Persistent Error in Adobe InDesign: ‘There Was an Error Updating the Artifact

[Chris Tammar]

When I go to update a review link in InDesign, I keep getting this error message "there was an error updating the artifact". After that, the link does not work for most people. I am signed in to Adobe. Everything is up-to-date.... But this issue still persists. Can Adobe please fix this issue? It's emarassing when I go to send the review link to my leaders and they just get an error message when they try opening it.

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[philippepetitpas]

Medidos de noviembre 2026 y este problema es peor que antes. En Indesign 2025, usualmente aparecía este mensaje, pero el contenido sí se actualizaba. Desde que cometí el error de actualizar a Indesign 2026, cada documento que comparto (y en mi work flow comparto muchos documentos todos los días con colaboradores y clientes) aparece este error. La única manera es crear un nuevo enlace. Pero qué pasa con los comentarios hechos por mis colaboradores? Es una verguenza que Abode lance productos a medio terminar. Realmente el monopolio le ha hecho muy mal a esta compañía. 

[curranh53626830]

I am having the same problem here from InDesign. I updated to the latest version too.

[user8773624]

Coming back to share something interesting after a few years. Seems my PC will update the file, even when it says it can't. My Mac, however, says it cannot update the artifact, and does not update the file. *le sigh* I'm tired.

[NOcreationsBE]

@user8773624 that is very interesting indeed! I work only on a pc these days and it always updates the file (error or not). This could explain why some users report that the online file does not update while others don't have that problem.
Adobe, @Abhishek Rao, here's an important clue!

[Abhishek Rao]

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for continuing to report your experiences regarding the error message.

A bug has been logged for this issue, where the Update Content action in the Sharesheet may show the error even though the content is actually updated successfully and reflects correctly on Assets Web. Our product team is actively working on a fix.

Really appreciate your patience and collaboration. I will keep you all posted as soon as we have an update.

Thanks again
Abhishek

[Yakou]

If only, content was actually updated... But it is not.

[NOcreationsBE]

@Yakou  It seems that updates do not come through when you are working on a Mac, but they do when you are working on a PC. What are you working with?

[Yakou]

I'm on Windows 11...

[NOcreationsBE]

@Yakou That's the first time I've heard this from a PC user. Did you refresh the page with the online example (and also wait a few minutes before doing that)?

[philippepetitpas]

Hi! I can confirm that in InDesign 2025, the PDF did update even though the error message appeared. But since I updated to InDesign 2026, the content no longer updates in any of my projects. Regards

[katie_0825]

I have also been having this issue with one of my files for the past 2 days. I've tried many of the things suggested here, am using 21.01.1 Indesign and macOS Tahoe 26.1. For one of my cloud files, after I updated the review link it no longer opened and crashed Indesign every time I tried. I was able to duplicate the file and continue working in that version, but every time I try to update the link it has the 'There was an error updating the artifact' error message, and the updates don't push through. The only thing that seems to work is deleting the link and generating a new one, but that is extremely disruptive for our process (and embarrasing). I have tried packaging and using the indml which I then convert to indd, and that also ends up having the same issue.

[HasseLossius]

I have the same problem, with the same version of InDesign (and on Mac). It becomes especially embarrassing when the first version works for clients, but after they’ve added comments for changes, it’s no longer possible to upload a new file. Then I have to create a new link, but that means all the comments disappear as well.

[Yakou]

Well. The only solution is to explain the failure to the client. And that's
no good for the brand image of Adobe.

[philippepetitpas]

That's right! It's what I've had to do over and over again: explain that this is a feature with continuity issues and that, although it's an excellent feature in theory, in practice it’s inconsistent and unreliable. I’ve had to apologize to my clients many times on Adobe’s behalf. In the end, I’m the one responsible for choosing to use this feature. I’m considering stopping its use because it’s causing me more problems than it solves.

[MdesignAZ]

Remember when Share for Review was the new hotness that was going to usher in a new era of seamless collaboration? Message boxes on InDesign prompted you, "You must try our cool new feature it's the cat's pajamas!"

It was about 85% developed when it was released, and then left that way while they went on to the next shiny new object.