InDesign opens files extremely slowly (March 2023)

[SW-Man-2]

Hello everyone 🙂

InDesign has been opening normal (even small) files extremely slowly for a few days. It is the case on several computers in our company.

Can anyone else confirm this?
Is the problem known and if so, can anything be done about it?

InDesign 18.1 x64
Windows 11 Pro 64 bit / Version: 22H2 / Biuld: 22621.1413

Thank you in advance!

Cheers

Nico

[BobLevine]

Are the files local or on a network? You should certainly update to 18.2.1.

[SW-Man-2]

Hi Bob, thanks for your answer.
I was able to update to 18.2.1 today, but that didn't fix the issue 😞
I tried saving the same files locally and then opening them, and it's just as slow as if the files were on the network, so that's not the problem.
Apparently there are not many users affected by this, I can't find any other posts on the topic.

[Alexandra28963956i6nm]

Hello,

we've got the same problem since today, we are working on PC with Windows 10 x64 and the last version of Indesign (18.2.1 x64).

We can create new files but we can't open existing ones (even located on desktop), it seems to freeze the sotware.

We don't understand where the problem stand ...

Thanks

Alexandra

[SW-Man-2]

Hi Alexandra 🙂

Do you also have Windows 11?

Do you use the german language?

I have noticed that closing files also takes an extremely long time.
Have you managed to open any files?
And if so, do they also take a long time to completely close?

Cheers

Nico

[SW-Man-2]

Placing InDesign documents into other InDesign documents also takes an eternity. 😞
I have attached a screenshot of the task manager, it looks bad ...

[Howard Sherwood]

It's not just on PCs!

Ridiculously slow to open on Mac OS Ventura 13.2.1 (latest version):

Checked account behaviour: Same delay on Guest as with Administrator account

Administrator Account start-up Times:

Adobe InDesign [18.2.1]: 1’51” to Welcome panel; 3’17” to open doc

Adobe Illustrator [27.3.1]: 1’57” to Welcome panel; 2’45” to open doc/recent files

Claris Filemaker 19.6.3.302: 1’15” to open doc

Claris Filemaker Advanced 17.0.7.700: 2’50” to open doc

Ran Disc Utility/First Aid on Mac Studio HD (start-up volume): Operation successful

Ran Disc Utility/First Aid on 4TB external drive (Carbon Copy Cloner back-up): Operation successful

Ran Disc Utility/First Aid on 4TB external drive (Time Machine back-up): Operation successful

Re-installed Mac OS Ventura 13.2.1

Problem persists!

[SW-Man-2]

Hi @Howard Sherwood 

It seems that the mass of users is not concerned, isn't it?

What a crap. 😞

[defaultbj2du0a6cozp]

Same here. I am on a Mac OS Big Sur and InDesign is really slow and has closed down a couple of times. 

[ChicoPereira12]

Yes. It takes 38 seconds to open a 3Mb file in a Apple M1 computer with Ventura13.2.1. It takes the same ammount of time to export to a PDF file.

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Hi @ChicoPereira12 ,

We're so sorry to hear about the trouble. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared here and let us know if this helps or if you need further assistance?

Thanks

Rishabh

[Howard Sherwood · Accepted solution]

Following several remote sessions with Adobe Support (number buried on Adobe site!) where older versions of InDesign and Illustrator and their preferences were removed, start-up times improved, but were still slow.  Having a suspicion that Adobe's withdrawal of support for PostScript Type 1 fonts might be the cause, I undertook a thorough clean-up of all installed fonts which involved the removal of 5,000+ files many of which were PostScript Type 1 fonts.  This has not only resolved the problems connected with the Adobe products, but also the Claris/Filemaker applications also.  I recommend that anybody experiencing slow start-up or crash behaviour check for the presence of PostScript Type 1 fonts on their system and de-activate/delete them.  Good luck!

[SW-Man-2]

Hello @Howard Sherwood ,

Thanks for your detailed information!

I only had about 10 Type 1 fonts left on my computer. I have uninstalled them.
Now I no longer have any Type 1 fonts. But that didn't help, the problem still exists with some files.

By the way, we also use FileMaker but there are no problems with the programme.
The problem only occurs with InDesign!

What can I do now? Uninstall all Adobe products, use the Ceaner tool and install it again?
And if that doesn't help, reinstall Windows completely?

Where exactly do you think I can contact support for a remote session?

Cheers!

[Howard Sherwood]

Hello,

See if this link answers any of your problems:https://helpx.adobe.com/in/indesign/kb/fixed-issues.html

You can also try calling the Adobe global support number (US number, international rates charged outside US): 1800-833-6687

Good luck!

[SW-Man-2]

I think there are these problems with all files created/saved with InDesign 18.1. (although you open them with 18.2.).
There seem to be no problems with files created with 18.2.
Can you perhaps check this on your side?

[rons87303872]

I am also having this same issue. My machine is built for performace so specs can't be an issue. Simply starting the program can take up to 5 minutes. As the sole graphic designer its hard to justify 5 minutes of my time twidling my thumbs to simply luanch a program (this also happens on exit as well). I have tried a host of fixes and nothing is working. Didn't have this issue before update to v 18. Luckily, I was able to roll back to 17 which runs flawlessly. The lack of stability in The Adobe Suite really has us considering alternatives. 

[Howard Sherwood]

An update on my original and subsequent posts on this subject when I was encountering problems with InDesign (18.2.1) and Illustrator (27.3.1) running on Mac OS Ventura 13.2.1:

Following my sesssions with Adobe Support and reverting to earlier versions of InDesign and Illustrator as well as removing Postscript Type 1 fonts from my computer, I then found I had a minor font issue with Microsoft Excel (worksheet tab titles not rendering).  After several sessions with a senior agent at Apple Support, an older version of Mac OS Monterey (12.6.1) was re-installed and then updated to Ventura 13.3.1.  This appears to have solved all previous problems and I am now running InDesign (18.2.1) and Illustrator (27.4) which open instantaneously.

Judging by the numerous recent updates it would seem as though recent Adobe updates have co-incided with recent Mac OS updates and created some of the problems described in this thread.

If you are still encountering problems with slow opening I suggest that you check the following*:

• Preferences and caches for any given application (delete as necessary)
• Security permissions for any given application
• The presence of any PostScript Type 1 fonts (no longer supported by Adobe)

*This is just my advice – I have no qualification other than my personal experience and cannot offer any guarantee of success!