IDML crashes both InDesign CS4 and InDesign 2020

[Neniom]

Hi there! I'm facing a really strange problem. I saved an .indd file as .idml and this .idml cannot be opened. If I double click it to open it with InDesign 2020 by default, it crashes. If I try to open it on InDesign CS4, it crashes too. I already asked a coworker to try to open this idml on their computer and it crashed their InDesign too. The indd file works just fine but the idml is what I need (I need to run it through a translation software that only accepts CS4 idml formats). Do you have any idea on what could be causing this problem? 

[BobLevine]

Re-export the IDML. Sounds like it's corrupt.

[Neniom]

Hi Bob! Oh unfortunately, I already tried. I also tried using the "save as" option as well as the "export" option. I even redownloaded the indd and exported it again. I also tried packaging it but it's always the same: the idml file just won't open. 😞 You're probably right with it being corrupt but I can't figure out what's causing it. 

[BobLevine]

Saving and exporting are exactly the same. Can't imagine what would cause it.

Have you tried installing 2021 and exporting from there?

[Neniom]

I haven't tried that yet, no! I'll let you know if the problem gets fixed.

[Neniom]

Well, I got InDesign 2021 and re-exported the idml and... nothing. This idml still cannot be opened, this is so strange!

[Jens Trost]

I'm not sure how these translation softwares work, but I would imagine there is no InDesign engine behind it, just good old plain text edit (since idml is basically a zip file full of xml files). Not sure if this helps if you then need to open the translated file...

And ID 2021 now has a recover corrupt files function... maybe that does work? Did you try opening the idml in 2021?