Problem Opening File in InDesign - No Solution

[samanta38030936o8m2]

Good evening, I am trying to solve an issue with an InDesign file that closed by itself and now won't open anymore. The message that appears when reopening the program is about file recovery, and regardless of the response, it opens the file but closes quickly after. I have already tried saving 3 copies using 'Save As,' but the same problem occurs.

Additionally, I have cleared the InDesign cache and I don't have any plugins installed. I checked for fonts issues but didn't find any. I have already reported the problem and received the following report:

{"app_name":"Adobe InDesign 2025","timestamp":"2025-01-09 17:58:59.00 -0300","app_version":"20.0.1.32","slice_uuid":"fb409b9d-73ed-3f7f-8f41-0d4322185132","build_version":"20010","platform":1,"bundleID":"com.adobe.InDesign","share_with_app_devs":0,"is_first_party":0,"bug_type":"309","os_version":"macOS 15.1.1 (24B91)","roots_installed":0,"name":"Adobe InDesign 2025","incident_id":"48356CCF-0E51-4C5C-982B-1D951FFD09CC"}

Could someone assist me with this issue?

[Peter Spier]

The file seems to be corrupt.

Try the blind open and export to .idml script at http://kasyan.ho.ua/indesign/all/blind_open_and_idml-export.html

[samanta38030936o8m2]

Thanks, Peter. I tried, but it didn't work out for me.  😞

[Peter Spier]

Have you tried opening on another computer? Running in Safe Mode? Using a different User account?

[samanta38030936o8m2]

Yes, I did.

I saw the email address and sent it to them to resolve my issue.

Thanks, Peter!

[Peter Spier]

You need to understand that you may not hear from them, or at least not anytime soon, and they may not have any luck in recovery either.

If you are on windows, you can also try the tool at INDDRecovery — a program for restoring corrupted InDesign documents. I've had the occasional success with this tool, but probably more failures. On the other hand, it's free so worth a try.

When all alse has failed and it would be very costly to rebuild from scratch you can try the paid recovery service from Markzware. Again, no guarantees, and you pay the intake fee regardless: Bad InDesign or Quark File Recovery Submission Form 

Now for the general lecture on good practices.

Number one, ALWAYS make a backup of your work. Many of us here do that to external storage of some sort. Do you have Time Machine enabled on your Mac (error report snippet seems ti indicate you are on that platform). A common strategy, and the one I use, is to do a Save AS at the end of every editing session with a new name (I append a new sequential verion number to working files). This rewrites the file fresh and removes all the change data from it which will be completely useless as soon as the file is closed. It also allows you to quickly go back to a working version in case of disaster and can save you days of work.

Always do a save as at strategic times rather than a plain save, even if you don't rename. Helps cut down on file bloat and cumulative corruption.

Don't keep recycling files forever. For documents you revise regularly (like a magazine) make and use a template with all the static content and necessary styles, then open that and add the dynamic content. Second Generation files are far less likely to develop a problem than one that's been recycled 20 or 30 times. Indesign is pretty stable, but as you already know, stuff happens.

Working on files on your hard drive is safer than working directly to the cloud or other remote storage.  I know users who swear by working directly in a DropBox folder because that does automatic versions, but I'm nervous about that.

Good Luck

[Eugene Tyson]

There are troubleshooting steps here https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/indesign/kb/troubleshoot-file-issues.html

And there's an email address at the end if nothing else is working.