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

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
October 30, 2025
25 replies
7918 views

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

Performance

Correct answer Dmytro301376413pen

The same issue with my InDesign 20.5 / Windows 11. I installed Times New Roman from Adobe (https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/times-new-roman) and replaced the font in the document. It works perfectly now.

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luxfoundry1

Participant

This exact same thing happened to me suddenly but with Segoe UI font. Every one of my indesign files suddenly changed the font to Segoe UI (OTF). I have tried several things to resolve this like clearing font caches, reinstalling fonts., but nothing is working. I have been manually replacing the font in each document, but sometimes a few days later, the file that i updated changes back to OTF. it's rather frustrating and I can't tell if this is a windows or Indesign issue. Adobe wasn't very helpful, i don't think they understood what I was trying to explain that the OTF suddenly appeared. Would love to know if you resolved this.

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Dmytro301376413penCorrect answer

Participant

The same issue with my InDesign 20.5 / Windows 11. I installed Times New Roman from Adobe (https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/times-new-roman) and replaced the font in the document. It works perfectly now.

River7567

Participating Frequently

Not everyone can install Times New Roman from the Adobe Fonts Library to solve this. Some folks, including myself, get a vague error that says Times New Roman can't be installed. As far as I can tell, there's not actual issue with the font file(s) itself. Something is creating a disconnect between InDesign and the font files in question, which is throwing the error in InDesign. And, after installing and uninstalling the Windows update mentioned in this thread, I can confirm that specific Windows Update is the catalyst. So, not sure if it's Microsoft or Adobe (or both?) that needs to fix this.

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hk92340272

Participant

We have several hundred files that are now having this issue, across a shared server with 8 people. We've been replacing fonts on current active files, but it's fairly time-consuming to go back and change layouts on large books. I hope there's some intent to fix this so we don't spend the next week on it...

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Hi all,

So, there are currently 2 prime suspects: 1. a new version of InDesign, and 2. a patch of Windows.

Are any macOS users experiencing this same Times New Roman problem ?

Mike Witherell

G

gosiaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you, Mike.

InDesign 21.01 was updated today. The OTF problem remains unresolved. So, is it only a Windows issue? Maybe not. Opened an IDML file with Affinity Publisher. No missing font: just as it should be.

River7567

Participating Frequently

I use Mac at work and Windows at home, same version number of InDesign on both OSs. No issues with Mac. It's only happening on Windows and only with the aforementioned Windows update installed, as far as I can tell.

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Colin_Isherwoods

Inspiring

Today my Indesign (V21) has started this issue. luckily , my documents use other fonts but there are places where a return hasnt had a style applied and has defaulted to TNR . the main problem with this is that many of my documents now show errors in pre-flight where they didnt before, forcing me to investigate the errors and replace the font. An annoyance for sure.

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MICHAIL25743216t1p5

Participant

Same issue here, started 2 days ago with Times New Roman on a document that I was using the previous days without issues. I got the not found dialog. If I skip, the font is TNR (OTF) and the text is highlghted red, and if I replace with...Times New Roman then it goes away and I have TNR no OTF.

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Dirk Becker

Legend

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/windows%E3%82%A2%E3%83%83%E3%83%97%E3%83%87%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E5%BE%8C%E3%81%AE%E6%8C%99%E5%8B%95%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A4%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6/m-p/15591300?profile.language=ja#M13585

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)

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Michael_Rosenstein

Known Participant

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.

mraxenic

Participant

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.

Barb Binder

Community Expert

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

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

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Michael_Rosenstein

Known Participant

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

The document continued to show missing TNR font as before.

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

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?

Mike Witherell

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gosiaAuthor

Participating Frequently

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

Community Expert

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.

BobLevine

Community Expert

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?

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gosiaAuthor

Participating Frequently

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.

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