Participant

Answered

InDesign Freeze when Changing things in Paragraph Style

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
March 21, 2025
12 replies
4583 views

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.

Type

Correct answer crystal_7868

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.

K

Kato1111

Known Participant

I had this issue back in March 2025. It resolved itself, and now after the latest update it's back. I will never update the programme again. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

If you are in a production environment, you shouldn't update completely for 6-12 months after a new release. The Creative Cloud app has options _not_ to update automatically and/or _not_ to remove old versions. If you turn disable the remove old versions, you can "play" with the new features will working in the older version. The only issue is you can't just double-click on a file to open it as it may open the wrong version. You have to open the program and then use the Open menu.

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

K

Kato1111

Known Participant

I made a mistake... Can I reinstall the old version?

I

InglesaCat

Participant

I've been having the same problem for months, and it's getting ridiculous. I've deleted my preferences. I've gone through the fonts...I don't have time for this. I've had to change my workflow because I can't change my paragraph styles.
It started for me when Adobe added the Google fonts (Open Sans, specifically). I use that font for the newspaper and I've removed the installed version to use theirs, and removed it and readded it and it just starts happening again.
I also have trouble logging it to Adobe fonts and have to try two or three times. I think it's got something to do with verification of the product and I live in a rural area where the Internet isn't the best.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @InglesaCat,

I'm really sorry to hear how disruptive this has been to your workflow. Thanks for sharing the details about the fonts and your setup. Could you please confirm the version of InDesign you're currently using and the version of your OS?

It would also be helpful if you could test whether the issue still occurs when launching InDesign in safe mode to rule out third-party interference (Windows: https://adobe.ly/4n8YvxH | macOS: https://adobe.ly/3K8Fa1b). If possible, please also try creating a new user profile on your system to check if the problem persists there (Windows: https://adobe.ly/4gt1j6q | macOS: https://adobe.ly/46C0Nia).

Can you also confirm if this slowdown happens with all files or just with a specific one? If it's only with a particular file, please share it with me for testing. If the file is confidential, you can share it privately via DM on the community or use a cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox to create a downloadable link.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

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InglesaCat

Participant

InDesign v 20.5
Windows 11 on PC 10.0.26100
It occurs in Safe Mode.
It occurs 100% across all InDesign files. It occurs with new files that have no content.
I'm working a deadline. I'll try to pay to get someone here to change my user profile in the future. I'm just not up to learning to do this and worrying about making it worse. I spent hours and hours on this already. My frustration has reached max capacity I'm afraid. LOL
Right now I am literally laying out a newspaper in single columns because I can't change the paragraph style to 4 col.
This whole thing started when Open Sans (which I used for 80% of our projects) became an Adobe font. It was just constant pink and constant changing it back to the Adobe version. Over and over and over and over and over.
I have experienced the same thing with other Google fonts that were added to the Adobe fonts lineup. I just stopped using them all together. But, I have many clients who specifically want Open Source fonts.

S

sd_garrett

Participating Frequently

I had the same issue . with a freeze when clicking any dropdown when editing paragraph styles.

The wait would be about 24 seconds before it would become responsive again and i could save the change.

Win 11 InDesign v20.3.1 x64

like victoriawolf found, I had Garamond Premier Pro installed

My font was installed on the local machine for everyone. Not through the InDesign font folder.

All my files are saved locally. I do not activate any fonts from the cloud.

the font files are .otf

from 2005-2007 probably from a Creative Studio version of around then.

Uninstalling this particular font fixed this issue for me.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

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

C

crystal_7868AuthorCorrect answer

Participant

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.

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

@crystal_7868

Then there is something wrong with your system / configuration?

Can you get your hands on a USB stick - prepared on a "clean" machine - with most up to date AntiVirus software + AntiMalware and boot from it and test your system?

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/paragraph-and-character-styles-very-slow-when-making-changes-to-an-existing-style-help/td-p/15291929

S

StargelNaz

Participating Frequently

It sounds as if she and I are having the exact same issues. I've been using inDesign for years.

To see what it looks like, I create a short screenshow. In this case, all files are local. The delay was "only" 10 seconds. But it gets progressively worse.

2025-04-29_15-19-32.zip

A

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @StargelNaz,

Would you mind trying to run InDesign under Safe Mode (Windows) and checking if it helps? Also, try to run InDesign under a different administrator account (Windows) and share your observations.

If the problem persists, kindly try the suggestions shared in this third-party help article to check for corrupt fonts (https://adobe.ly/4jsTgXT) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

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

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

S

StargelNaz

Participating Frequently

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"

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

Yes, but ANY font or just a particular font?

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

S

StargelNaz

Participating Frequently

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.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

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

S

StargelNaz

Participating Frequently

Most on external drive.

Did try Safe Mode (no change)

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

M

mui6s

Participant

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

HARSHIKA_VERMA

Community Manager

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

C

crystal_7868Author

Participant

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.

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

@crystal_7868

Maybe everything finally "settled down" 😉

C

crystal_7868Author

Participant

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.