Issues with Table Cells in InDesign 2022

[mcclatcheyj]

Hello community,

I’m experiencing some frustrating issues with tables in my InDesign 2022 document. Most of the tables and content in the cells are functioning as expected, but I’ve encountered some random problems:

1. In some cells, I can’t click to type text at all.
2. In other cells, text appears when I type it, but it disappears after it gets long enough to create a second line.

I’ve managed to fix a couple of these cells by setting the cell insets to zero, but there doesn’t seem to be a consistent pattern; for instance, a two line sentence works fine in one cell but not in another within the same row or column. It feels completely random.

I’ve also tried adjusting the lines of the text box for the table in hopes of accessing the unresponsive cells, but that hasn’t helped either. Neither does adjusting text wrap.

Does anyone have advice on how to troubleshoot these issues? Any insights or solutions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[leo.r]

what's your version of the operating system?

also, is there any specific reason you're using InDesign 2022?

have you tried InDesign 2025 (or 2024)? If there's an issue, it could be fixed there by now. You can download them from Creative Cloud app - just make sure to uncheck the option to overwrite existing InDesign versions. If you overwrite InDesign 2022, you won't be able to install it again.

[Mike Witherell]

No need to reinstall. See below answer.

[Eugene Tyson]

1. are some cells graphic cells?

https://helpx.adobe.com/lt/indesign/how-to/insert-image-table-cell.html

2. Have you set the Cell eight to be 'At Least'

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/formatting-tables.html#:~:text=Note%3A%20If,the%20cell.%20(Se...

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@mcclatcheyj

Would be best if you can share a sample table - otherwise, it will be a lot of guessing.

[mcclatcheyj]

I have attached three files for your review. The first attachment provides an overall image of a couple of the tables. The second attachment highlights an issue with a cell where the text disappears when it wraps to the next line. I have set the cell insets to zero, which improved some aspects of other cells, but the problem persists on this one. The third attachment displays cell options for a cell that is functioning correctly.

Notably, I observed that all the cells with issues are located under the German column.

Thank you for your assistance!

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@mcclatcheyj

Unfortunately, screenshots - especially in Preview mode - are not good enough - INDD file would be best.

[mcclatcheyj]

Actually I have InDesign 2024 and have Windows 11 Pro on my laptopl.

[Mike Witherell]

It is not really a problem with cell inset padding. 

Cells that have width and height set to "Exactly" some amount will go into "Overset" condition when the content becomes too great for the space. Check that your cells are set to an "At Least" amount for cell height (see the tab marked Rows and Columns) so that it can expand for lengthier amounts of volume of text.

[mcclatcheyj]

Hi Mike,

Yes, I did increase the diminsions of the 'at least' with not luck. I attached the indd below.

Thank you.

[Mike Witherell]

I tested your file. The long strings of Xs are just that: long strings of repeated typing of the letter x. Without a spacebar space, and without a dictionary entry, they table doesn't know how to break them and cannot break them, so it goes overset. If it was a real word, the dictionary could wrap it successfully. Are they meant to stand in for some other content that you will update? The only way to see all of the characters is to put an insertion of the Type tool in; and then open up Story Editor mode.