Times New Roman TTF replaced with OTF in InDesign 21.0, causing missing font errors

[gosia]

All my books (several hundred) are formatted using the Times New Roman TTF font. The new version of InDesign 21.0 changes that to Times New Roman OTF.
Fortunately, version 20.0 is still installed. I know from experience that strange things can happen in updates.. However, the problem with the latest update has also been introduced in that version.
OTF is only available with a licence, which I do not have. 
I would appreciate some help.
Cor van Wijgerden

<Title renamed by MOD>

[Michael_Rosenstein]

The worst thing with Times New Roman OTF is that it is applied to 'No paragraph style' by default.

Every empty frame that was accidentally converted to text frame produce missing font warning.

[Michael_Rosenstein]

I tried to install Times New Roman OTF from Adobe Fonts, but the activation has failed due to conflict with the standard Windows Times New Roman TTF font, which cannot be uninstalled.

[gosia]

It's even worse. In all my thousands of files with the basic paragraph style Times New Roman.ttf, it has changed to a missing font, Times New Roman (OTF).
Is anyone from Adobe reading this who can explain this?

[BobLevine]

Fonts are generally installed in the operating system and unless they're Type 1 should be available in all programs. You also say that it's the default for InDesign, but InDesign default font, as far as I know, is Minion Pro which means you've changed something somewhere.

What operating system are you using?

[gosia]

My default font is Times New Roman. I set this when I started using InDesign (over ten years ago). It still works when I open a new file; the correct font is active. Windows 11 is my operating system.

The trouble starts when I open an existing file; the Times New Roman True Type font is not the active font, and I get the message: 'Font missing.' The font in the Basic Paragraph style has been changed to OTF by InDesign. Basisalinea in Dutch, the language set in my InDesign. That one is always at the top of the list of paragraph styles. Coincidentally, the same as the default font, but that is irrelevant.

For clarity: I have never changed anything, and the reported errors only occur since the latest updates.

[Mike Witherell]

Hi Gosia,

Interestingly, if you take a close look at the Times New Roman in Windows 11 (c:\windows\fonts) it at first identifies it as a TrueType font, but if you drill in closer by double-clicking the regular weight version, it tells you that it is an OpenType font.

Microsoft does this way. It leaves the filename ending .TTF; yet it is an OpenType font.

Are you certain that a conflicting Character Style isn't also stuck on?

[gosia]

Thank you very much, Mike.

I am a layman in this field. Can this issue be resolved by changing the extension from TTF to OTF? Probably not.

Shouldn't InDesign solve this? The error did not occur before.  I am surely not the only one who has encountered this issue.

[BobLevine]

There are two flavors of Opentype and you can only tell them apart by their extension. Microsoft and Adobe developed that format a quarter century ago. Microsoft has included TTF Opentype for as long as I can remember. And under no circumstance should you change the name or the extension.

And apparently, you are the only one so it's something related to your system. As a workaround, you can try copying the desired fonts to the InDesign\fonts folder and then restarting InDesign.

[richs22181640]

I just want to raise my hand here and say I don't think the original poster is alone. I am on the InCopy end of a workflow and Times New Roman OTF has begun popping up in files this month, maybe from the people on the InDesign end of the flow.

[River7567]

Poster is definitely NOT the only one. I can confirm that the Windows security update mentioned in this thread has caused this issue. I've installed and uninstalled it multiple times running tests with it as the only variable on a brand new PC running Windows 11. The update is causing some sort of disconnect between Times New Roman and Adobe InDesign, causing InDesign to throw a font missing error. Right now, the only solution I can see is to not install that update or uninstall it if you have, but that's only a short-term solution.

[Lavish_Gleam0158]

The security updated also killed the viewability of pdf files. Not sure if that's fixed or not BUT I just un-installed it (again...) and got my fonts working correctly. Thank you!

[Greyygg]

You are not the only person having this issue and this is absolutely a problem that Adobe and Microsoft need to work together on and give us an immediate fix. It has been infuriating and unnecessary. People depending on these their computers and programs for their livelihood having to spend hours trying to resolve a problem caused by an untested update. Sure I am being a bit critical here, but it has caused me a lot of grief and unnecessary aggravation. I had to turn off auto activation of fonts in Adobe just so I could export pdfs without the background task getting stuck on trying to activate a font that I have already replaced with the version on my pc(which I have never changed), so I want to say that it is because of a windows update, but I am not certain

[Barb Binder]

This is an interesting discussion and I'm curious where it may lead. I want to weigh in on this sentence:

The worst thing with Times New Roman OTF is that it is applied to 'No paragraph style' by default.

Below are screenshots of InDesign v21 on my macOS and Win11, showing the system defaults (no document windows are open). Both are still defaulting to Minion Pro Regular as per Bob, and as they have for years.

Note: I choose not to migrate preferences when I upgrade. If you did, your mileage may vary. You can delete your preferences now, to see how that impacts new documents. Start with Preferences > General > Reset Preferences on Quit.

macOS

Win11

~Barb

[Michael_Rosenstein]

I have deleted the preferences file, but it brought nothing.

The document continued to show missing TNR font as before.

[mraxenic]

This happened to me. I just replaced the Times New Roman OTF with the regular Times New Roman. And click Change all.
Sometimes, the font is applied to empty spaces. I just use the preflight panel to go through these cases and change them back to normal or no style.

[Dirk Becker · Accepted solution]

Could be a Windows update rather than 21.0

A few hours ago, next door in the Japanese InDesign Forum a Windows update was mentioned causing Times New Roman troubles …

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign%E3%83%95%E3%82%A9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9%E3%83%A0-discussions/win...

 

Windows11 24H2, InDesign2025(20.5)

Yesterday a Windows update came and after adapting it, the following phenomenon occurred.

・I am told that I can't find Times New Roman.
(All files used.) It does not change with font list recreation or initialization of preferences)
・It now takes about 10 seconds to open even a one-page file with only text

There was no such phenomenon before the update, and I suspect the impact of Windows updates because I have not updated InDesign.
I would like to know what others think.

Translated response:

So, when I uninstalled the Windows update (KB5068861), I found Times New Roman

Also KB5068861 there was a difference in the version of Times New before and after (Version 7.05 and 7.10)

[Michael_Rosenstein]

I am still sure, would Indesign always use default font or Basic paragraph font, which are set by user, as No paragraph style  font it would never depend on Windows system fonts or possible Windows updates.

[River7567]

Can absolutely confirm that it is this specific Windows update (KB5068861) that is causing this font issue. I have installed it and uninstalled it about 4 times on my Windows 11 PC and the font situation is fine when the update is uninstalled and goes sideways once it is installed.

[hans-j�rgen_8865]

Times New Roman aus der neuesten Version von InDesign verschwunden! Wie dumm ist das?

540 Seiten Dokument am Arsch!

Wer bezahlt das?

Wofür nimmt Adobe mein Geld? Um mich zu schädigen?

[BobLevine]

Do you want help of do you just want to rant? If you want help, please post full system details including version of InDesign and operating system as well the exact version and font format of Times New Roman.

[rob day]

If you don’t have a licensed OpenType version installed in one of your local font folders, it is also available from Adobe Fonts, which comes with a Creative Cloud subscription. If you are not familiar with how to activate Adobe Fonts let us know (Adobe Fonts usually get activated not installed).

[Michael_Rosenstein]

I have tried to install Times New Roman OTF from Adobe Fonts today, but the activation failed due to conflict with Windows TTF font, which cannot be uninstalled from system.
Instead of giving such advices Adobe should, imho, use Indesign default font from base paragraph every time no paragraph style is applyed.

[Scott M@c]

When I open ID, I get this message.

When I tell it to change, it changes ALL my Garamond fonts - NOT my Times New Roman fonts.

I made the changes on putting all my Garamond fonts back to Garamond and stored the document.   When I open it again, the same problem occurs.

This only started when I update to 20.5...

Not sure how to fix this.

[Anubhav M]

Hello Scott M@c,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Does this happen with specific files? If yes, could you share a link to a sample file after uploading it to a file-sharing service, so we can check it on our end? Also, try updating to the latest version of InDesign and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav