InDesign 19.4 keeps crashing on MacOS Sonoma 14.4.1

[Jake31240521nz7q]

The issue:

• I open an existing InDesign file or create a brand new one.
• Everything looks normal and objects load fine in existing files.
• As soon as I click on any object to edit it, InDesign freezes for a few seconds.
• InDesign crashes completely and an error page comes up.
• Adobe cannot find any solutions to the error.

I have done the following:

• Restarted InDesign. Restarted my Mac. Issue persisted.
• Uninstalled InDesign, discharding all preferences. Restarted my Mac. Reinstalled InDesign. Opened InDesign with Cmd+Opt+Ctrl+Shift to ensure preferences are trashed. Issue persisted.
• Ran Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool. InDesign behaved for about half an hour. I could edit and save existing files. I could create, edit, and save new files. Then, when I double-clicked on a text box to edit the text, it crashed.

Info about my Mac:

• Free space: Over 1 TB.
• Memory: 16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4.
• OS: Sonoma 14.4.1. Updated in early April.
• No other application is lagging or crashing.

Further info:

• I am not using any third-party plug-ins for InDesign, or for any other Adobe program.
• I save my files on my Mac, not on the Cloud.
• I don't remember exactly when this issue started, but it was late last week.
• I have not recently installed any new applications on my Mac.

I need InDesign for my work, and this is incredibly frustrating. I really need some assistance to figure out how to prevent the crashing. Please let me know if I can provide any more information to assist you in providing advice. I've tried to be thorough but I'm not very tech savvy.

[Eugene Tyson]

Try starting your Mac in safe mode and see if InDesign works normally.

If it does - then there's a third-party app interfering.

For me WebRoot causes havoc with InDesign (only).

Starting in safe mode will let you know if it's InDesign or something else.

I run InDesign on 14.4.1 like lots of others here on similar specs without issues - so it has to be something local for you.

[Jake31240521nz7q]

Hey @Eugene Tyson, thank you for the advice. I'm facing some tech access issues (unrelated to Adobe), so once I have access to my Mac again I will be testing the solutions that people are posting.

[Druen Design]

I have the exact same problem! And I have tried the same solutions as you did (expect Cleaner Tool). But I updated to Sonoma 14.4.1 recently, and I thin the problem started after that. I have tried to degrade to older Indesing versions, but that ddidn.'t help. No issues with other CC-software.

[Eugene Tyson]

Did you try starting in safe mode? 

I have MacBook M3 processor with 32gb RAM and it works fine.

[Druen Design]

Yes, I tried safe mode. I have an Macbook Pro 16, M3 2023, 512 gb. It's only Indesign that crashes. I have no new fonts, no plug-ins. I'm really lost here. Thankfully, I also have an iMac, so that I´m able to get my work done. Still frustrating,  though.

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi All,

We are sorry to hear you're experiencing crashes on the current version of InDesign. In addition to what our expert has suggested, please share the file that is crashing over a private message with me so we can test it on our end.  

We will try our best to investigate the issue.

Thanks,

Harshika

[Druen Design]

Thanks for your reply, Harshika, but it's not a spesific file that makes Indesign crash. Even if I try to make a new document, it will crash within 30 sec or so, just leaving the spinning wheel until I force quit the program. This also happens when I installed the former version of Indesign. Can it all be due to the latest OS update?

[Eugene Tyson]

Can you confirm if you what @leo.r  suggested worked?

[Jake31240521nz7q]

Hey @HARSHIKA_VERMA, thank you for your response. I'm curious, when I submit error reports to Adobe, there is an option to leave written context, and a box I can tick if I want Adobe to contact me via email with a follow-up. Does anyone actually see those error reports and communications? I don't think it's ever led to anyone from Adobe contacting me. Which has been really bizarre when it concerns a bug/issue which makes an Adobe program completely unusable. It's a pretty bad customer experience.

As @Druen Design said, this is not a file-specific issue. As I specified in my post, this issue occurs with blank, brand new files and existing files.

Anyway, I am having some unexpected tech access issues (not Adobe related), so I will be investigating folks' solutions when I have access to my Mac again. So, thank you for the offer of support.

[leo.r]

In addition to Eugene's suggestions, try to create a clean new user account in System Settings and work from there - will it make a difference?

[Jake31240521nz7q]

Hey @leo.r, thank you for the advice. I will be testing this solution (and the others recommended in this thread) when I next have access to my Mac.

[Jake31240521nz7q · Accepted solution]

So, since using the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool, I have experienced one crash which occurred in the same day, shortly before I made my original post. Since then I have used InDesign many times and never experienced a crash. I waited for one to occur, thinking I'd need to try some more solutions and investigate as advised by folks in the comments, but it's looking stable.

I think the cleaner tool is what fixed it, combined with shutting off my Mac? Or something else has changed that I'm not aware of and didn't deliberately cause. I didn't delete any other applications. I honestly can't think what else fixed it. I'm really hoping that InDesign stays non-awful for the forseeable, as the crashing was truly enraging.

If others are having this issue, I guess I'd recommend using the cleaner tool and then shutting off your Mac. Beyond that I still have no idea why the crashing happened.

[bryann6425430]

I'm having the exact same problem. 2 days ago, InDesign only (Illustrator and Photoshop work fine) decides not to work (InDesign 19.4 with MacOS Sonoma 14.5). I've done all the things listed but when I try to open an .indd file it freezes with the spinning wheel of death. If I try to create a new file, InDesign again freezes with the spinning wheel of death. I really need this program to work for my job. I'm looking at Affinity Publisher 2 if I can't get it to work soon.

Question on the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaning tool - What choices did you make to clean? Just InDesign, multiple programs/scripts, or everything?

[Jake31240521nz7q]

Hey @bryann6425430, sorry to hear you're facing the issue too, it really does suck.

I used the cleaner to get rid of everything, from memory. I definitely got rid of every single application and all associated files, after backing up all of my stuff externally. I also got rid of Creative Cloud. So, I guess I'd recommend doing that, restarting your Mac, and then re-installing everything?

As I said in the answer though, I'm kinda guessing. Without a more direct answer from Adobe about why this bug is happening, and what specifically causes it, I'm not completely sure what fixed things on my end. And I'm really hopeful that things stay fixed.

I wish you luck 🤞

[bryann6425430]

Thanks @Jake31240521nz7q - I'll give it go tomorrow and let you know if it works for me as well. I'm too exhasted from designing layouts in Illustrator today (hahaha).