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]

Issue resolved - binned off 2025 and reinstalled 2024. It took a while to back-save all my working files but it's the best decision I've made. I just won't be updating to the current version now. Don't need the problems and I certainly don't need the useless generative AI rubbish. 2024 version does exactly what I want. There's no need to update if you don't need to. It offers nothing extra that benefits my workflow. If more people dumped 2025 and reverted back to more stable versions then the InDesign team wouldn't have the userbase engagements to justify their constant slapdash updating.

[wlym]

Are the useless AI doodads really innovation? Apple seems to think the same way these days, Siri sucks, iOS is full of bugs, but they're hyping the ability to make Fisher Price genmoji.

[Andee NG]

In my humble opinion, no they're not. Broadly they seem to be an unnecessary answer to a question that nobody asked. It's Clippy with extra bloom.

[Haggi Hug]

I think the same. I really, really non't need any AI to create a Layout. Especially not, when this is nothing I can decide by putting on or off. Especially not if it is slowing down everything. It's the same everywhere. People programm some gimmicks who never work with the programs sincerely just to have a great show at the Adobe events. Sometimes less is much more.

[jove1956]

Mac book Pro 15" 2019 / Radeon Pro Vega 20 4GB. Indesign 20.2

In preferences > GPU > activated    and now everything works as expected. It seems in ID 2025 the GPU is not activated by default...

[defaultmovq9b052dyz]

Sorry didn’t mean to post to you
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[zbulaja]

I had the same problem, Indesign would slow down insanely after a few hours of work, and I had to restart the computer to make it work. For me, the reason was this:
On blank screen go to Edit - Preferences - Type - Enable in-menu font previews - switch off.
Same thing was slowing up Illustrator, also insanely.. Now both programs run as they should.

[EduardoMoura]

After some time away from InDesign, I had to design a book this week and unfortunately I've found the same behaviour reported here. I'm running InDesign 20.2 on a recently installed Windows 11 24H2 (i7 9700 / 32GB RAM / RTX 3060 / NVMe SSD) by the way. Everything is maddening slow, it takes several miliseconds to simply deselect a text box. I've tried all the sugestions here to no avail. The only thing that worked for me was, in addition to doing everything else sugested, was closing the Properties panel. It seems that anything that demands a interface redraw (like the Properties panel, the Fonts menu with preview on or the Contextual task bar updating) will sink the app's performance. And that's unacceptable.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Your Windows 11 and 24H2 are the version and sub-version. What is the actual update number you are using?

[EduardoMoura]

Sorry for the delay, I was out of town for the past weeks and I didn't see your reply. My Windows build is 26100.3775.

In the mean time since I first posted, my InDesign was updated to version 20.3.1 and things are a much better now. I can finally leave the Properties panel open and the performance is apparentely on par with the 2024 version. I'll do some more testing and keep looking for other ways to improve InDesign's performance.

Thanks for taking the time to answer. Much appreciated.

[Mike Witherell · Accepted solution]

Here is a thorough compendium of InDesign troubleshooting.

This allows you to try multiple ideas to solve your slow-down problems (which can be caused by many different things).

[Hemda_F]

I have the same issue 😞

[Mike Witherell]

Hi Hemda,

Here is a compendium of troubleshooting for you to explore.

[Capvel Martain]

Hi ! We are talking about ID2025 which has raised the problem. The 2024 edition is still the best stable to stay on, for those who who can.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Hi ! your compendium is from 2021. We are talking about ID2025 which has raised the problem. The 2024 edition is still the best stable to stay on, for those who who can.

By @Capvel Martain

It STARTED in 2021 - but has been constantly updated. 

[Capvel Martain]

ok nevermind. I appreciate all the problem points you cover through years. I is still important to know it works and why it don't work.

The probleme here is ID2024 works fine. ID2025 don't (unsusable). So going thru aaaall your topic is quite a punishment for those who didn't ask so much acknoledge for an update which has to be better than it's previous version…

I don't blame you, your topic is respectfull. I hope everyone will read it and find their solution.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Capvel Martain

Unfortunately, there are too many variables to definitely know why 2025 version doesn't work for someone - when it works perfectly fine for others...

So the only way - is to go through the list - from less "intrusive" options - up to the "nuclear" option. 

Yes, it would be much easier - for us - if we would've direct access to someone's machine - sometimes, it's enough to just take a quick look - sometimes more digging is necessary. But without direct access... 

[cyclopsdx]

Switching on GPU Performance does the trick for me but then causes redraw problems when I switch to Overprint Preview (which I do regularly). It seems like it interferes with History and undoes recent actions. If I switch Overprint Preview off, my file returns to it's proper condition. If I quit the software and reopen the 'undo' problem disappears for a while but returns after a while. I installed the latest update in the hope it would fix this 'bug' but no, still having the same problems. Let's face it, 2025 is shockingly awful and continues to be so, despite a number of updates. Why my clients have switched to using it and, in turn, forced my hand to have to use it, I'll never know. It's a commercial embarrassment.

[Craig McLaughlin]

So long as you're signed into Creative Cloud, you can convert ID 2025 documents to open in ID 2024. That's what we've been doing and quite frankley hoped they had addressed the issues. From what you're saying, ID 2025 is still not functioning even after nearly a year or complaints. Unbelievable.

[SeanMcClellan]

Upgraded computer and OS so thought this would be ideal from ID2022 to 25. Boy was I wrong. 15-20 second lag time on selecting anything on page. Suspected file to large then I cut and pasted two simple things and put in fresh doc. Same thing. Going back to ID2022. Try me when 2026 comes out.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @SeanMcClellan,

Thanks for sharing your experience and I'm really sorry to hear you're dealing with such frustrating lag in InDesign 2025. To help us get a clearer picture, could you please confirm the version of InDesign you're using? Specifically, is it version 20.3.1 of InDesign 2025? It would also be helpful to know the details of your operating system (macOS or Windows). 

Additionally, are you working with files saved remotely, such as from an external hard drive, network location, or cloud storage? In some cases, accessing files from these locations can affect performance.

Could you also try launching your system in Safe Mode and check if the issue still occurs? This can help isolate whether any background processes are affecting InDesign.
For Windows, here's how: https://adobe.ly/4drYMYy
For macOS: https://adobe.ly/4k8AmG3

Once you've had a chance to test that, please share your findings. We're here to help you. 

Abhishek

[SeanMcClellan]

2019 Mac Pro with Sonoma. Pleanty of memory and ram. Thanks.

[zevendesign]

I'm having exactly the same problem. The software is almost unusable in its current state. Every single command lags; from selections, to moving a text box to going to the next page. I guess Adobe decided having any kind of Quality Control was too much effort—easier to send out a broken update to millions of users. 

[leo.r]

I'm having exactly the same problem. The software is almost unusable in its current state. Every single command lags; from selections, to moving a text box to going to the next page.

By @zevendesign

Are you running the latest InDesign update and what's your operating system version?

[zevendesign]

I'm running the latest InDesign on a Mac Studio with 64GB of RAM on OS 15.4.1.