Urgent: Critical InDesign Failures Threatening My Business — Immediate Escalation Required

[annam53419020]

Adobe Case ADB-39925821-R4P1 CRM:02760000005075

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Subject: Urgent: Critical InDesign Failures Threatening My Business — Immediate Escalation Required

Dear Adobe Support Team,

As a long-standing Adobe customer and professional designer, I am compelled to express my extreme frustration and concern regarding the ongoing malfunction of InDesign since Monday. The application crashes repeatedly, corrupts my files, and has effectively halted my work — putting my business, reputation, and ongoing contracts at severe risk.

I was expected to deliver my work to a client yesterday, but due to these technical issues, I was unable to meet that deadline. The timing is now even more critical, as I am preparing for an extremely important press conference. My project deadlines are extremely tight, and the continued failure of InDesign jeopardizes not only my reputation but also a key business opportunity.

Despite multiple urgent support requests, I have not received a resolution — only the acknowledgment that you are unable to fix the problem. This is entirely unacceptable. As a paying customer, I expect a reliable product and proactive, effective support, especially during emergencies like this.

Furthermore, I explicitly asked to be contacted today at 11 am to discuss this issue. Instead, I received an email stating I would only be contacted tomorrow. I cannot afford to wait that long. I am available immediately at <xyz> for an urgent call to discuss and resolve this matter.

Given the severity of this situation, I demand the following:

• An immediate escalation of my case to senior support or technical specialists.
• A clear, binding timeline for a solution and file recovery.
• Regular updates until this issue is fully resolved.

Please understand that if I do not see tangible progress within the next few hours, I will be compelled to pursue all available legal remedies under U.S. consumer protection laws and to share my experience publicly, which I would prefer to avoid.

This is a critical moment. Your urgent attention and action are expected and necessary.

Sincerely,

Anna Martinella

Graphic Designer

<Personal info removed by the MOD>

[Peter Spier]

@annam53419020  we are just users like you, not Adobe support staff, so we can't escalate anything.

We might, however, be able to solve your problem is you give us full detaile about your OS, exact version of InDesign, and any error messages you see, along with what happens, and what actions are triggering it.

[Eugene Tyson]

Hi Anna

I'm not Adobe support but this is a user to user forum 

Can you please post specific error messages, crash logs, steps before the crash?

What's your OS and system specs?

Common fixes

Export damaged INDD file as IDML (if still possible) and open the IDML and save as new InDesign file and see if the issue persists

Corrupt preferences/cache
Reset InDesign preferences (can be done in InDesign Preferences now too)
Hold Shift+Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or Shift+Cmd+Opt+Ctrl (Mac) immediately after launching InDesign.

Problematic fonts or plugins

Start in Safe Mode on your PC/Mac and see if the  issue persists

or

Create a fresh user profile on the OS and see if InDesign behaves differently.

Damaged InDesign installation or workspace files

Reinstalling rarely fixes everything - you can do a complete reinstall using the
Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

External drive/network sync issues (like OneDrive, Dropbox conflicts)

Test working on local drive only avoid working from synced folders or servers.

Try older InDesign versions if still installed (sometimes the latest version is the issue).

Rollback to a previous InDeisgn version
https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/using/install-previous-version.html#:~:text=Open%20the%20Cr....

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Here is more info: 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/erreur-grave-et-plantage-syst%C3%A9matique-de-in... 

[Peter Spier]

Not really any specific info in that thread, either.

My initiakl thought withthe program not opeing after isolating a single corrupt file is that there's a left-over lock file in the folder and/or the recovery data is also corrupt and must be abandoned, but without exact error messages there's no way to know.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Someone joined those two threads together? 

[Peter Spier]

@Robert at ID-Tasker it certainly looks like it...

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@annam53419020

Do you know if person from Adobe tried CC Cleaner Tool?

Or you could try it anyway - but please make backup copies of your INDD files and links first. 

Here is link to the tool and info how to use it: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

[annam53419020]

I sent the crash report, I sent my files, I just don't have the words to explain better. Adobe support team know about this, I am just trying to have a real support as I am really in big big trouble right now.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

I sent the crash report, I sent my files, I just don't have the words to explain better. Adobe support team know about this, I am just trying to have a real support as I am really in big big trouble right now.

By @annam53419020

Yes, I understand, but sending files and crash reports won't fix your problems. 

If no one from Adobe has done this for you remotely - you'll have to do it yourself.

It's a procedure that completely removes Adobe CC from your machine - short of reinstalling whole system from scratch - but without wasting time on installing operating system from scratch. 

After you remove Adobe CC - you'll have to install it again. 

[leo.r]

By @annam53419020

In addition to other suggestions, try to create a new admin user account in System Settings > Users & Groups, switch to that account and work from there. Will it make a difference?

Also, do you have a backup of your files?

[annam53419020]

So someone from adobe called me tonight and we manage to work on the files and open Indesign. Now when I save the files on my local disk it crashes but when saved on creative cloud, it doesn't... so I will finish my mandate like this and hopefully I will be able to finish. Then they told me many Mac users have that kind of problems and that I have to check with apple... I will try your suggestion with a blank sheet this time haha. Thank you 

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @annam53419020,

Thanks for reaching out, and I'm really sorry to hear about the trouble you're facing. I've informed the support team to get in touch with you urgently.

Please avoid posting personal info like phone numbers on the community, as this is a public forum and we want to keep your data safe.

I noticed the crash report you submitted shows InDesign version 20.3.1 on a Macintosh but it's dated April 30, 2025, so it's not recent. Could you please submit a new crash report following this guide: https://adobe.ly/4mi7yMZ? This will help me check the latest logs.

I've also escalated this issue to the product team for further investigation and will update you as soon as I hear back.

Thanks again for your patience.

Please let me know once the team contacts you or if anything changes.

Abhishek Rao

[annam53419020]

Hi, it's happening again but this time with the PDF. They got corrupted. Impossible to create the impression pdf. How can I just create a PDF on creative cloud please ? Couldn't find how...¨

Thank you 

[leo.r]

Hi, it's happening again but this time with the PDF. They got corrupted. Impossible to create the impression pdf. How can I just create a PDF on creative cloud please ? Couldn't find how...¨

By @annam53419020

Can you please elaborate on this...

What kind of corruption do you experience, that is how does the corruption manifest itself? Do you get any error messages, or content loss, etc?

> How can I just create a PDF on creative cloud please ? Couldn't find how...

Is this question related to the corruption you experience, or are you looking for ways to upload a PDF to or save it on the Creative Cloud directly?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

It more and more starts looking like a machine/system corruption? 

[annam53419020]

Adobe expert on the phone said it's a lately commom problem for people on Mac... Guess many creative artists are on Mac... He told me I had to figure out with Apple... 😞 didn't do it yet as I still have this mandate on and just trying to go through with less problems as possible... 

[annam53419020]

It's like the problem I had with Indesign. If I open indesign and the a file from the creative cloud it's ok. As soon as i try to save a file on my local disk or I Cloud it corrupts the file. Now in this case, I tried to make an PDF export for print from my indesign. Opening the PDF it says it cannot, as the file might be corrupted. So I thought maybe if there is a way to save the PDF directly on Creative Cloud, like the Indesign file, I can solve the problem. But I cannot see how. This is why I asked for help. i'll attach the pop up I got when trying to open the pdf. In the finder it looks empty. I followed what he adobe expert said when i set the saving preferences.  

[leo.r]

As soon as i try to save a file on my local disk or I Cloud it corrupts the file...

So I thought maybe if there is a way to save the PDF directly on Creative Cloud, like the Indesign file, I can solve the problem. But I cannot see how.

By @annam53419020

I don't think there's a way to export a PDF from InDesign directly to Creative Cloud.

I wonder if you tried an earlier suggestion to create a new admin account on your Mac and work from there?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@annam53419020

Do you have access to any other Mac machine?

If you can't save locally - then there is definitely some kind of a problem with your machine... 

Can you try something else? Can you create a new, blank document, with just ONE page, create a TextFrame, type a few characters - maybe even add a Rectangle on the side - and save it? In multiple places? 

But the best would be if you could start your machine in so called "Safe Mode" - where pretty much everything is disabled - all 3rd party apps - and then try to run InDesign... 

[annam53419020]

Bonjour, 

depuis cet après-midi, je ne peux plus utiliser indesign qui plante systématiquement. un gars d'adobe a essayé de solutionner le truc mais sans succès. Au début cela indiquait erreur grave. Maintenant que erreur. Mais je ne peux plus travailler. Et je ne sais pas comment trouver de l'aide pour solutionner ça... 

[jmlevy]

La première chose à faire est de réinitialiser les préférences. Si tu arrives à lancer l'application (sans essayer d'ouvrir de fichier), cette réinititialisation peut se faire en cliquant sur ce bouton.

Si ça ne règle pas le problème ou si InDesign ne peut plus du tout se lancer, il faut alors 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.

[annam53419020]

Merci pour ta réponse ! Apparemment après avoir fait des essais, c'est un seul fichier qui fait planter Indesign, donc j'ai réussi a isoler ça. Maintenant j' ai réeussi à faire une copie d'une copie mais il se comporte toujours bizarrement, j'ai essay de copier coller 8 mon diagramme sur lequel j'ai bossé de longues heures :((() et quand je le colle, ça colle mal dimensionné, je dois tout refaire :(((( si tu as des pistes sur comment récupérer mon travail je suis preneuse... 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@annam53419020

If it's a single file - then it got corrupted.

You have two options: 

1) IDMLing - export as IDML, open, save with a new name - do not overwrite your original file. 

2) create a new, blank document - with exactly the same page size - go back to your document and using Pages pallet and hamburger menu - move all pages to the front of the new document - save with a new name. 

And in the future - start doing Save As with a new name more often - depends on how much you edit your file - daily or at least weekly.

Then, continue working on this new file.

Extra bonus - you'll have a backup copy.