Indesign won't start, tried everything

[_nowandnew]

For more than a week, InDesign has been stuck on startup, either on “Calling Late Initializers” or, at other times, “Starting Panels.” I have to force quit every time. I'm on the latest version, 20.4.1, running on a MacBook M3 Pro with macOS Sequoia 15.5.

I’ve tried everything I could find online:

• Resetting preferences at startup

• Resetting all fonts, removing fonts, removing any Adobe font

• Clean installs, older installs, reinstalling Creative Cloud, even using Adobe Cleaner to remove everything

• Starting up in root user, starting up in another Mac user account, startup in safe mode

• Emptying every cache I could think of

• Running First Aid via Disk Utility

• Tried talking to adobe support 'We look forward to helping you during our open hours.'

How is it possible that software essential to so many graphic designers simply stops working?

I run a graphic design business, this has a huge impact on client work. I have print and magazine files that I can’t even open, let alone edit or render out. At the very least, Adobe should issue a statement so I can show clients why their work isn’t getting done on time.

[Eugene Tyson]

Hello - sounds crazy never heard of this one or experienced it. 

Firstly disable any VPN, anti-virus, or other 3rd party apps/plugins you have running. 

WebRoot, Magnet etc. have been know to cause issues. 

Some antivirus can aggresively block licensing daemons. 

Then display utlitilites, like Magnet, Duet etc can confuse InDesign.

Any Cloud services running? Are they stored in folders that are Syncing? 

Here's a few things to try

Can you go to the Library folder and manually delete these folders

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe
~/Library/Caches/Adobe
~/Library/Preferences/Adobe
/Library/Application Support/Adobe
/Library/Preferences/Adobe
/Library/Caches/Adobe

See if any old plugins are lurking - try deleting everything out of these folders - but keep the folders

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CC
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CC

Disable GPU Performance
You can't diasble it if you can't open the app. But you might be able to force software rendering.

Open Terminal and run:

defaults write com.adobe.InDesign GPUPerformanceEnabled -bool NO

Then Reboot your Mac

Open the Console app and filter for InDesign. You’ll often see repeating errors. For example:

Post or screenshot those here if you want help decoding.

Failed to load framework...
Could not locate font...
Segmentation fault...

etc

Try Offline Startup
Disconnect your Mac from the internet before launching InDesign. Sometimes Adobe licensing services stall the load.

You could disconnect and reboot.

Also try it in Safe Mode disconnected from the internet. 

Try removing any periphereals too - anything plugged into the Mac, monitors and everything - just let your laptop be standalone. 

[_nowandnew]

Hello,  thanks for helping!

No to all of this:

Firstly disable any VPN, anti-virus, or other 3rd party apps/plugins you have running. 

WebRoot, Magnet etc. have been know to cause issues. 

Some antivirus can aggresively block licensing daemons. 

Then display utlitilites, like Magnet, Duet etc can confuse InDesign.

Any Cloud services running? Are they stored in folders that are Syncing? 

Did this already, did it again, no effect:

Here's a few things to try

Can you go to the Library folder and manually delete these folders

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe
~/Library/Caches/Adobe
~/Library/Preferences/Adobe
/Library/Application Support/Adobe
/Library/Preferences/Adobe
/Library/Caches/Adobe

See if any old plugins are lurking - try deleting everything out of these folders - but keep the folders

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CC
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CC

Did this:

Disable GPU Performance
You can't diasble it if you can't open the app. But you might be able to force software rendering.

Open Terminal and run:

defaults write com.adobe.InDesign GPUPerformanceEnabled -bool NO

Then Reboot your Mac

  I've added a bunch of errorReports, please let me know if you need something specific.

Open the Console app and filter for InDesign. You’ll often see repeating errors. For example:

Post or screenshot those here if you want help decoding.

Failed to load framework...
Could not locate font...
Segmentation fault...

etc

So after I did all this, no internet, no monitor, safe mode, the file opened and then crashed, but it did open.

Try Offline Startup
Disconnect your Mac from the internet before launching InDesign. Sometimes Adobe licensing services stall the load.

You could disconnect and reboot.

Also try it in Safe Mode disconnected from the internet. 

Try removing any periphereals too - anything plugged into the Mac, monitors and everything - just let your laptop be standalone. 

So after all this I've managed to open the file, but it crashes when I do anything in Adobe Indesign.

I'm coming to the point of factory resetting the laptop and starting from scratch, which with all the software and cliënt files, will take days, but I'm really stuck. Thanks again for the help.

[Eugene Tyson]

Seems to be pointing to hang during network operations, likely related to licensing or font synchronisation (Adobe Fonts).

Probably Firewall or proxy settings blocking InDesign's communication with Adobe servers.

Could be

Corrupted font caches can sometimes cause issues with Adobe applications. You can try clearing your system's font caches.

Manage Adobe Fonts

Try signing out and then back into your Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application, sign out on the desktop and online. 

Try

Pause and then resume font syncing in the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application.

If possible, disable Adobe Fonts and see if InDesign launches correctly (you can re-enable them later).

Another thing try to update InDesign and macOS Ensure both Adobe InDesign and your macOS are updated to their latest versions.

[_nowandnew]

I've cleared the font caches, reset all fonts in fontbook, removed all adobe fonts and validated all remaining fonts via fontbook.

I've reverted to Indesign version 20.1, (I've reverted to all versions untill version 19.5.4 in the last couple of days), I'll update everything again via Creative Cloud. MacOs is up to date (Sequoia 15.5 (24F74))
I'll try out all the suggestions you mention and will also disable the Firewall to see if that does anything.

Thanks again for your quick respons!

[leo.r]

By @_nowandnew

You seem to have tried everything and then some...

In addition to all other suggestions, try to install a clean copy of macOS on another partition - will it make a difference?

[_nowandnew]

Thanks for the suggestion, that's maybe a better idea then to reset everything. I'll maybe try this by the end of the day if I don't get any further progress.

[Dirk Becker]

1) Disable font managers. Performance problems and crashes often are caused by font managers calling faulty macOS code that InDesign itself knows to avoid.

2) If you have no font manager, and have used migration assistant from a machine that had a font manager, track down and weed out the font manager migrated by migration assistant.

3) Otherwise follow the linked thread for looking at the details of the stuck program. If you see a font manager mentioned in the report, continue at 1)

4) If there is no font manager, upload/attach an Activity Viewer report as text file.

Do not copy-paste the file, use the forum upload.

[_nowandnew]

Hello, thank you for helping.

I have no knowledge of using an external font manager on this macbook.

I've just noticed a fontworker process, which apperently is a remnant of office 2011, no idea where that comes from. I will remove it now.

I've added an Activity Viewer report in attachment.

[Dirk Becker]

Note to myself: limit the activity report to InDesign. 😉

It is included at the bottom anyway, and matches an "Apple Problem Report" of above. 

I agree with Eugene, this is network trouble, (some CEP panel?) opening a HTTP connection.

I'd guess Typekit / Adobe Fonts service, in response to login rather than the login itself.

Try a different network.

If you're in a corporate environment, point your system admins to this list of "endpoints" for their firewall:

https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/kb/network-endpoints.html

[_nowandnew]

I'm not in a corporate environment, I'll look into the firewall settings. Thanks for the help again.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @_nowandnew ,

Thanks so much for sharing all the detailed information and for trying all the suggestions from the experts so thoroughly. I really appreciate the time and effort you've put into troubleshooting this.

I also noticed you mentioned using the Adobe Cleaner tool. I'd like to confirm if you used it following the steps from this official article here: https://adobe.ly/4eBV3Z1. If not, please run it again using the steps in this link to make sure everything is fully cleaned up.

Moreover, please try renaming the CEP and UXP folders. First, rename the CEP folder to CEP.old from the following location: on Mac, it's /Library/Application Support/Adobe. If that doesn't help, rename the UXP folder to UXP.old from these locations: on Mac, /Library/Application Support/Adobe and ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe.

Please give these steps a try and let me know how it goes.

I'll be here to support you further and look forward to your update!

Abhishek

[_nowandnew]

Hello,

I had contact with Adobe Support, shared screen and went through a clean install again, cache removal again, etc. An hour later we saw that there was a problem with connecting with Adobe servers (just as Dirk and Eugene suspected in their messages above). We got an error on https://lm.licenses.adobe.com/vact/ping (which should say 'pong'). Removing all cache, history and cookies in Chrome got rid of the error. Adobe Indesign opened and remained stable.

I installed Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects again.

An hour later it crashed again and gave an error on https://lm.licenses.adobe.com/vact/ping again.
I removed the history, cookies, etc. in Chrome and disabled Adobe Fonts in Creative Cloud (which was enabled again since it was a fresh install), went to preferences > services > Disable Adobe Fonts.

Now the file opens and then in about 30 seconds beachball, not responding, force quit necessary.

So yeah, guess I'll call support again.

[Eugene Tyson]

Before lauching Indesign - quit out of InDesign - Quit out of CC Desktop - and Make sure you're signed out of CC online. 
Clear your Chrome Cache - and completely reinstall Chrome

Restart

Then

Disable Adobe Fonts and Sync
Do this FIRST before you launch InDesign again.

Open Creative Cloud Desktop

Top-right profile icon > Sign Out

Quit Creative Cloud

Reopen Creative Cloud

Log back in

Go to Preferences > Services

Disable Adobe Fonts

Also disable file syncing if you don’t need it

This alone has resolved similar cases.

Purge All Adobe Licensing and OOBE Data
This is beyond “normal cache clearing.”

Quit all Adobe apps

In Finder, do Go > Go to Folder… and enter:

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/OOBE
Delete everything inside OOBE.

Then do the same here:

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/OOBE
Also delete these (if present):

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/SLStore
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/SLStore

and

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/SLCache
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/SLCache

These hold license tokens and can corrupt in ways that survive reinstalls.

Rename CEP and UXP Folders
Just as Abhishek suggested, but confirm you’ve done both locations:

Rename /Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP to CEP.old

Rename /Library/Application Support/Adobe/UXP to UXP.old

Rename ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/UXP to UXP.old

This disables all panels/extensions and resets their state.

Use a Clean Admin User Account
If possible, create a brand new Mac user account with Admin rights. Log in there, install Creative Cloud, disable Adobe Fonts before launching InDesign.

This prevents conflicts from user-level caches and preferences.

Test Without Internet
Once you’ve purged all the above:

Disconnect Wi-Fi/internet completely.

Reboot.

Launch InDesign and see if it starts and stays open.

If it works, you can safely bet the problem is licensing handshake or Adobe Fonts.

Apps Can Cause This
In addition to Webroot and Magnet, here’s a definitive list of processes that have directly been confirmed to block or interfere with vact/ping:

Little Snitch or LuLu firewall

TripMode 

AdGuard or Pi-hole

CleanMyMac 

Dropbox Smart Sync / Google Drive File Stream

Carbon Black or SentinelOne 

Cisco Umbrella

If you have any of these, quit them fully before testing (or anything similar).

[_nowandnew · Accepted solution]

Thanks again for this info. I'm not sure what eventually worked, it was probably a combination of proxy settings, cache and cookies like you said. It's difficult to pinpoint what fixed everything when I (and Adobe support remotely) tried all the solutions. Indesign is working again and is pretty fast, so it was probably best to remove caches, reset preferences, take care of font library and disabling adobe fonts in any case.

[Eugene Tyson]

You never know, maybe you reset the wifi on the coffee machine and that fixed everything 😛

[_nowandnew]

That reminds me, I should probably update the coffee machine’s font library as well 🙂

[Jack5FA1 · Accepted solution]

Had the same exact issue you are having and went through every step to no avail. I *think* I just figured it out.

I loaded it up after disconnecting from the internet, and it worked. Turned my network back on, and it froze up again. I did the same process again, and it has worked for me for the last hour now. Turn the network off and keep trying to open it. 

[Eugene Tyson]

If it's related to the netork/internet

Flush DNS Cache
Open Terminal.

Run this command:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

It will ask for your Mac password. Type it and press Return.

No success message is shown, but the cache is now flushed.

Clear System Internet Caches

In Terminal:

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
sudo killall mDNSResponderHelper
sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache

(Note: On Sequoia, discoveryutil may not exist, in which case you’ll see “command not found”  ignore it.)

Clear Adobe Licensing Cookies in Browser
Remember, Creative Cloud uses your default browser to authenticate, and stale cookies can cause this mess:

Clear all cookies and cached files for Adobe domains:

In Chrome:

Go to chrome://settings/siteData

Search for adobe.com

Remove all shown entries

In Safari:

Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data

Search adobe.com

Remove All

Quit and Relaunch Creative Cloud
Completely quit Creative Cloud (click the icon > Quit).

Reopen it.

Sign out and sign in again if prompted.

Try Launching Again Like This:
Disconnect from Wi-Fi.

Launch InDesign.

Wait until it fully opens.

Reconnect Wi-Fi.

Observe if it stalls or stays stable.

[_nowandnew · Accepted solution]

This may help: System settings > Network > Wifi > Details > Proxies > Uncheck 'Auto proxy discovery'

[_nowandnew]

I'm just going to reply to my own post to thank everyone for the help, Eugene and Dirk were correct in identifying the network issues. Turned out to be a combination of problems with the proxy settings, google chrome cookies, probably some caching issues. Indesign is working now and is very fast too. Also credit to the Adobe support team who were quick to fix things remotely on two separate occasions.

[mtcte]

I'm using a Mac and one InDesign file I was working on quit every time I got to a certain page. I turned off WIFI, and haven't had a problem since then. Working without WIFI isn't a great option, but at least it gave me time to delete what I think was the problematic image. I turned WIFI back on and have my fingers crossed.