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2

InDesign Freeze when Changing things in Paragraph Style

Community Beginner ,
Mar 21, 2025 Mar 21, 2025

For the past week or so, InDesign has been freezing for 1-2 minutes when I make a change to a paragraph style (try to change the font or color or something). It will eventually get going (i.e., not crashing ID), but it's making my workflow VERY slow. 

InDesign version 20.2

Windows 11, version 24H2

I saw some earlier posts about a similar issue. 

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Beginner , Apr 29, 2025 Apr 29, 2025

Another update. I came in this morning and decided to just do a fresh boot before starting everything. I have not had time to test any of the things (I'm currently doing two people's jobs, so things like uninstalling my hundred+ fonts and installing one at a time to test just isn't in the cards for a bit. 

 

However....  it's working fine this morning. Same document I was working on yesterday afternoon with problems. Now, no problems. So strange. 

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correct answers 1 Pinned Reply

Adobe Employee , Apr 28, 2025 Apr 28, 2025

Hi everyone,

 

Checking in to confirm if you're still facing the issue after trying the suggestions shared by the experts. If the issue still persists, please test and let us know if the same behavior occurs on InDesign version 20.3.

 

Looking forward to hearing your updates.

Abhishek 

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Adobe Employee ,
Mar 21, 2025 Mar 21, 2025

Hi @crystal_7868,  

 

Could you check if this happens with all documents or only specific ones? Also, does the lag occur only when changing certain settings in the Paragraph Styles panel, or does it affect all styles? Are the affected files stored locally on your drive, or are they saved on an external drive, remote location, or cloud storage?  

If you haven’t already, try testing the issue in Safe Mode to see if any third-party plugins or fonts might be causing the slowdown. If possible, please share a short screen recording so I can check with the team. For me, changing styles works without lag, so I haven't been able to reproduce the issue. Looking forward to your update!  

 

^

Abhishek

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New Here ,
Sep 17, 2025 Sep 17, 2025

Hi Abhishek,

 

For me, this seems to happen specifically on Paragraph Rules & Paragraph Border. The files are stored locally. I'm currently on version 20.5 using Windows 11 Business, 24H2. 

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LEGEND ,
Mar 21, 2025 Mar 21, 2025

@crystal_7868

 

How long is the document - and do you have PREVIEW enabled - bottom left corner of the dialog? 

 

How many styles do you have? 

 

Are you editing a main / base style - that all other styles are BasedOn? 

 

Do you have a lot of GREP Styles in this style - and all other BasedOn this one? 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 26, 2025 Mar 26, 2025

In all documents.. The one I'm currently working in is about 12 pages. The specific issues seem to be changing the color or changing the font. Sometimes I'm getting an error message about stock profiles being read only, but I don't have any of those set up, so I'm not sure what that's about. Preview is on, but it will also do it without preview on. No main/base. We do have quite a few styles set up (paragraph and character). No GREP. 

Files are stored on a shared drive. No plug ins. 

I feel like this may have started in the week or so following the last Windows 11 update. I don't think it was immediate. Running ID 20.2.

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LEGEND ,
Mar 26, 2025 Mar 26, 2025

@crystal_7868

 

Yes, people are reporting problems on Windows 11 for the last few months... 

 

Can you share your document for a deeper investigation?

 

Please click my nickname if you prefer to send it privately. 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 24, 2025 Mar 24, 2025

Same here.

  • in each document
  • affects all tested settings
  • locally stored files
  • no plugins installed
  • no difference Preview enabled or not
  • not many styles
  • no difference wether it is basic or following style
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LEGEND ,
Mar 24, 2025 Mar 24, 2025

@screen-bee 

 

What platform, OS and InDesign version?

 

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 27, 2025 Mar 27, 2025

Windows and latest Indesign Version.

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LEGEND ,
Mar 27, 2025 Mar 27, 2025
quote

Windows and latest Indesign Version.


By @screen-bee

 

Unfortunately, this doesn't answer the question. 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 27, 2025 Mar 27, 2025

Sorry: Windows 11.

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Adobe Employee ,
Mar 27, 2025 Mar 27, 2025

Hi @screen-bee,

 

Thanks for sharing your details! Could you try testing the issue in Safe Mode and also in a different admin user account to see if the problem persists? 

Also, is the issue happening with all files or just specific ones? If possible, could you share one of the affected files with me for further testing? Let me know how it goes!

 

^

Abhishek

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 27, 2025 Mar 27, 2025

UPDATE: So, without any changes (I haven't even rebooted my machine in the last few days), today the problem appears to have simply resolved itself. There have been no updates installed to anything. No changes at all. Just all of a sudden, today there were no issues. I am very confused, but will try some of these other things if the issue returns. 

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LEGEND ,
Mar 27, 2025 Mar 27, 2025

@crystal_7868

 

Maybe everything finally "settled down" 😉

 

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 28, 2025 Apr 28, 2025

UPDATE 2: Came in this morning to the problem again. Thought it may be that I had some updates for Windows and InDesign, but post-updates and it's still hanging up for a bit. Sometimes the drop downs are okay, but changing the color makes it freeze up for a bit. Really annoying. 

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New Here ,
Mar 27, 2025 Mar 27, 2025

i have same issues! very slow in editing the paragraph sstyle 

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Adobe Employee ,
Mar 28, 2025 Mar 28, 2025

Hi mui6s,

 

Sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with InDesign. Would you mind telling us the version of InDesign installed on your machine and the details of your operating system?

 

Have you tried the suggestion mentioned in this post? Does that happen with all files or with a specific file?

 

We will try our best to help.

 

Thanks,

Harshika

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 31, 2025 Mar 31, 2025

I'm having the same issue. Windows 11 Pro 10.0.22631

indd 20.2 x64

Eventually it responds. I can use other programs and switch back to indd with no errors.

Preview ticked or unticked (doesn't change)
Only seems to kick-in if I try to access a field with a drop-down or something of that sort. I can manually type in a number, for instance, and it won't lag until I click the "okay" button.

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Adobe Employee ,
Mar 31, 2025 Mar 31, 2025

Hi @StargelNaz,

 

Thanks for sharing the details! Are your files stored locally on your system drive, or are they on an external drive, remote location, or cloud storage? Also, could you try testing the issue in Safe Mode to check if any third-party software might be interfering? Ref: Start your PC in Safe Mode.

Additionally, please try creating a new admin user account and running InDesign from there to see if the issue persists. This will help determine if the problem is related to your current user profile. Ref: Manage User Accounts in Windows.

Let me know what you find, and we’ll go from there!

 

^

Abhishek

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 28, 2025 Apr 28, 2025

Most on external drive.

Did try Safe Mode (no change)

I don't have access to create a new admin account on this machine.

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Adobe Employee ,
Apr 28, 2025 Apr 28, 2025

Hi @StargelNaz,

 

Thanks for the details. Please try moving a copy of the affected file to your local drive and see if Paragraph Styles respond faster. If it does, the issue may be with the external drive. It's better to work locally and move files back after editing.

Also, please share a short screen recording and the affected file, so I can test it. Try the same steps on InDesign 20.3 and share your observation. 

 

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 28, 2025 Apr 28, 2025

Thanks!

I did move my two major projects over to a local job, but now that you mention it, I don't know if all my links are local.

I'll create a package to make sure all my links or local and try this again.

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Explorer ,
Jun 30, 2025 Jun 30, 2025

I'm having the same issue. Windows 11 

indd 20.2 x64

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Community Expert ,
Mar 31, 2025 Mar 31, 2025

What happens if you use a different font in the style?

 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
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Community Beginner ,
Mar 31, 2025 Mar 31, 2025

Font selection is one of the "triggers" for the slow down. I can type in a new font size (manually) and it won't lag until I click "okay"

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