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

[victoriawolf]

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!

[Joel Cherney]

Please read through previous threads. I shared a tremendous amount of information. 

Were you ever able to successfully purge your font caches? 

Did you ever try resetting your InDesign preferences?

Did you ever try a full uninstall and reinstall? Maybe with the Adobe Clean Tool? 

The fact that numerous other people were able to open your file and didn't experience any slowdown at all makes it pretty clear that the problem is related to your workstation. Sometimes, changes happen that you don't make to your system, that lead InDesign to run like it's kneedeep in mud. I experienced Adobe Fonts-related slowdowns exactly like the ones you described, and I fixed it (after a few days of fruitless troubleshooting) by purging my font caches. It took me a few tries - I had to do it twice in safe mode, with a hard reboot in between. I had to make sure that Windows font caches were cleared, as well as all InDesign caches. 

@Emeka Jones since you've clearly read @victoriawolf's thread, I'd suggest that you try those troubleshooting steps. Especially suggestions from @rob day and @Eugene Tyson on the third page of that thread, relating to deletion of Windows font cache and all InDesign caches, and maybe a full uninstall/reinstall with the Adobe Clean Tool. 

[victoriawolf]

Let's be clear, InDesign is not running "like mud" in any way other than the character and paragraph styles. And many other people are having a similar issue. I have spent hours on this issue; the only thing left to do is to use the Adobe Clean Tool. I am recovering from surgery, so I am not sure when I will be able to do that. Hopefully, someone else can figure this out and post what the real solution is.

[Eugene Tyson]

The reason is your fonts. Cc cleaner might work. 

But unless you fix the issue with your fonts then you'll likely be back to where you are now.

[victoriawolf]

I have removed all Adobe-activated fonts twice, and there was no change. I deleted the font cache multiple times as well, with no change.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

I have removed all Adobe-activated fonts twice, and there was no change. I deleted the font cache multiple times as well, with no change.

By @victoriawolf

Maybe the problem is with fonts that came from other apps? 

Like Microsoft Office - or manually installed. 

[victoriawolf]

I don't have many other fonts installed as I use Adobe fonts nearly exclusively. I do have a few others installed, and none were installed around the time the issue started.

Victoria

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

I don't have many other fonts installed as I use Adobe fonts nearly exclusively. I do have a few others installed, and none were installed around the time the issue started.

By @victoriawolf

It's not about when they were installed. 

It's that they are in the system. 

Could you please try and remove / uninstall them - but make copies first. 

[Karen Sheets]

Hi Victoria,

I was having a particularly tough time with replacing a bullet font in the styles palette, and driven to desperation, I tried this. So far it has worked on the (large, complex) document I am using today, with no slowness or weird lags anymore. I need to try my other regular long-form files that have been slow, but I wanted to share in case it works for you:

I went to my main Windows font folder, which for me is:

C:\Users\karen\OneDrive\Fonts

I cut all the fonts and pasted them into a folder on my desktop, leaving the folder empty. 

Many of the docs I use now are largely Adobe-subscription fonts, so in this case, it didn't affect my use of the one document at all. But I plan on adding back in fonts as needed for InDesign docs I am using, and seeing if this works or if I can ID a problematic font. I had fonts and folders of unused fonts from computers going back to probably 2000, so I am sure there is plenty of garbage in there (along with some very high quality purchased fonts from Emigre, foundries, etc.), but many of the fonts I do not need, or have been incorporated into the Adobe subscription. 

Maybe give it a try? I will update again after I see if this really helped more of my workflow.

--Karen

[AlanGilbertson]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the "Auto-add Adobe fonts" preference (under "File Handling," for some reason. A number of problems surfaced, starting around mid-2023, that traced to this preference being turned on, as it is by default. Turning it off made the problem go away. I'd strongly recommend trying this, especially if you have fully licensed and installed fonts that are also available as Adobe Fonts download.

[victoriawolf]

I have turned it on and turned it off, and there is no change. I only use Adobe fonts for Adobe programs and do not install for system-wide use.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @redwolfgirl66,

Would you mind trying the following steps and checking if it helps:

• Close all Adobe applications
• Remove the Creative Cloud Desktop application, CCLibrary, and CoreSync using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool (https://adobe.ly/3FOjwxh)
• Reinstall the Creative Cloud Desktop application (https://adobe.ly/4ks2tQF)
• Relaunch InDesign

Also, try running InDesign under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Emeka Jones,

Thanks for reaching out. To better understand what's going on, could you please share which version of InDesign you're using and the details of your operating system? Also, does the slowness happen with just one file or across all your documents? Let me know if the delay occurs only when editing existing styles or if it affects creating new ones as well.

If you can, a short screen recording of the issue would be really helpful. Also, please don't forget to respond to the expert's question about the font you're using asit might help narrow things down.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Abhishek Rao

Looks like this thread got "corrupted"?

[Emeka Jones]

Hello Abhishek,

I am using the latest version 20.3.1, and I have attached a screenshot of my Windows operating system. The slowness happens on a new file and all documents when you want to add/edit paragraph styles. Also, attached is a screen-recorded video to show.
Thanks.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Emeka Jones

How many fonts do you've installed in the system?

Because it looks like A LOT? 

And with only 16GB of RAM - your machine is "suffocating"... 

[Joel Cherney]

Maybe it's an artifact of having to work on so many languages, but I have what I think of as "a lot" of fonts installed, with a large number of language-specific fonts permanently installed. From that point of view, Emeka's video doesn't show A LOT of fonts. From what we can see from the scrolling around at the end of the video (when the Fonts dropdown finally populates) Emeka has fewer fonts installed than I do, on a faster system with a newer processor and the same amount of RAM (I know, I know, 16 gigs is just barely enough to get by) , but much laggier font menu behavior.  

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

It might sound silly, but who knows... 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/paragraph-and-character-styles-very-slow-when-ma... 

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Emeka Jones,

Thanks so much for sharing the version details and screen recording, that really helps! I tried reproducing the issue on my system (Windows 11 with InDesign 20.3.1), but everything seems to be working normally on my end. Based on what you've shared and what the experts like Joel and Robert have mentioned, it's quite possible that this is system specific.

I'd suggest going ahead with the troubleshooting steps they recommended, especially purging the font caches and possibly using the Adobe Cleaner Tool for a fresh reinstall. Please do keep us posted after trying those. We'd love to know if they make a difference for you.

Also, @Robert at ID-Tasker, just curious, when you mentioned that the thread seems to be “corrupted,” could you point out what exactly looks off on your end? I'm seeing everything display fine here. Let's sync up on that.

Looking forward to your update, Emeka!

Abhishek 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Abhishek Rao

Sorry, you - or someone else - split posts from @Emeka Jones into a separate thread, right?

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @robert Tkaczyk,

Great catch! I just checked and noticed it had been moved (wasn't me either). I've gone ahead and merged the parent thread with this one so the full context is preserved.

Thanks, 

Abhishek 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Great, thanks @Abhishek Rao.

But now, we will be getting notifications about all the "new" messages again? 😉

[Eugene Tyson]

If I remember correctly two threads were created and replied to separartely - I could be wrong.

[williamk98826693]

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.

[victoriawolf]

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.

[Abhishek Rao]

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