Recurring Adobe InDesign crash

[Sylvain Guizard]

Hello everyone! For the past few days, I've been getting this alert in InDesign that keeps coming back. I've uninstalled and reinstalled InDesign, cleared preferences, and emptied the caches in user/name/library/cache/Adobe_Indesign, but none of this works. Do you have any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks in advance for your answers. 🙂

[jmlevy]

I've cleared preferences

De quelle façon ? Il faut relancer l'application tout en appuyant simultanément sur Maj, Ctrl, Alt [Windows], Maj, Ctrl, Alt et Cmd [Mac] jusqu'à l'apparition du message demandant confirmation. Ou bien, à partir de la version 2024, on peut faire cette opération via les préférences :

[Sylvain Guizard]

Oui, c'est ce que j'ai fait. Avec les touches à l'ouverture de l'application. Ça n'a aidé en rien, malheureusement.

[jmlevy]

Tu as bien obtenu un message demandant confirmation ? 

[Sylvain Guizard]

Oui, oui… Un petit popup qui s'ouvre auquel j'ai répondu.

[Sylvain Guizard]

Je pensais à un conflit avec TypeFace qui installe une fonctionnalité d'activation automatique des polices pour Indy, mais a priori ce n'est pas ça non-plus. 🫤 

[Sylvain Guizard]

J'ai également fait un coup d'Onyx pour nettoyer ou réparer des autorisations. Sans succès… J'avoue que je sèche un peu, là.

[jmlevy]

Ça se produit avec n'importe quel fichier ?

[Sylvain Guizard]

Ça se produit quand je bascule d'un fichier ouvert à un autre, ou même si je n'ai aucun fichier ouvert. D'un seul coup, paf. Sans raison.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Sylvain Guizard,

Thanks for sharing the details! I see you've already tried resetting preferences and clearing caches as suggested by the expert. Since the issue happens even when no files are open, could you confirm if the app crashes itself, and if you see the Adobe Crash Reporter dialog? If so, please submit the crash report with your email address included, and DM me the email you used, so I can check the logs and get it investigated. Reference: Adobe Crash Reporter.

Additionally, could you test if the issue persists in Safe Mode? This will help rule out any third-party software conflicts. Reference: Apple Safe Mode.

Also, please confirm the exact version of InDesign you're using and the details of your OS. Looking forward to your update!

^

Abhishek

[Sylvain Guizard]

Thanks Abhishek. I'm currently away from InDesign, but I'll keep an eye on that in the next week. 🙏🏻

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Sylvain Guizard,

Hope you're doing well! Just checking in if you are still facing the issue, or has it been resolved? Let me know whenever you get a chance. 

^

Abhishek

[Sylvain Guizard]

Hello Abhishek! I have the same problem again when I close the last document. Once no more documents are open, InDesign crashes. However, I don't have a "Crash Reporter" window for Adobe. I only have the one for Apple. I copied the report and attached it as a text file.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Sylvain Guizard,

Thanks for the update! I appreciate you sharing the Apple crash logs, but unfortunately, they don’t contain the details we need to investigate further. Since the Adobe Crash Reporter isn’t appearing for you, we’ll need to manually enable it.

To do this, go to:
'/Applications/Adobe InDesign 2025/Adobe InDesign 2025.app/Contents/Frameworks/AdobeCrashReporter.framework/Versions'
Double-click Adobe Crash Reporter (red A icon), select Always Show This Dialog, and click Done.

Ref: https://adobe.ly/3XYFYcS

Once InDesign crashes again, submit the report with your email included and DM me (on the Community) that email, so I can check the logs with the team. Let me know if you need any help with this!

^

Abhishek

[Sylvain Guizard]

This option is already selected. Yet it hasn't shown up 🫤 (really sorry for all these complications).

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Sylvain Guizard,  

Thanks for checking. Since the Adobe Crash Reporter isn't appearing, you can share the crash logs from the Console app instead.  

Open the Console app on your Mac and go to Crash Reports in the sidebar. Look for the InDesign crash report by checking the date and time of the crash. Right-click the report, select Reveal in Finder, and share that file with us.  

Looking forward to your update.  

^  
Abhishek

[Sylvain Guizard]

Here is the report file. (in .txt file because I can't attach the .ips file).
Thanks everyone for your help, I had the problem again this morning.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Sylvain Guizard,  

Thanks for sharing the crash logs! I am checking this with the product team and will provide an update once I hear back from them. In the meantime, could you also try the expert's suggestion regarding checking for any startup scripts that might be interfering? Let me know if that helps. 

Looking forward to your update!  

^  
Abhishek

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Sylvain Guizard,

Thanks for your patience! The product team has logged a bug for this issue and has implemented a fix in the latest 20.3 Pre-release build. Could you test it there and let us know if you still experience the crash? You can access the Pre-release version using this guide: https://adobe.ly/4hWaCuX.

Looking forward to your update! 

^

Abhishek

[Sylvain Guizard]

Hi @Abhishek Rao. Thanks for your reply and sorry for the delay in getting back to me. It seems that InDesign is not in the "Pre-release" category in my CC app (that's what it says in the guide you linked to). Should I install the Beta version instead?

[Dirk Becker]

Quick guess from the report:

Watch out for a script - could be a startup script - especially AppleScript, that does something in the UI. Maybe it installs an event handler responding to your close of window or document, that attempts to enforce a window workspace, opens a certain panel or alike.

[Sylvain Guizard]

I'll investigate further. But what's strange is that even after a complete uninstallation with AppCleaner, deleting the preferences, and a clean reinstallation, it still happens.
Thanks anyway, 👍🏻 I'll take a closer look at this.

[Sylvain Guizard]

I may have found the source of the problem. By disabling the automatic font activation option for InDesign in Typeface (font manager), I haven't had any crashes today.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Sylvain Guizard,

Yes, with InDesign 20.2, there is a known typeface issue, but this is the first case I’ve come across where it results in a silent crash. Thanks for confirming that you're using typeface!

Could you please go through this UserVoice thread regarding a known issue? It might provide some relevant insights:
https://adobe.ly/4jzVrsD

Regarding the Pre-release version, you won’t find it under Beta. Instead, you’ll need to ensure you’re enrolled in the Pre-release program first. Try the steps in this community article here and then check if you see InDesign listed in the Creative Cloud Desktop App under "Pre-release".  Let me know how it goes. 

^

Abhishek 

[Sylvain Guizard]

Ok, browsing the thread, I see I'm not the only one having the same problem and, apparently, the pre-release version does not solve the problem (screenshot attached). So I'll wait for a new version of Typeface or a fix in InDesign. In the meantime, I'll leave the option disabled in Typeface ; everything works fine without crashing. Many thanks @Abhishek Rao  & @Dirk Becker  for your patience and advice. 🙏🏻