Why does my layout window become a blank gray screen?

[Adwiz]

InDesign 2024 on my Mac Studio loses the layout window after a few hours of inaction. If I leave a document open while I go to a meeting or something, when I return the main layout window is just a blank gray screen and no amount of effort brings it back, unless I close the document and re-open it. What gives with this and how can I resolve it? Doesn't happen with any other Adobe apps, just InDesign.

[JPL08]

I get the same thing. I thought I posted an example of it earlier.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @JPL08,

Could you try switching the Display Performance preferences for Default View and Adjust View Settings to Fast and then relaunch InDesign to see if it helps?


Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[JPL08]

Okay, but I'm not sure how that helps. It just greys out all the graphics. I've been using InDesign for over 20 years and never had to set the display performance to fast … There's no way I can work like that. See attached.

[JPL08]

I replied to your message, but I haven't heard anything for a while. Do you have any updates on this?

Thanks,

[IVAN21935951olbk]

I´ve had this  for at least 1 year, maybe more. And it is increasing in frequence now. I have now turned off the GPU to see if that helps. It is absolutely not an option to adjust the view settings to the state you suggest.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @JPL08 and everyone, 

Thanks so much for following up, and I'm really sorry you're still running into this issue. 

Just to let you know, we've logged this as a bug and our engineering team is currently investigating the root cause. I understand how disruptive it is, especially given how long you've been seeing this behavior, and I truly appreciate your patience and all the troubleshooting you've done so far.

I'll make sure to keep you posted here as soon as we have any updates or a fix available.

Abhishek

[JPL08]

Okay, that's great. Thank you for your help.

[JPL08]

Hi. Just wondering if you have any updates for us on this issue. 

Thanks.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi everyone,

Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences here. I wanted to let you know that our product team is actively working on this issue. In the meantime, could you please confirm if you're on the latest InDesign version (20.5)? This will help us make sure you’re getting all the recent fixes and improvements while the team continues to investigate.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

[JPL08]

Hi. Thanks for getting back to us. I'm using InDesign 20.5 and the problem is still ongoing.

[Angelfisch]

I just upgraded to a new Mac Mini with Apple Silicon chip. I have the latest Adobe software, and I'm seeing this same issue. For me, it goes away if I use CPU Preview instead of GPU Preview. I thought GPU Preview was supposed to be better, but I guess I'll stick with CPU preview.

[barriet36548854]

Exactly the same problem for me – only answer seemed to be saving, closing, and re-opening the file.

Changing the 'View Preview' has worked like magic. 

[Angelfisch]

I was having this issue after upgrading my Mac. It would go away if I used CPU Preview, but that didn't feel like a good fix. I then read about restoring default InDesign preferences (I had copied all old preferences), and that has fixed the issue. I just had to make sure to save my workspaces and keyboard shortcuts. 

[skobe media]

Having the same issue for maybe a year now. not sure what exactly triggers it but coming back to indesign from another app or plugin in or unpligin an external display seems to do it. Same issue as shown in @Laubender screenshot. I'm on a macbook air 13", M3, 2024 and InDesign 2025 20.4.1 in german language. Very annoying. But yes disabling GPU Performance makes the grey disappear for now. I'll post again should the issue reoccur.

Please join in everyone who experiences this issue to raise awareness for adobe to react to this. Just comment a simple "+1" or upvote at the top. Thanks! ❤️