InDesign Freeze when Changing things in Paragraph Style

[crystal_7868]

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. 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Yes, but ANY font or just a particular font?

[StargelNaz]

Any font (or any other action that "loads" a list like "alignment" or the keep options, hyphenations, etc.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

What are your system specs:

OS exact version, InDesign exact version, RAM, GPU if separate, GPU driver version, hard drive space, etc.?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Any font (or any other action that "loads" a list like "alignment" or the keep options, hyphenations, etc.

By @StargelNaz

How many fonts do you have installed? 

Check for duplicates.

The best would be, if you uninstall / remove ALL InDesign / Adobe related fonts - anything that wasn't installed by Windows during installation - and start adding fonts one-by-one. 

[StargelNaz]

I could try that. I have 190 fonts installed. I'll give it a go.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

I could try that. I have 190 fonts installed. I'll give it a go.

By @StargelNaz

Is this a number of files - or families? 

Anyway - like 180 too many. 

Either remove / uninstall after you finish your job - or keep them in the Document Fonts folder next to the INDD file - there is no point to install them "globally" - unless you use them in Photoshop / Illustrator at the same time. 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

That isn't that many fonts unless you are on a really old system. However, you should check any self-installed fonts for corruption. OS fonts and Adobe fonts _should_ be OK.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/paragraph-and-character-styles-very-slow-when-ma...

[StargelNaz]

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.

[Anubhav M]

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

[Abhishek Rao]

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 

[crystal_7868 · Accepted solution]

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]

@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]

[...]  uninstalling my hundred+ fonts and installing one at a time to test [...] 

By @crystal_7868

I'm pretty sure I could help you with that - to automate it 😉 FoC. 

[Vadim24486804gd3s]

I consistently experience freezing when editing Paragraph Styles. The same issue also occurs when I try to use the Replace Fonts option in the Missing Fonts pop-up that appears when the document is open.

This happens even with simple documents—older files that worked perfectly before, files with very few styles or fonts, and even small test documents. So it's unrelated to font count, file size, or style complexity.

I've tried several recommended fixes (reset preferences, disable GPU, clear caches, etc.), but nothing has resolved the issue.

At this point, I’m open to suggestions—what application would you recommend I switch to from INDD?

[leo.r]

I've tried several recommended fixes (reset preferences, disable GPU, clear caches, etc.), but nothing has resolved the issue.

By @Vadim24486804gd3s

What are your versions of InDesign and macOS? Also, how much RAM do you have?

[Vadim24486804gd3s]

Windows 11 

InDesign version: 20.3.1 x64
Memory: 128 GB

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Vadim24486804gd3s

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/paragraph-and-character-styles-very-slow-when-ma... 

[Vadim24486804gd3s]

I already tried that solution. It doesn't help.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Windows versions info should look like this:

Version: Windows 11

Subversion: 24H2

Update: KB5055627

[Vadim24486804gd3s]

Sorry. Here you go:

Edition: Windows 11 Pro
Version: 24H2
OS Build: 26100.3915
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10980XE CPU @ 3.00GHz 3.00 GHz
Installed RAM: 128 GB (128 GB usable)
Graphic Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

We have similar systems (I have an i9-13900K and an RTX 4080).

I am not experiencing any major delays like you indicate. 

Are you running InDesign locally or through a VPN or other network-related setup?

Have you saved the document as an IDML and reopened?

Have you cleaned all your InDesign cache folders?

Have you uninstalled with the Adobe CC Cleaner and reinstalled?

[Vadim24486804gd3s]

Yes, I did all of those. Nothing was changed.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

As a test, make a copy of the file(s) and change the fonts to something like Minion Pro or Myriad Pro and see if the issue goes away.

[sd_garrett]

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.