this latest version.

Regarding .doc vs .docx:

In our experience (and I’m talking about years of real-world publishing work, not just gut feelings), .doc has always been imported more cleanly by InDesign, especially in terms of maintaining paragraph styles and avoiding weird formatting issues. .docx often introduces extra tags, inconsistent line spacing, and broken formatting — particularly with complex documents.

So no, this isn’t about “preference”. It’s about practical stability and minimizing cleanup work.

Again, this regression in 20.5 is part of a bigger issue with Adobe’s recent updates. We expect better quality control, especially for software used in professional publishing workflows.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Feel free to post the results of the RTF test.

[defaultmovq9b052dyz]

Can you tell me what the illustrator font substitution disaster is? I’ve
been having a corrupted file issue where my fonts all completely change
while in my finder.

Thank you,




Steve Martin
[personal info removed by moderator]