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!

[cyclopsdx]

Don't worry. Generative AI features will fix everything.

[Bigwig]

You know, Adobe is getting a lot of grief for this abysmally slow ID release, but honestly, I sort of like it. Every time the spinning beach ball appears, it gives me time to sit quietly and reflect on life and all of the joy it has to offer. I can close my eyes and spend a few moments in peaceful meditation while I wait for ID to finish a task, which, granted, should have happened immediately, but is a simple blessing all the same. 

[ikoviak]

SAVE YOURSELF THE STRESS:

As with other bugs that perplex many people, NONE of the suggestions work for this issue. It's the same with the Camera Raw crash issues in PS that happened years ago. THE ONLY OPTION IS TO REVERT TO AN EARLIER VERSION OF THE SOFTWARE. There is no amount of pref rebuilds, turning off features, or system restarts that fix these issues. GO BACK to a version of the software that worked for you; THAT IS THE ONLY 100% solution. All other solutions offered are NOT the solution. This is the ONLY SOLUTION—100%. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME further and get frustrated and backed up on work due to these solvable issues: GO BACK TO THE VERSION THAT WORKED FOR YOU. SIMPLE. DONE. InDesign Beta 2025 is BORKEN. Adobe has not yet found the bug/solution/workaround.

Good luck,
Ian

[Frans v.d. Geest]

Borken? You're the Swedisch Chef? 😄

[ikoviak]

Once it's BORKEN it never gonna WORKEN.

[ikoviak]

It just sucks to come on here and see all the people chiming in saying that something worked, then a few days later saying it did not work, and then experts troubleshooting, etc. If the issue has not been resolved in 2 weeks, it's BORKEN. Or Broken. But it ain't worth the headache to figure it all out when a perfectly fine version will work from an older update.

One Beta feature in Indesign that has been amazing, and I do use it for that, is the PDF conversion feature. It's priceless.

[Janne2596680603pr]

Why do you call the 2025 release BETA? It's not labelled as BETA at my end and it will be pushed automatically if you have that option selected in the cloud app.

Reverting back is not an option for studios working with a lot of people on the same documents.

Adobe needs to get a fix out as soon as possible. And reach out to people affected by this.

[rabbes60705312]

InDesign is a hot, smelling mess. No amount of resetting preferences or disabling background tasks helps. Every action, as soon as i click ANYTHING, is accompanied by a 4 second unresponsive pause (The Mac spinning beach ball). Every update ”includes bug fixes, and stability and performance improvements” . What a cruel, cruel joke that statement is! 

[cyclopsdx]

I'm getting random lagging back again today, so it hasn't been a permanent fix. I'm planning on switching back to 2024 but as working in 2025 has meant converting my documents to the latest update (why is that even a thing?), has anybody had any issues with reverting back?

[pabloporta]

Same here.... We hoped the new update would fix how unbearable working with 2025 is. So much focus on GEN-AI to "improve" workflows and they messed up the rest (don't get me to talk on the picker tool).  

[leo.r]

Recent discussions on other issues make me wonder:

While highly unlikely, is it possible that Magnet plays a role here, too? Once again, it's unlikely as the issues are quite different, plus the slowness is only reported for InDesign 2025. And users on this thread don't report the problems that were ultimately determined to have been caused by Magnet.

Still, just in case: is anyone on this thread using Magnet, a window management utility?

[Chantal2966126009xi]

What must I do. This INdesign 2025 is driving me up the wall! PLEASE HELP! Should I reinstall 2024? How?

[Janne2596680603pr]

If you work alone, you should revert back.

in the creative cloud app, in the apps tab, look for Indesign and click the three dots icon. There you can select "other versions" to install the 19.4 version. 

I would advise exporting idml files of the documents you already opened/saved in the 2025 version.
Good luck.

[cyclopsdx]

I've just reverted back to 2024 and it's so much better. What's interesting as well is that in 2024 the file is 51.2MB but in 2025 the file is 81.8MB. It's exactly the same file - why is it the file size over 50% bigger in 2025?!! 

[Haggi Hug]

Same here. I work on an Imac M1 and just updatet Indesign. Totally crap! AGAIN! So often this already happened. Adobe, get your things done! Don't waist our time and send out this buggy shittty program versions again and again. I really really get the feeling nobody ever tested this anymore. I begin to hate all your silly updates with unnessecary KI work running in the background.

Now I will go and deinstall this piece of malware. Thank you for nothing!

[Janne2596680603pr]

This thread is flagged as "Solved" but clearly is not. Please, Adobe take action. Studios cannot willingly jump back and forth between versions. We need a fix for this buggy 2025 release.

[MKT-IT]

Adobe please do your job. Every couple release it's a mess, either InDesign, Photshop or whatever. The only softwares that crash on my Mac are only Adobe's software. And InDesign 2025 is totally unusable. I did the pref reset but still no luck. And there's also another interesting bug. When InDesing is opened I cannot drag and drop files on the Finder. Come on....

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Mac's latest OS came out in September, Creative Cloud was updated in October. If you are on a work system, hold off any updates until 6-9 months. 

[MKT-IT]

Hello Dave, thanks for your quick reply. So Adobe is aware of the drag and drop bug? I am rolling back to InDesign 2024 version anyway.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

I believe so but you can add your voice here:

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs

[defaultmovq9b052dyz]

This is unacceptable. It has to be one of the worst app updates ever. There is no way this should have been released, and there is no way we should have to troubleshoot one thing. InDesign is known for being one of the most solid programs out there. Easy fix: Back to 2024. Adobe, find a way to let us know when 2025 is usable.

[Alexander34835793d58t]

Jup, same here, new mac, same problem. Everything works fast, only ID2025 is slow as.... hoping on a quick fix, because this doesn't work at all.... switching back to ID2024 is also not always possible 😞 

[Andee NG]

Had to chime in here, having the same problem -- basic copy/image editing and composition has a half-second-long lag with every movement, and it's like working through molasses. I reset preferences, which seemed to alleviate it (and rebuilding your workspace from scratch is ALWAYS a hoot), but the following day it was back to the way it was.

[stefang14945369]

I just had a conversation with Adobe support. I was advised to delete the ‘Magnet’ app (Apple) and restart the programme, now everything works again quickly and without problems, try that, maybe it will help you too

[aniri5j9ox8tw2ln]

Sorry.... What is this magnet app from Apple supposed to be? I don't have this app on my system...

BTW: the only thing that helped me was to uninstall and reinstall ID 2025. At least it's fast now and doesn't hang. There are occasionally some strange display errors, but otherwise it runs smoothly.