Working in books, updating page numbering etc crippling slow.

[garethirwin1234]

I am at my wits end. Windows 11. 64 gigs ram, Latest i7 processor, rtx 3080 12 gig.

Of late indesign has turned into molasses.

Critical areas of concern are updating page number in books, and updating contents page. I am not talking a while, I mean a 40 page document taking 3 mins plus to update. But asides from this the whole interface is just rubbish.

In the end I decided the nuclear option and downloaded CC cleaner and acro cleaner and nuked the entire install, everything. Then reinstalled.

Indesign back to great, things flying, fantastic.

2 days later, boom back to square one.

Is there a fix for this, beyond being told to reset preferences, because this is not the issue and I have proven that?

[garethirwin1234]

Other things I have tried include just resetting preferences, rebooting the comnputer, updating windows 11 etc. Does this for all books/contents pages not just one.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @garethirwin1234,

Thanks for reaching out. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared in this help article (https://adobe.ly/4nNdSMT) and let us know if it helps?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

[garethirwin1234]

As mentioend I jumped straight to the reinstall option. This fixed it for a day or so then it dies again. I dont think any of those tips do anything meaningful. 

But I have identified the issue.

I work from onedrive (not online but physically on the harddrive). A bug appears to have developed between indesign and onedrive and I would urge adobe to look into it as a matter of urgency.

I'll assume its adobe. There is also a bug in acrobat where it wont export JPEGs to onedrive, they said they were aware of it over a year ago, but yet here we are, swimming in AI slop but no fixes to common issues.

[Eugene Tyson]

Yeah, you’ve nailed it Gareth it’s almost certainly the OneDrive integration tripping things up. InDesign just doesn’t play nicely when files are under active sync management. Even if the files are “on this device”, OneDrive’s background processes still check file states, which kills performance during operations like updating a book file or regenerating TOCs.

You can confirm this by temporarily copying the entire book folder to a fully local path (for example, C:\Projects\BookTest) and opening it from there. You’ll see everything runs instantly again.

If you want to stay with OneDrive, try:

• In OneDrive settings > Sync and Backup > Advanced settings, disable “Files On-Demand” completely.
• In File Explorer, right-click your working folder > Always keep on this device.
• Exclude the InDesign working folders from real-time antivirus scanning if possible (Defender can also add lag).
• One more thing: watch for OneDrive auto-versioning. It can silently create temporary versions of .indd or .idlk files, which confuses InDesign into thinking a file is locked or modified externally.

Long-term, your best bet is to keep all active InDesign work on a local SSD, and only sync to OneDrive at the end of the day or via backup automation. It’s not glamorous, but it keeps InDesign smooth.

If you need active backups - then look into Windows Previous Version and have it work on the folder you're working on. 

[BobLevine]

This, I guess, is one of those YMMV situations, but I've not had any issues with OneDrive or Dropbox as long as the files are fully synced to everyone's local drives.

[Eugene Tyson]

I only copy to cloud storage once the project is completed. Otherwise I work locally. 

I have zero reason to be on the cloud sharing projects in real time. 

[Mike Witherell]

Many cloud-storage apps have some variation on "Make Available Offline" that has to be turned on. According to one person: "Select "Preferences" and then click on the "Account" tab. Make sure the "Files On-Demand" option is unchecked. This will ensure that all files are downloaded and available offline."

Personally, I had so much trouble with OneDrive and its "takeover mentality" that I stopped using it and went to the trouble of removing it from my computer. It copies all your Documents folder and Desktop folder up to the cloud, and then fights with you to get the files back if you wish to end the relationship.  Of course, many other people don't mind this, so simply finding where inside the software app service to "Make Available Offline" or something similar should help your situation.