InDesign opens files randomly in read-only

[Andreas31795756unm3]

Hello ladys and gentleman,

I have a problem with a user which is trying to open InDesign files but it randomly opens in "read-only" mode. Sometimes she closes the file, opens it again and it works normally. I have read a solution for Mac users but has anyone solutions for Windows 11 users?

The files are located on a network drive.

This unusual behavior is going on for 2-3 weeks now.

Thanks and best regards,

Andreas

[kglad]

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post if it helps you get responses.

<"moved from using the community bugs">

[J E L]

Hi @Andreas31795756unm3, on the network drive, find the folder where the InDesign files are stored. Right-click on the folder and select Properties at the bottom of the list. Uncheck “Read-only” if it is selected. You can do the same for the individual .indd file. Also, sometimes if the file has been opened by another user on the network and hasn't been closed down properly or fully, the file will show up for a subsequent user as Read-only. Let us know how it's going!

[Andreas31795756unm3]

Hi @J E L ,

I checked the properties of the folder. Since it´s updated to Win11 there is a (-) in the read-only checkbox. Must be new to Win11. I will ask the user to check when I remove the (-). 

Thanks for the quick answer. I will keep you informed.

Best regards,

Andreas 

[Andreas31795756unm3 · Accepted solution]

Hi All,

I told the user to do following steps which I saw in another discussion:

• Disable Preview Pane in Explorer- >View-> Preview Pane.
• Close InDesign, Restart the system

It`s an official workaround from Adobe but the user had no problems the whole day.

I had not changed the folder permissions.

Best regards,

Andreas

[Randy Hagan]

Yeah, that's one that will bite you.

InDesign has strong version control tools, but the File Explorer Preview Pane has bit many an end user. And not just with InDesign files, but Acrobat PDFs and MS Office files too. If you're working in Windows and inexplicably find that your system says a file is "open" when you're absolutely sure that it's not, you can count on the Preview Pane to bite you on the backside.

And for what it's worth, this can also cause problems with icon previews on the Mac platform too, though it's not as consistent and predictable as it is on the Windows side.

Randy

[J E L]

Great to hear, @Andreas31795756unm3, thanks for coming back to let us know, and I'm glad to hear things are working again by disabling the preview pane. 

[Andreas31795756unm3]

Thanks for your help everyone. Great community 🙂

[Jason22629090wavy]

File Explorer Preview Pane did not work for me. What did work was I had to log out of creative cloud and indesign. Restart my work desktop and log back into creative cloud and indesign and all things back to normal