Inspiring

Answered

Paragraph and Character Styles very slow when making changes to an existing style, help!!

Forum|Forum|9 months ago
April 27, 2025
19 replies
14275 views

It started back in March and has persisted ever since.

I have the latest, updated version of InDesign and Windows 11. I did not make any changes prior to the issue, and I have a newer desktop computer. I have been working with InDesign since it was the Pagemaker program, so knowledge is not an issue here. And, I have never had this problem in my 33 years of using Adobe programs.

That being said, here is the issue:

Randomly, when I edit an existing paragraph or character style, it can take 30 seconds to over a minute to be able to make that change. It happens when I choose a different setting, and also when I hit okay.

If I close ID and restart, it helps a bit, but not completely, and the issue continues to worsen as I make style changes.
I have deactivated all fonts, and that did not help.
I have installed and reinstalled ID, and that did not help.
I have rebooted SO MANY times
I have tried to delete my font cache, but I get a message that it is in use even after I reboot.

I am a book designer and work on book interiors every day, and this is KILLING my workflow.

Any help with this issue would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Performance

Correct answer victoriawolf

I am having the same issue. Taking all day to edit a file. Long wait for Font styles, character and paragraph changes or editing. I am not able to figure out from these messages what to try and if there is an actual solution. Thanks. BTW, what is the term ID? Mentioned in these posts.

I have found that restarting ID (InDesign) helps and also deleting ID caches before restarting also helps. Here is where the caches are located: Local Disk c:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Adobe/InDesign/Version 20.0/en_US/caches/

I delete these files:

AdobeFontList.lst

FontClassificationCache.txt

FontMaskCache

and the TypeQuestCachse folder

And, I have found that the Adobe Garamond Premier Pro is corrupted and causes many issues.

T

Treon

Participating Frequently

I am an Apple user (Sequioa). Maybe it's too early to say, but with the arrival of InDesign 2026 (version 21.0) things seem to work finally better.

alisona68897270

Known Participant

I have been having the same problem for several months, Win 11, new computer last year with plenty of everything. This happens in all books, large and small, and all fonts. Sometimes the lag is up to five minutes, just to make a small change to a paragraph style or use change/find. I have been designing books with InDesign for 20 years and have never had this particular issue before. The only thing that helps (sometimes) is to save/as every few minutes. I'm so tired of being gaslighted by Adobe people. "Nobody else seems to have this problem..." but then I find many other people online experiencing the same thing. Trashing my prefs never works. So frustrating.

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williamk98826693

Participating Frequently

Click on Windows/Program Files/Adobe/Adobe InDesign 2026/InDesign.exe, then properties/compatibility/Run this program as an administrator. This fixes it finally!

alisona68897270

Known Participant

Just did that, I'll see if it helps! Thanks!

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Ruda-T.

Participating Frequently

I had the same lag problem and after trying to clear the cache etc. that didn't help I used this "run as administrator" trick and voila - InDesign is no longer lagging when working with character/paragraph styles. The trick may help others as well, it has been working for me for more than 2 weeks...

T

Treon

Participating Frequently

Hi Ruda, how do you apply this "run as administrator" trick? Is it something you change in your settings? Or is this a system based thing? Please advise.

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Ruda-T.

Participating Frequently

Either right-click the InDesign icon on your desktop and select "run as administrator" from the menu, it should be the third line from the top. However you would have to do this every time you want to run InDesign. Or find the indesign.exe file in the "Program Files / Adobe / Adobe InDesign 2025" folder, right-click the file and in the Properties / Compatibility tab, find and check "run as administrator" - this is permanent setting and InDesign will run with full administrative rights everytime. I would put screenshots here, but they would be in Czech and maybe a little baffling 😉

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michelew17466851

Participant

Not to pile on, but I am also having this problem. Every book I do (new or old) takes 3-4 times the amount of time if I try and change anything by editing the paragraph tag. I understand there are several things to try, my question is, why do I need to do this? It is obvioulsy an Adobe problem, so maybe you all should fix it.

I have been using InDesign since God was a boy and I have not changed the way I build, edit, design books, so I don't think it's me or my machine (Windows 11, InDesign 20.5 x 64) since none of that has changed. I should also note, that I am not able to work locally (per se) because of the way my company has set up our machines (our "user" files are in the cloud) and that's not something I can change.

Sorry if this seems a bit aggressive but my entire job has been completely turned upside down trying to deal with this. The latest file I've been working on is attached in case you want to look at it (as I've said, ALL my files have the same problem).

anxietyReliefKids2d.zip

V

victoriawolfAuthor

Inspiring

Not aggressive at all. This has been going on for well over six months, and I have been told over and over that the issue was my system. I have been working with ID since it was PageMaker, and no, this is not my issue. Another user suggested using the Redefine Style command instead of opening the Style and making changes. It has really helped. It's not perfect, but it has cut the wasted time in half, if not more than that. Have you tried that?

I really hope there is a fix to this soon. Like you, my workflow has been extremely compromised and I would love to put these hellish months behind me.

M

michelew17466851

Participant

I have been doing that for character changes and that helps, but I can't use it for border and shading and keep options unfortunately.

Hoping they'll figure this out soon, I am sooo tired of it.

A

Amie5EAF

Participant

I have been experiencing this issue since late June 2025, after my company upgraded my system to Windows 11. I have also tried all of these solutions and continue to experience these issues.

OsakaWebbie

Inspiring

It's not the Windows version, but the InDesign version that is the issue. After much frustration, I re-installed the 2024 version for the sake of my sanity and workflow. I only fire up 2025 when I need to use something provided by others that was saved in 2025 - I open the file, save as IDML, close InDesign 2025, and do the rest in 2024.

T

Treon

Participating Frequently

I agree. I am a mac user and I also have these InDesign problems. I also re-installed InDesign 2024 as it turns out to be the only option to proceed …

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for continuing to share your experiences and for providing the sample file.

I've connected with the product team and shared the details you've reported, including the recurring lag on Windows 11 systems that many of you have traced back to the 20.2 update. After testing the shared file across both 20.2 and 20.4.1 builds on Windows 11, the team has not been able to reproduce the slowdown when editing paragraph or character styles. Performance appears to be normal on our end.

That said, we fully understand how disruptive this issue has been to your workflow, and we're committed to helping get to the bottom of it. If you haven't already, please try the following steps:

Reset InDesign preferences

Disable the Contextual Task Bar

You can find detailed instructions here: https://adobe.ly/40wxXgR

Also, please ensure you are testing this on the latest version, 20.4.1, and let us know if the issue persists after these steps.

We're actively monitoring this thread and will keep you updated with any findings from the engineering team.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Abhishek

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RussNemec

Participant

So many of us are experiencing this issue. I've done all the suggested solutions yet still have the lag. There's something wrong with the 2025 InDesign version. It's frustrating when all we want is for the software to work.

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victoriawolfAuthor

Inspiring

For months, I was told it was my system when, logically, I knew that was not the case. Now that more of us post here, the issue may be addressed. I really hope so because it is killing my workflow!

OsakaWebbie

Inspiring

@victoriawolf I don't know if you solved this yet for your situation, but I am also using InDesign on Windows 11. (Side note: I'm a very long-time user like you - I started with Aldus Pagemaker 3, before Adobe bought it!) After upgrading to InDesign 2025 in May, I suddenly had a lot of lag doing various things - style changes as well as other actions. I also had similar problems in Photoshop 2025. I ended up re-installing v. 2024 of both apps and retreating. Of course I had to use IDML to convert InDesign documents that had been saved with 2025, but it was worth it - the difference is response time is like night and day. I assume Adobe is aware of it and working on solutions. But if you have discovered a solution in your case, please share.

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victoriawolfAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks for sharing! Same here with Aldus PageMaker! I am glad you solved the issue. Adobe is now aware of the issue but cannot replicate it on their end. With my workload, doing what you did would be problematic but I may need to in order to get some relief.

OsakaWebbie

Inspiring

Hiding in an old version is not truly "solving the issue", but it's what I need to do for the time being, for the sake of my sanity. Fortunately I've never seen IDML mess up anything - my documents always look the same. Of course if you are using features introduced in 2025 for the first time, that would be a different story.

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williamk98826693

Participating Frequently

I just turned off the GPU preview, and the lag went from 25 secs down to 1/2 a sec for the style drop down. I changed it in the preferences menu, then restarted InDesign.

R

RussNemec

Participant

Thank you for this! I have been having the same lag issue. Turning off the GPU preview as you suggested has at least temporarily reduced the lag for me.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

I've walked through your workflow on both InDesign 20.2 and 20.4.1 here and wasn't able to reproduce the lag. Edits to paragraph and character styles were instantaneous for me. To dig in further, could one of you package up a simple sample file with all the needed fonts and linked assets and share it here or send it via DM if it’s confidential? You can package by choosing File > Package and then upload the resulting folder. Reference: https://adobe.ly/3TNhQre

I'm also checking this with our product team and will keep you posted on any updates.

Thanks for hanging in there with us!

Abhishek

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victoriawolfAuthor

Inspiring

Thank you! Here is a book interior that is in process. I experience the issue with each and every file.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/qmhjp0b1dn2pxinsj10ft/AFXJcGoi4uBEX7q7j9KGzKQ?rlkey=v2y7ry0l1auv2hqkdis0aoufi&st=1yrqqul5&dl=0

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williamk98826693

Participating Frequently

I have the same problem, I've been working with InDesign since 2012 on books, Windows 11, all drivers updated. I think the delay in the paragraph style options menu started with the 20.2 update a few months ago. Like you said, it gradually gets worse over time until it can take a minute for the style dropdown to show, or to be able to click ok.

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victoriawolfAuthor

Inspiring

I wish I could pinpoint exactly when it started happening, but I think you are probably close in saying the 20.2 update. It appears now, with the latest update 20.4.1, my workaround of shutting down ID and deleting type caches is not working as well. I have been told over and over that it is my system causing this, and I don't agree. I have been working with Adobe products since their inception, and this has never happened before. And, now that more are coming out and saying they have the same issue, I am thinking it is a Windows 11 or Adobe issue. I find it hard to believe that all of us experiencing this issue would have the same misconfiguration or damaged files.

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