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GoldenRetriever1893
Known Participant
June 13, 2018
Answered

Locate Object in Layers Window

  • June 13, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 8420 views

In Illustrator when you have an object selected, you can go to the flyout option menu and select an action named "locate object." This then brings you to where that object is located in layers. It's brilliant and I am looking for it's equivalent in InDesign. Otherwise, in documents with many objects and layers, I have to scroll a lot while looking for a colored square, sometimes opening many sublayers in the process to locate my desired layer/object.

A basic question and I say thank you!

    Correct answer vinny38

    Hi!

    I believe CTRL/Command + click on an closed arrow will only expand all layers/groups that have the same level of hierarchy.

    Meaning it won't display the whole content of each layer.

    But... ALT (PC) + Click on an closed arrow will expand everything in the clicked layer (or group)

    As an example, I want to "locate" the red stroked square in my layer panel.

    I would start by CTRL + clicking on the arrow of an expanded layer in order to close all layers. (But it's not really necessary)

    Then I would Alt + click on the arrow of the layer that contains the selected object.

    Piece of cake: just notice the colored square on the right hand-side of the layer. Red in my example, because Layer 2 is red.

    Now, all you have to do is to look for the big colored square that flags the selected object. Small colored square flag the parent groups of the object. If you reaaaally have a lot of stuff, you might have to scroll down a little bit, but it's still quite easy to locate.

    See example below:

    4 replies

    M
    Mariusz Go
    Known Participant
    December 9, 2018

    Hi everyone,

    Can I enable the automatic location of the currently selected object?

    It's a very convenient and time-saving option.

    Best Regards

    Steve Werner
    Steve Werner
    Braniac
    December 9, 2018

    If you mean, "can I create a keyboard shortcut to call out 'Locate Object' from the Layers panel menu?" the answer is no. It is not included as a panel option for which a shortcut can be applied. It needs to be chosen from the menu.

      M
      Mariusz Go
      Known Participant
      December 9, 2018

      Thank you for your response. My bad. The question concerned Illustrator. Thank you for your response.

        G
        GoldenRetriever1893Author
        Known Participant
        June 13, 2018

        Thank you Dan and Erica. I appreciate your response. I am now transitioning from using mostly Illustrator to using InDesign more frequently and I am seeing the two programs have many differences!

          Erica Gamet
          Erica Gamet
          Inspiring
          June 13, 2018

          If you press the Command key (Ctrl on PC) while clicking on one of the disclosure arrows to open a layer, it will open all layers and show their contents. At least you can quickly see all the objects...still will have to scroll though.

          vinny38
          vinny38Correct answer
          Braniac
          June 14, 2018

          Hi!

          I believe CTRL/Command + click on an closed arrow will only expand all layers/groups that have the same level of hierarchy.

          Meaning it won't display the whole content of each layer.

          But... ALT (PC) + Click on an closed arrow will expand everything in the clicked layer (or group)

          As an example, I want to "locate" the red stroked square in my layer panel.

          I would start by CTRL + clicking on the arrow of an expanded layer in order to close all layers. (But it's not really necessary)

          Then I would Alt + click on the arrow of the layer that contains the selected object.

          Piece of cake: just notice the colored square on the right hand-side of the layer. Red in my example, because Layer 2 is red.

          Now, all you have to do is to look for the big colored square that flags the selected object. Small colored square flag the parent groups of the object. If you reaaaally have a lot of stuff, you might have to scroll down a little bit, but it's still quite easy to locate.

          See example below:

            L
            Laubender
            Braniac
            June 15, 2018

            vinny38  wrote

            … But... ALT (PC) + Click on an closed arrow will expand everything in the clicked layer (or group)

            Hi Vinny,

            thank's for that hint!

            Hm… with my laptop where a German Windows 10 version 1803 and a German InDesign CC 2018.1 is installed it is Strg + Alt + Click to open all layers. That said: All layers that contain contents on the active spread. The ones that contain no contents will not be opened.

            EDIT: Misread your sentence above. It says "in the clicked layer (or group)", not in the entire Layer panel.
            For all layers in the Layer panel that contain something it's: Strg + Alt + Click .

            Regards,
            Uwe

            Dan Rodney
            Dan Rodney
            Braniac
            June 13, 2018

            I don't believe that InDesign has an equivalent feature.

            — Adobe Certified Expert & Instructor at Noble Desktop | Web Developer, Designer, InDesign Scriptor
            G
            gilberto_0536
            New Participant
            July 30, 2025

            Sorry for resurrecting the chat but I came across this same issue in InDesign 2025. I managed to locate items on layers by toggling the "dropdown carrot" next to the layer name(s) in question. I then selected page by page until something appeared in the dropdown layer.

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