No Create Button when Creating a New Document

[KumaLuo]

I just downloaded InDesign today and found out I can't create new document. I have already checked the Use Legacy "New Document" dialog and it didn't work for me. My laptop is mac.

Here is the screenshot and as you can see, there is no create button.

[Laubender]

Hi @KumaLuo ,

the workaround in this situation would be to surpass the dialog with a keyboard shortcut:

Cmd + Alt (Option) + N

The solution could be:
Trash or rename your InDesign preferences and cache folders.

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/indesign-preferences-support-file-locations.html

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Professional )

[KumaLuo]

Hi Laubender,

Thanks for the suggestion. I trashed the preference and cache folders but it still doesn't work. T-T

[Laubender]

Hi @KumaLuo ,

next thing to try:

Uncheck that the legacy new document dialog is used. *

You should find this option under the General tab of the InDesign Preferences panel.

FWIW:

Did you try my suggestion using the keyboard shortcut Cmd + Alt (Option) + N ?

That should do a new document without the New Document Dialog.

Also give us info of:

Exact version number of your InDesign.

Exact version number of your operating system.

And some machine details like model, RAM, free disk space and processor.

* Ah. I see that you already tried this. But try it again after trashing cache and preferences.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Professional )

[KumaLuo]

Hi Laubender,

Uncheck the legacy and the shortcut didn't work either. There was no new window pumping out. 😞

My InDesign version is 18.5 and my operating system is macOS Ventura 13.5.

The chip is Apple M1 and memory is 8 GB.

[BobLevine]

Do you have any third-party plugins installed? 

[KumaLuo]

Yes, actually a lot.

[BobLevine]

Disable them.

[KumaLuo]

I can't since they are all useful for me. Is there any other way? T-T

[KumaLuo]

I think I might misunderstood the meaning of third-party plugins. Is the application that is not installed from app store a third-party plugin?

[Randy Hagan]

Not exactly. Third-party plug-ins are utilities that you install into Adobe applications to perform specific functions (like creating different types of barcodes, providing accessibility features, etc.) or streamlining processes.

You don't necessarily need to turn them off forever. But turning them off will let you know if the plug-ins are at the root of your problems. Since you've likely updated both your InDesign installation (18.5 is very new) and MacOS (13.5 is pretty new), these new updates might conflict with your existing plug-ins.

If you turn off all the plug-ins and see your Create button once again, turn on the plug-ins one by one again to find out the offending party. You can then go to whoever provided the plug-in and request future guidance.

If you turn off all the plug-ins and still can't see your Create button, the options are to use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Opt+N on a Mac or Ctrl+Alt+N on Windows system to bypass the issue, or see if just using your return/enter key creates the new document easily. You are then entitled to mutter and cuss under your breath that you have to use the runaround.

The ruder cure is to use Adobe's CC Cleaner utility you can find here to uninstall Creative Cloud and go back to the previous version of the software. But it's not a panacea; if others provide you with files created with InDesign v.18.5 you may have file translation anomalies and have to trade files back and forth using InDesign's fallback .idml format.

So I suggest if you can use the keyboard shortcut/mutter and quietly cuss workflow, it's the better option. You can also submit a bug report here, and perhaps get more guidance directly from Adobe Systems. They're busy, so it might take a while for them to get back with you, but it's worth taking a shot.

Hope this helps,

Randy

[KumaLuo]

Hi Randy,

That is a pretty comprehensive explaination and suggestion. I'm really appreciate it. However, I tried every thing you said and none of them worked.

For plug-ins, I went to the top of the screen in InDesign and clicked into the Plug-ins catalog. It told me that I don't have any plug-ins in InDesign.

Then, I tried the shortcut on keyboard: Cmd+Opt+N doesn't work and return button could make me go to the next step (the following screenshot), but when I clicked OK, this window disappeared and nothing elsa happened.

Thus, I decide to write a report to the Adobe team. Wish they could find out what happened.

Kuma

[Randy Hagan]

I see from your screen caps what you're talking about.

The question is, if the button is hidden, or if it is entirely not registered in the program. It may be frustrating, but try this:

When you get to the New Document dialog, as shown in the first screen cap, the Layout Grid dialog... button is highlighted. Before trying the return/enter key, hit the tab key twice.

When you hit the tab the first time, it should skip to the Margins and Columns... button. The question is whether you see the Intent: edit box highlighted when you hit the tab the second time (which would indicate it isn't there), or you see nothing highlighted, which may indicate that the Create button is there, but hidden.

Or, if you're just tired of all of this, use the Adobe CC Cleaner tool then reinstall the previous version of InDesign, v.18.4. Hopefully that will get you back to a baseline that gets you up and running again.

Good luck,

Randy

[KumaLuo]

Thank you very much for helping me find out what problem I might have.

Eventually, I could create new document: I installed version 18.4. The Chinese version can pump out new documents and the English version can't. Maybe that's because I am in China right now. When I go back to the US, I might be able to use the English version.

Kuma

[Randy Hagan]

I'm glad it worked out well for you, and sorry that it had to happen in the first place.

Hopefully when you're back stateside, you won't have the issue. I've got to admit it's a new one for me, and your case is the first time I've run across that.

Have a good one,

Randy