Indesign lagging badly/very slow with files saved on network server

[Jett267292180o3r]

Issue has been going on for several months now, I've worked with IT at my company to exclude any other potential problems. It seems to have started with ID 20.1; I've never had any problems in the past. 

Any files saved on a server cause indesign to run incredibly slow, and very laggy. Link size isn't the issue, as it happens with any file, regardless of if it even has any links. This also only seems to be in ID, I haven't noticed any problems with illustrator or photoshop. 

All our working files are saved on this server, and we need to keep it that way because we work collaboratively, and others may need to access the files at any time. 

This could be an issue with our servers, but I wanted to post/report in case there's an issue with indesign not getting along with network servers. 

[leo.r]

Some users experience poor InDesign performance with files saved on a network, and I'm sure you'll hear from those who know more about various network servers soon.

In the meantime, what's your operating system version? Also, does the problem go away if you roll back to InDesign 20.0 (you can do so from the Creative Cloud app > InDesign > Other Versions menu.) Do you have the same issue with InDesign 2024 (you can install it in addition to InDesign 2025, if needed)?

[Jett267292180o3r]

Hi! I'm on macOS Sequoia 15.5. I'm not sure if this is the latest or not, but it's what is "the latest software update allowed by your organization". 

I rolled back to indesign 20.0, and the performance is as it should be, no lag at all. I'm not sure if IT will be happy with running an older version though, they had us all update all of our apps and software several weeks ago for security purposes. 

[leo.r]

I rolled back to indesign 20.0, and the performance is as it should be, no lag at all.

By @Jett267292180o3r

That's good info. In the end, you'll probably have to work with Adobe on fixing this, and now we know that the problem started in 20.1. It appears to be a serious bug that Adobe should fix. Normally, there should be no issues working with network-based InDesign files, just like you didn't have any up until 20.1.

[Pariah Burke]

The typical advice is to copy the file from the network to your local computer to work on. I know it's not very practical, but it's what Adobe Tech Support typically tells you.

[Jeffrey_Smith]

If you copy ID file locally, is the file behaving the same as it does from the server? I am not suggesting to work locally, only to test if server is really the issue.

[Jett267292180o3r]

Local files work just fine, I've tested this a few times and they seem to run normally every time. This made me think that it was a problem with our VPN at first, since I need to use one to connect to our server when I work from home, but IT had checked that for me and everything was normal. 

[Pariah Burke]

VPNs can cause a LOT of problems that prevent real-time synchronization from functioning.

[Jett267292180o3r]

I had figured it was something along those lines, but I have the same experience when I connect to the network directly while I'm on-site. 

[Jeffrey_Smith]

If server performance through VPN and on-site connection are the same/similar, then the server might be causing the issue. When our server performance started to lag, making sure the server's firmware was up-to-date helped to resolve.

[leo.r]

If server performance through VPN and on-site connection are the same/similar, then the server might be causing the issue. When our server performance started to lag, making sure the server's firmware was up-to-date helped to resolve.

By @Jeffrey_Smith

The main mystery is that they don't have any issues with InDesign 20.0, the problem starts with 20.1. Although who knows, maybe the server's firmware also plays some role here.

[Jeffrey_Smith]

My observation with OP's issue and other reported Indesign lagging issues are related to an Indesign update. It seems as though there is something with the application's interaction with external resources that may, or may not have been addressed in recent updates.

[rennie_0973]

Hey, I’ve experienced the same issue. The files on our network drive have been super laggy, even when they’re small or have no links. Illustrator and Photoshop work fine, so it really does seem like an InDesign-specific conflict with network servers. Disabling Preflight and Save in Background in preferences helped a bit for us. Some users also reported better performance by switching the network protocol (like from SMB to AFP on Mac). Definitely worth reporting; the more of us that flag it, the sooner Adobe may prioritize a fix.

[Jeffrey_Smith]

You are aware that AFP is being discontinued in macOS and will no longer be a protocol choice.

[Jett267292180o3r]

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one experiencing this! Is it a fairly-recent issue for you, too? I've been working off this server since 2018, and only started having issues ~April-ish, once I updated to 20.1. 

[Abhishek Rao · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jett267292180o3r,

Thank you for sharing all the details so far. Could you please confirm the exact version of InDesign you are currently using? A short screen recording showing the lag with a server-based file versus a local copy would also be very helpful for us to better understand the issue.

Additionally, it would be great if you could test the behavior in Safe Mode to rule out any third-party applications causing a conflict. Reference: https://adobe.ly/3IVnoxZ

InDesign does support working across networks, removable media, and cloud-synced folders like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive, and we test across many configurations. However, not all combinations of software, hardware, and access rights can be fully validated, which can lead to unexpected behavior in some setups. To minimize risk, we generally recommend working from a local directory, like your Desktop, and then copying the file back to the network drive or cloud folder after editing.

Once you test in Safe Mode and share the recording, I can take this back to the team for further investigation.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek 

[Jett267292180o3r]

Hello! Sorry for the delay, I've been very busy and haven't had a moment to set up a test file. I've just uploaded 3 different screen recordings in this thread, all recorded with different setups. Not done in safe mode as I'm on a mac. 

InDesign is currently version 20.5, which I believe to be the latest version. 

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Jett267292180o3r,

Thanks for sharing the recordings. I have forwarded these to check with the product team and will update this thread as I have more info.

Anubhav

[Jett267292180o3r]

Uploading screen recordings today. First: everything saved locally. 

[Jett267292180o3r]

Recording #2: file saved on network drive, but links are still saved locally. Lag is noticeable here, although I wish the recording showed inputs so the delay could stand out better. 

[Jett267292180o3r]

Recording #3. Network saved file, with network saved links. I feel like this was the most noticeably laggy, and is more like what I experience on a regular basis. The links are only 5.3 mb (multicolor image) and 1.7 mb (two-color image), so they aren't particularly large files. 

[SarahCushing]

My team has also noticed a similar lag due to VPN, to the point where I've had to delegate a task to export a very large INDD book (with multiple documents and a lot of links) to PDF to another person who works on-site to avoid the multiple crashes that it always causes when I try. It's a five minute task for her without the VPN, but it's a few hour long process for me between waiting for InDesign to gather the data for export, then crashing, restarting, waiting for recovery and repeating. While I do think it's a problem with the VPN stability, anything the INDD team can do to help improve functionality would be greatly appreciated because there is no way for me to avoid using it. The remote portion of the team uses workrounds like saving locally, but then I worry about data back-ups. Also trying to coordinate work on shared files when you need to save them locally to actually work on them is a huge headache. I regularly need to message people to stay out of files so I can work on them without accidentally overriding their work when I save the document back to the server. We cope, but it's not ideal. 

[Jett267292180o3r]

Wow! This sounds very similar to what I'm experiencing, except that I've ruled out the VPN being the problem. I work hybrid, and have the same problem whether I'm working from home over VPN, or in the office with a direct connection. 

I do really hope this can be resolved; some days it feels unbearable trying to work with the lag!  

[DENISE_COPELAND6904]

I've been dealing with this as well. IT can't figure it out. I just replaced the CAT 5 cable, as that was really my only other possible thing, and nope. Spinny balls with rainbows. The main lag is when I'm paginating large books or magazines and placing other InDesign files within the pagination. I can drop 6 ads into the the layout, then the 7th one takes forever to place. Is there something I'm missing?

[leo.r]

I've been dealing with this as well. IT can't figure it out. I just replaced the CAT 5 cable, as that was really my only other possible thing, and nope. Spinny balls with rainbows. The main lag is when I'm paginating large books or magazines and placing other InDesign files within the pagination. I can drop 6 ads into the the layout, then the 7th one takes forever to place. Is there something I'm missing?

By @DENISE_COPELAND6904

One user reported that the problem started with InDesign 20.1:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-lagging-badly-very-slow-with-files-save...

Reverting to InDesign 20.0 solves the issue (while, obviously, getting back all the issues that were solved in later updates). I wonder if this will work for you too?