Skip to main content
S
SW-Man-2
Known Participant
March 17, 2023
Answered

InDesign opens files extremely slowly (March 2023)

  • March 17, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 4926 views

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

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Howard Sherwood

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


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!

5 replies

R
RSPA904
Participant
April 14, 2023

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. 

H
Howard Sherwood
Participant
April 15, 2023

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!

    S
    SW-Man-2Author
    Known Participant
    March 24, 2023

    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?

      S
      SW-Man-2Author
      Known Participant
      March 21, 2023

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

      H
      Howard Sherwood
      Participant
      March 22, 2023

      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!

       

        S
        SW-Man-2Author
        Known Participant
        March 22, 2023

        Hi @Howard Sherwood 

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

        What a crap. 😞

        A
        Alexandra28963956i6nm
        Participant
        March 20, 2023

        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

        S
        SW-Man-2Author
        Known Participant
        March 20, 2023

        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

        BobLevine
        Community Expert
        BobLevineCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        March 18, 2023

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

        S
        SW-Man-2Author
        Known Participant
        March 20, 2023

        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.

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
        Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices