Password protect InDesign documents showing "Access Denied" error in InDesign 19.4 version

[Russ W]

Hi there - great to see this feature added after requests for it for many years 🙂
However there does seem to be a bug present. I'm running Indesign 19.4 and password protection was working fine on Thursday.
Saturday 27 April a 16 page docoument with animation to the cover has been returning a accessdenied error or it would let me in but the pages wont load.
This happeneded to the original publication from Thursday and to new version of it that I uploaded to test.

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[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Russ W,

Thank you for testing the feature and reporting the issue. Is it possible for you to share the file with me over a private message along with the link so that we can test it at our end? Does that happen with all files or with this specific test file?

We would love to investigate the issue further.

Thanks,

Harshika

[Russ W]

Hi Harshika,
Yes sure I’ll share that’s fine.
I’ll upload again later along with another test file and private message the details.
Regards
Russ

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Thank you for sharing the files. The first document opens fine at my end. However, the second document gave me "Access Denied" error. I have escalated both the files to the team for further investigation and will get back to you as soon as I hear back from them.

Thanks,

Harshika

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Russ W,

Hope you're doing well!

I have sent you a private message. Could you please check and help me with the request?

I will try my best to help you further.

Thanks,

Harshika 

[Keri218586353ge6]

Hello, Did you find a fix for the access denied.  If I do not put a password on my manual everything loads fine.  It's when I place a password that I get this message.  I have tried it on Firefox and Chrome.  Thank you!

[Russ W]

Currently being worked on - im sending them test documents today so they can replicate the issue

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Russ W & @Keri218586353ge6 ,

Thank you for your patience. Could you please try again and let us know if the issue is resolved?

Awaiting your response.

Thanks,

Harshika

[cliveblackstone]

Hello Indesign community,

I'm trying to publish an InDesign document online (which works fine when it's published), but when I put a password on the document it doesn't work and glitches out. 

Any ideas why?

[Laubender]

Hi @cliveblackstone ,

what does "glitches out" exactly mean?

Are you not able to input the password?

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[cliveblackstone]

Hey Uwe,

Thanks for writing back. It doesn't load and comes up blank with an 'access denied', attached.

[Laubender]

Hm…

Did you try different browser software?

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[cliveblackstone]

Hey Uwe,

What do you mean by different browser software?

[Frans v.d. Geest]

Uwe means a different browser 😉 Test in in different browsers, Chrome, Safari, Firefox.

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @cliveblackstone & @Keri218586353ge6, 

We are sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with password-protected files. It looks like multiple customers are experiencing this issue. We're unable to reproduce the issue on our end. Hence, we would need your help in investigating the issue. Would you mind sharing your InDesign file with me via private message so we can test it? 

Please upload the InDesign file to a shared location such as CC or Dropbox and share the URL with me.

I will try my best to help you.

Thanks,

Harshika

[Keri218586353ge6]

I tried to send you some information but it would not allow the link for dropbox.

[Keri218586353ge6]

As well why are some of my graphics smaller than what I had used in the manual.  It's cropped them or something but I have many versions of the same image and it only does it to certain ones.

[Russ W]

Hi there - no change for me. Uploaded new publication from the same test files i sent you. Still get access denied error

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Russ W, 

Thank you for checking and updating us. I checked with the team, and they informed me that a few updates are pending, and they are expected to be completed on June 1st. Meanwhile, if you use a VPN, could you please connect to some US region and try as a workaround until 1st June?

Let me know if that helps.

Thanks,

Harshika

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Russ W & @Keri218586353ge6, 

We would like to follow up on your issue. Could you please try again and let us know if the issue is resolved for you now?

We are awaiting your response.

Thanks,

Harshika

[Russ W · Accepted solution]

Hi there. I have tested an old password document that wasnt working. It's now working.
I also uploaded a new passworded document and can confirm that is also working.
Can I ask what the fix involved? In case its something we might need to avoid? Was it document page length or file size etc?

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Awesome. Thank you for the confirmation. They fixed the issue in the build from the backend. Please feel free to reach out to us in the future for any query related to InDesign. 

We would be happy to help.

Thanks,

Harshika

[Mettemarie01]

Hi! We are using INdesign 2025 and have problems publishing online when using a password. The document works fine without password, but when we try to use a password, the links in the document stop working. They open a new tab just displaying the headline and no content. Can you please help?