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cbeale
Participant
June 4, 2018
Answered

InDesign palettes donʻt show when selected in menu

  • June 4, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 676 views

I am using Mac OS 10.12.6 Sierra and the latest version of InDesign 13.1.

I am having constant problems with my palettes not showing when I click on them in the menu. For example, I want the layers palette to show so I click layers in the window menu and nothing. Resetting the workspace does not fix the problem. I also have a problem when I select an item and it doesnʻt show the little-colored box next to the layer name which allows you to move the object to another layer.

I can reset the preferences which fixes the problem for awhile (like one day) and then the problem comes back. The other solution that sometimes works in turning back on the annoying application frame (sorry Iʻm a Mac purist, donʻt like the application frame).

This seems to be a problem since CC2018. Is anyone else having this problem and is Adobe working on a fix? Is this a Sierra issue?

Thanks

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Bill Silbert

Problems with Panels can many times be solved by trashing your InDesign cache files, which is not the same as trashing InDesign preferences.

To do so:

For Macintosh Users: With InDesign closed launch a Finder Window in column view and click on your home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. Within the Library folder find the “Caches” folder. Within the Caches folder find and delete the entire file “Adobe InDesign”. I find that deleting the cache file completely leads to a lasting change. 

For Windows Users: On Windows 7 and above the caches files are hidden. To find them go to the Control Panel and open Folder Options and then click the View tab. Then select “Show hidden files and folders” or “Show hidden files, folders or drive options” in Advanced Settings. Then delete (or rename) the folder at the end of this path: C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Local\Adobe\InDesign\Version [#]\<Language>\Cache.

3 replies

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Bill SilbertCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
June 4, 2018

Problems with Panels can many times be solved by trashing your InDesign cache files, which is not the same as trashing InDesign preferences.

To do so:

For Macintosh Users: With InDesign closed launch a Finder Window in column view and click on your home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. Within the Library folder find the “Caches” folder. Within the Caches folder find and delete the entire file “Adobe InDesign”. I find that deleting the cache file completely leads to a lasting change. 

For Windows Users: On Windows 7 and above the caches files are hidden. To find them go to the Control Panel and open Folder Options and then click the View tab. Then select “Show hidden files and folders” or “Show hidden files, folders or drive options” in Advanced Settings. Then delete (or rename) the folder at the end of this path: C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Local\Adobe\InDesign\Version [#]\<Language>\Cache.

    L
    lululinda
    Participating Frequently
    August 1, 2019

    Beyond thank you Bill, this has been driving me bonkers for months. Thank you for saving my sanity. Thought I'd tried everything. Deleting the cache files worked, now I don't have to manually open my panels every freaking file I open. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

    Bill Silbert
    Community Expert
    Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 1, 2019

    Happy to help.

    Scott Citron
    Scott Citron
    Legend
    June 4, 2018

    I suggest uninstalling InDesign and all preferences and then reinstalling the application. That should do it.

    Steve Werner
    Community Expert
    Steve WernerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 4, 2018

    When resetting preferences only temporarily fixes problems and they come back, it's often because of problems in your system.

    On a Mac, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups, and create a new user. If you're an admin for the computer, you should be able to run InDesign CC from the new user. If the problems go away with new preferences there, you know there was a system problem with your old (current) user.

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