InDesign 2026 Text Disappears While Editing Text Frames on Windows

[FlyDutch23]

First, the latest InDesign update installed "2026" on my Win 11 box, but did not remove/update the "Start", or the "Taskbar" shortcut links ...

After sorting out the "Can't open this InDesign file - it was created in a newer version" roadblock, I have been working on simple, no linked art, etc. 8.5x11" documents and running into a BIG problem ...

Creating & saving a single-page document, then creating an additional text frame, adding formatted text, thinking about "what's next" \, etc ...

I will have the "text cursor" involved, tap the intended frame to enter SOMETHING/ANYTHING text-related & the existing content disappears ...

The text frame remains, nothing is flashing, no warning/error box appears - nothing ...

Going to the edit drop-down menu shows "undo clear" (not my initial reaction destination) ...

The "undo clear" desire returns the affected text, but in a previous iteration - the last save has resolved to "somewhere" in the run-up to said "save" ...

The backspacing of text, "enter" for a new paragraph > gone ...

Previous "before back-deletion" characters, no new paragraph break - whatever "accomplished since "SAVE" does not exist ...

Windows has been updated a few times recently (not sure of an update happening between an "OK" InDesign build & this latest workflow re-direct) ...

     I'm just a remote Prepress/Graphic Designer who's getting older & more invisible (boo-hoo) ...

          Would be nice if my $59.99/month subscription wasn't also an unscripted walk in the woods ...

<Title renamed by MOD>

[Anubhav M]

Hello @FlyDutch23,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Could you check if the older version of InDesign is still installed on your computer, as it could be the default when opening INDD files? Additionally, please share a brief screen recording of the issues related to text frames, so we can better assist you.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[betty_9205]

Anubhav—

Have just begun using ID2026 and am having same problem as mentioned by FlyDutch...am on a tight deadline and am quite frustrated. Immediate help would be appreciated.

[Tommy21868908gmk3]

When selecting text to change or cut it, all the text on the page goes blank. To recover it, I have to go to "EDIT" and select "UNDO." How can I fix this recurring problem?

[charles_5126]

Yes, that is happening to me, too. As  I posted yesterday, it started last week with devestating consequeces for moving forward with my book. I am attaching another of many examples that have happened today. The PDF file should tell the story. I am using Windows 10, as I have all along, and the latest update of InDesign as provided by Adobe..

[leo.r]

While the issue the thread below is dedicated to is different, some users experience the problem you're having in combination with the undo history issue:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-undo-history-clears-itself-without-user...

I believe that reports about both issues are coming from Windows users only. What's your operating system version, as well as the InDesign version?

(Sorry I can't offer any solutions; the evaluation of these issues is in progress.)

[charles_5126]

I only hope that if this is a Window's only problem that you will work just as hard to get it resolved. I don't want to see 10 years of historical research go down the tubes because of an Adobe InDesign bug. Thanks for working on it, who ever you are and regardless of whether it is a Windows, Apple, or Adobe team that solves it. 

[leah.06]

Same issue here. When selecting text to edit or cut the whole page goes blank and I need to use Undo to recover it. I’ve also noticed that clicking or selecting outside the text frame makes everything appear normally again which is weird.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for sharing your experiences here. I tested the same workflow on InDesign 21.0.2 on Windows 11 and wasn't able to reproduce the behavior on my side. However, since multiple users are reporting similar symptoms, I've escalated this with the product team for further review. To help us investigate this properly, it would be very helpful if you could share an affected InDesign file along with a short screen recording showing the complete workflow where the issue occurs. If the files are confidential, you can share them via DM on the community using any public file-sharing service like Google Drive or Dropbox. Once I have those, I can run deeper checks and pass everything along to the team.

Please let me know once you're able to share them.

Abhishek

[shemayah_4918]

This is not a file issue it happens to all files regardless.  I had adobe connect to me, after an hour of troubleshooting the Adobe tsch said htis is an Adobe issue its a bug.  Its taking Adobe way to long to correct such an important issue where it messes up entire production groups.  It seems all the corparate companies dont really care any more since they keep getting paid regardless if the product works or not.  I thing a lawsuite is what we need to start planning.

[shemayah_4918]

Corrected Post

This is not a file issue it happens to all files regardless. I had adobe connect to me, after an hour of troubleshooting the Adobe tech said this is an Adobe issue its a bug. Its taking Adobe way to long to correct such an important issue where it messes up entire production groups. It seems all the corporate companies don't really care any more since they keep getting paid regardless if the product works or not. I think a lawsuit is what we need to start planning.

[mathieu_3609]

Bonjour
Depuis quelques jours, les textes que j'écris dans les blocs d'effacent sans raison quand je travaille dessus. Je suis obligé de faire un zoom/dézoom pour les faire réapparaître mais ça recommence régulièrement. Savez-vous d'où ça peut provenir sachant que ma carte graphique est à jour.
Merci d'avance

[Mike Witherell]

Bonjour Mathieu,

Other than forcing a screen redraw, or zooming in and out one step (like I do), you could try turning on or off the GPU Acceleration in Preferences, to see if it makes any change in behavior.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi everone,

Thanks everyone for chiming in and sharing your experiences. I've checked in with the product team on this, and to move the investigation forward, they need to review an affected document directly.

If you're able to, please share one of the InDesign files where you're seeing the text disappear, along with a short screen recording showing the exact workflow that triggers the issue. If the files are confidential, you can share them with me via DM using any public cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

I really appreciate your help and patience here, and I'll keep the thread updated as we learn more.

Abhishek

[michaelu65308741]

Here's the file and a recording of text disappearing during edits, and reappearing when user view of the text box changes.

[Whimsical_idea5F8B]

Beim Bearbeiten von Text in einem Textrahmen wird der Inhalt des kompletten Textrahmens auf der Seite unsichtbar. Er erscheint erst wieder bei einer Änderung der Ansicht - z. B. durch Scrollen der Seite aus dem Ansichtsbereich und wieder zurück.

Ich habe bereits die Voreinstellungen gelöscht, Neustarts auch des PCs, Fonts reduziert ...

Es passiert bei allen Dokumenten.

Jemand eine Ahnung? Adobe Support ist keine Hilfe.

Win 11, Indesign 21.0.2

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi Whimsical_idea5F8B,

Thank you for reaching out. It looks like you're experiencing a similar issue mentioned in this post. The product team is currently investigating the issue, and they would need to review the affected document directly.

To help them investigate, could you please share one of the InDesign files where you're seeing the text disappear, along with a short screen recording showing the exact workflow that triggers the issue?

If the files are confidential, you can share them with Abhishek Rao via DM using any public cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Thanks,

Harshika

[keithconover]

I would like to pile on. I have had this problem off and on for years, on Windows 11 (current public build) and on many different versions of InDesign, currently 2026/21.0. I also got the latest drivers for my nvidia graphics card. Why is this still a problem? Why do I have to turn off GPU to prevent it from happening, or restart InDesign to get it to stop temporarily? Below are some screenshots of what I have to deal with? I want to use the GPU I spent lots of money on to make InDesign work faster, but still prevent invisible text. (The text frames that have this problem all have "ignore text wrap" selected.)

[leo.r]

on Windows 11 (current public build)... and on many different versions of InDesign, currently 2026/21.0.

Why do I have to turn off GPU to prevent it from happening

I want to use the GPU I spent lots of money on

By @keithconover

The GPU Performance option in the Windows version of InDesign was implemented only recently (I think less than a year ago or about that time). So if you did have this issue on many different versions, then it's not related to the GPU Performance option.

[defaultl70yc5usz90u]

We pay way too much money for these programs to have significant issues with basic functions. 

Please allocate your resources so basic functions work before piling on with a buch of AI crap we dont need to simply to do our jobs. 

[Eugene Tyson]

Hard to know what specific issue you're referring to this thread was opened back in 2022 and has accumulated a mix of unrelated problems over the last three years.

To keep things fair and organised, I’m going to close this topic.

If you're experiencing a current issue, please start a new post with:

• A clear description of the problem

• Your InDesign version

• Operating system + version

• Hardware details (GPU, monitor setup, etc.)

• Screenshots if possible

That will give the community (and Adobe staff) the information needed to help.

And regarding AI features  if you don’t need them, you can simply leave them unused. Other users do rely on them, and adding new features doesn't take away existing functionality. I also don’t use certain Creative Cloud features like Libraries, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t exist for others who benefit from them.

Let’s get your specific issue sorted just open a fresh topic with the details.

Looking forward to hearing from you and helping you out - lets get it sorted!

[keithconover]

In a somewhat-related thread (https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/text-disappears-when-typing-in-text-box/m-p/1559...), respected InDesign guru Eugene Tyson wrote:

If you're experiencing a current issue, please start a new post with:

• A clear description of the problem: For many months/maybe a year or two, I will be typing into a text box; not the main text box on a page, but a subsidiary sidebar text box, and some of the text will disappear and at least part of the text box looks like it is blank. The example below is on a big file, currently 18.2 MB. It is publically available for anyone to download from http://www.conovers.org/ftp/AppSAR-Source-Files/, it is Chapter 9. Before I start typing I see:

 After I start typing I see:

           I have to go to InDesign > Edit > Preferences > GPU performance > [uncheck] to prevent it from happening. If I have GPU performance checked, and the problem occurs, I can exit InDesign and start InDesign again; this stops it temporarily, but after a while the problem comes back. To emphasize: this never occurs in the main text box on a page, only in one of the sidebar subsidiary text boxes on a page. 

• Your InDesign version: 2026 (21.0 x64) but happened with a least the previous version, maybe one or two versions prior to that 
• Operating system + version: Windows 11 
• Hardware details (GPU, monitor setup, etc.): 
  • 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900 (2.40 GHz)
  • 128 GB (128 GB usable)
  • Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.7171
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050. 8 GB
• Screenshots if possible: see above

Thanks for any help. This is really slowing down my work on this textbook. 

[Eugene Tyson]

It looks like the link in your post isn’t working for me, but the behaviour you’re describing is something that pops up now and again with certain combinations of GPU hardware and redraw behaviour in InDesign.

Trying is Recompose All Stories. It forces InDesign to rebuild every text thread from scratch which can clear odd display hiccups in individual frames. I find quickest way to get there is to go to the Lightening Bolt icon on the top right - then open that - it's called Quick Apply - then type in Recompose All Stories and hit enter. See if it fixes it. 

What you’re seeing isn’t the text actually disappearing. It’s a redraw glitch in the GPU accelerated view. InDesign sometimes struggles with smaller threaded text frames or frames sitting on top of more complex pages, especially when the GPU is nudging it along. You type a few characters and suddenly half the text frame looks empty. It’s unsettling but it’s only the display, not the content.

A few things worth trying:

• You’ve already discovered the quick fix which is to turn off GPU Performance. That’s the most reliable workaround and usually points to the graphic card or driver being the root cause rather than the document itself.
• Make sure the NVIDIA drivers are fully up to date. Sometimes a minor update settles these redraw issues for months.
• Try toggling between Preview and Normal after the glitch happens. That forces a full redraw and often clears it without restarting the app.
• If the document is long lived and has been around a while, it might be worth exporting it as IDML, reopening the IDML and saving a fresh INDD. It clears out internal junk that grows over years of editing.

Your system is powerful enough so it isn’t an under spec situation. It’s more likely a quirky combination of the GPU and how InDesign handles partial redraws inside nested frames. Turning off GPU Performance during heavy editing is the safest bet and then you can always switch it back on when you want the smoother zooming.

Hope that helps keep you moving without having to restart InDesign every ten minutes.

[keithconover]

Thanks Eugene! I just did Recompose All Stores. Of interest, I wasn't able to find this from the menu so it seems it's a well-hidden secret.

[Eugene Tyson]

It is indeed - let us know if it's fixing it and we mark it as correct and close out the case 🙂