With the release of InDesign 2020(15.1.1), we have enhanced our recovery workflow which fixes multiple scenarios of document corruption.

If your file is still not getting repaired in InDesign CC2020, can you please share the document with Grp-idfile@adobe.com.

—
Adobe InDesign Team

The same issue has just occurred for me, and my files have been corrupted in Photoshop for months. This is absolutely ridiculous!

Bottom line is that ID has notoriously fragile source files. I've been using it since its release. This is exactly the type of reason I advise all groups to avoid adobe's products across the board as they're all getting progressively more buggy and proper support doesn't exist. Is this uservoice? Ha. Why not adobe.com? Adobe spends more time adding intrusive onboarding than fixing critical decades-old bugs.

Hey Ravi Kiran, i sent you an email with my damaged file, can you hep me? Thank you!
can you answer me by e-mail please? Thank you a lot!

I can't open this document and I need it urgent.

Hi there, I have been working on a book featuring text, photographs and diagrams (created in Illustrator) for many months and I am now in the position that two of the chapter files will not open as they are apparently damaged (error code 5). I've attached the smallest of the two files — if you could please offer any advice as to its recovery I'd be really grateful. Pete.

Please help me! I need to recover a file of Indesign CC 2018, Error code 5.

The file is damaged can not open the same. Kindly help.

Hi, I would really appreciate your help on this one.

Hi
I uploaded the file. please see what is problem.

Hi
I uploaded the file. please see what is problem.

I uploaded my corrupt document 5 days ago and haven't heard back

Aaaah the cut and paste response we've seen before. Whatever issue this is needs to FIXED! We can't lose days or weeks of work while we are trying to meet deadlines that are tough to start with. I'm freelance so losing one client because of missed deadline due to an InDesign issue...well they don't care. I lose a client.

Hello!
I got the same problem with the file, error #5, I have i deadline of this project and really do not have time recovering by hand((((((
I have sent link of my file t you, i really hope for you.

I posted about this back in September and have still heard nothing. Just happened again, with an important document that's due in two days. Literally, this error code wipes out the file entirely. Only difference this is that I'm using a newer version of InDesign. So to update/reiterate:

1. InDesign CC2019, Version 14.0

2. InDesign suddenly crashes with “Error Code: 5” when trying to save. Might be specific to "Save As" but not sure.

3. File should open.

4. InDesign says I cannot open file because it is open by another user and there’s a lock file in the folder. I cannot do any of the following:
• Open the file as a copy: says it’s open by another user
• Copy and paste the file: file appears for a moment in the new location then disappears
• Duplicate the file: the file disappears entirely and I get an error saying it cannot be found
• Delete the lock file: both the main file and the lock disappear

5. File has disappeared so I do not have one to provide. This has happened three times over the past few weeks. I have been using InDesign since CS2 and have never experienced anything like it.

I am certain the file is not open by another user.

Please Help! I have a Adobe InDesign CC 2018 file that has suddenly stopped working. I have tried the suggested troubleshooting steps described on the support site, including deleting the preferences, but almost all of the steps require the document to be open-able.

When attempting to open the document, a prompt states "Cannot open. The file is damaged and cannot be recovered (Error code: 5).

Can you take a look at the file and see if there is a possible fix?

Thanks

1. InDesign CC2018, Version 13.1.0.76

2. InDesign suddenly crashes with “Error Code: 5” when trying to save. Might be specific to "Save As" but not sure.

3. File should open.

4. InDesign says I cannot open file because it is open by another user and there’s a lock file in the folder. I cannot do any of the following:
• Open the file as a copy: says it’s open by another user
• Copy and paste the file: file appears for a moment in the new location then disappears
• Duplicate the file: the file disappears entirely and I get an error saying it cannot be found
• Delete the lock file: both the main file and the lock disappear

5. File has disappeared so I do not have one to provide. This has happened three times over the past few weeks. I have been using InDesign since CS2 and have never experienced anything like it.

I am certain the file is not open by another user.

InDesign Automatic Recovery Feature

InDesign automatic recovery feature mainly works in situations like if your InDesign shut down unexpectedly due to system errors, power outage or any other issue etc. with this feature you can retrieve these documents.

About InDesign Automatic Document Recovery

If you do any modification in the InDesign document, InDesign regularly performs a mini –save of the changes. These changes are getting stored in some temporary file inside the InDesign recovery folder.

Adding changes to the document and then saving the document with File > Save option will deletes the temporary file every time. If all of a sudden InDesign gets shut down then InDesign attempts to use these temporary files to recover InDesign document’s unsaved changes.

InDesign Recovery folder contents
Every user account has separate InDesign recovery folder. If InDesign don’t locate the InDesign recovery folder at the beginning then it re-creates the folder.

Default settings:
It is a first temporary file that gets listed when you view the content of the InDesign recovery folder by name.

dbt [random alphanumeric character]:
It’s a temporary file with mini-saved information for every opened InDesign documents. The name of these temporary files begins with “dbt”

ProtectiveShutdownLog:
This log file is getting created if InDesign crashes due to an access violation. Well this log file is specifically for identifying a specific plug-in that may have generated the error.

RecoveryData:
This file is an index for all open InDesign document and crashed documents, including their full path names. List of open documents contains path not aliases, means InDesign is not able to recover files you move or rename after the crash.

For more Information - filerepairtool.net/blog/fixes-for-corrupt-or-deleted-adobe-indesign-file-recovery

I have this same error and have no idea how to fix it. I've sent an email with a link to my file based on your advice here, and am waiting for a response.

Is there no way for us to troubleshoot on our own end?