Adobe InDesign: Bugs
When filing a new bug, please provide:
- Version of Adobe InDesign, InCopy or InDesign Server
- Steps to reproduce the issues
- Expected result
- Actual result
- Test file, screenshot, video or GIF capturing the issue (optional)
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No existing idea results
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7522 results found
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Multiple Bugs in CC17
Display issue 1
Random lines appeared on my screen. Baseline grid and guides were hidden as I was in Preview Mode, no explanation for these lines.Display issue 2
Text doesn’t display correctly when I apply a different Paragraph Style Sheet. (It displays the text in both the original Paragraph Style and new paragraph style on top of one another, even though the new Paragraph Style is selected). I needed to deselect and reselect another paragraph of text to rectify the issue.Dialogue box issues
Both videos show how I’m unable to select from the drop down menu in InDesign. In the first video I want to select the ‘Photoshop Path’ from the Clipping Path dialogue box, but am unable to do so.
The second video show how I want to create a PDF (via File/Export) but I cannot change the PDF settings from the drop down menu.
Needed to quit the program and restart to rectify the problem.Display issue 1
Random lines appeared on my screen. Baseline grid and guides were hidden as I was in Preview Mode, no explanation for these lines.Display issue 2
Text doesn’t display correctly when I apply a different Paragraph Style Sheet. (It displays the text in both the original Paragraph Style and new paragraph style on top of one another, even though the new Paragraph Style is selected). I needed to deselect and reselect another paragraph of text to rectify the issue.Dialogue box issues
Both videos show how I’m unable to select from the drop down menu in InDesign.…2 votes -
window
Fuck You Adobe
2 votes -
The lists of entries for a cross reference is not ordered
Some panels with items (e.g. links) can be ordered by clicking the column header. Others cannot. Among these are the lists of references to choose from when inserting a cross-reference. These seem to be totally unordered. As a result, it is a pain to look for the right one (e.g. choose from a few hundred in a large document). I consider this a bug because other panels do have this ordering
2 votes -
Colour picker turns everything to blank with strokes, applies stroke
Colour picker is broken. Everything is checked, but when I use it, it turns the object picked from into blank with black stroke. When applied, it adds a black stroke. This is true of text, objects, and links. Deleting local settings changed nothing.
2 votes -
Profiles equal to the Output-Intend get lost on PDF-Export
When exporting a PDF all profiles equal to the Output-Intend (which in my case is the Document-Colorspace PSO Coated V3) get lost when exporting.
I have created a small test-file with an PSO Coated V3 Image and an ISO Coated V2 Image.
When Exporting as PDF X4 with Output-Intend Set to PSO Coated V3 the Image that IS PSO Coated V3 looses its profile and the same for the ISO Coated V2 when the Output-Intend is set to that.
This is horrible for Colormanagement. I've been in contact with "Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG" and they suggested to report this to Adobe as a bug.
They way it is you can not differenciate between images that don't have a profile and images that already have the correct profile. As a result all images get converted again in prepress - even those that already are in the correct profile.
If you have any further questions feel free to ask and i'll help out as good as i can :)
Thanks!
When exporting a PDF all profiles equal to the Output-Intend (which in my case is the Document-Colorspace PSO Coated V3) get lost when exporting.
I have created a small test-file with an PSO Coated V3 Image and an ISO Coated V2 Image.
When Exporting as PDF X4 with Output-Intend Set to PSO Coated V3 the Image that IS PSO Coated V3 looses its profile and the same for the ISO Coated V2 when the Output-Intend is set to that.
This is horrible for Colormanagement. I've been in contact with "Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG" and they suggested to report this to Adobe…
2 votes -
Missing color in PDF from InDesign
I have an InDesign file with a placed PSD file in it, which contains two spot colors. When I save the file as a PDF out of InDesign, only one of the two spot channels is visible.
I'm running the latest versions of InDesign, Photoshop, and Acrobat. To reproduce, open the attached InDesign file and save as a PDF. The resulting PDF should show a yellow and blue spot, but only the blue is visible. (The PDF generated during packaging also exhibits the problem.)
2 votes -
If “Proportional-width half-width” is set as the automatic numbering format for “Bulleted and numbered lists,” the indent values will be mis
Note: This issue occurs only in CJK environments.
1 Create a character style that uses only “Proportional-width half-width”.
2 In “Bullets and Numbering,” apply automatic numbering, use a tab to advance the text after the number, and set the character style to “Proportional-width half-width”.
3 The indent value shifts backward, causing it to no longer align with the start of the second line.
Workaround: Move the indent position slightly forward and align it visually; then use the “Indent to Here” feature to align the second line.注意：この現象はCJK環境下でのみ発生する。
1 「等幅半角字形」のみを設定した文字スタイルを作る。
2 「箇条書きと段落番号」で、自動番号を与え、自動番号の後はタブで送り、文字スタイルで半角等幅を設定する。自動番号の前後には全角丸カッコを与える。
3 インデント値が後方へずれ、2行目の先頭と合わなくなる。
回避策：インデント位置を少し前方に来るようにして目視で位置を合わせ、2行目は「ここまでインデント」で合わせる。1 vote -
InDesign does not respect the selected color space
InDesign does not respect the selected color space.
Bad current state: I have the Fogra 39 profile selected in Color Settings, but InDesign still assigns the U.S. Web Coat (SWOP) v2 profile to all newly created documents. It continues to treat this unwanted profile as Working CMYK.
Required fix: InDesign should assign the correct color profile set in Color Settings to newly created documents and also use this profile as Working CMYK in Proof Setup and Export dialog.
This confusion with profiles regularly returns with each new major InDesign update. I have reported it here in the past.
1 vote -
InCopy is creating "phantom hyperlinks" in InDesign
Our InCopy editors are adding hyperlinks but they aren't showing up in InDesign. To make things worse, you can no longer add a hyperlink to the text. I discovered that InCopy is leaving phantom hyperlinks and it seems to be a bug, or at least has caused us considerable consternation. (I'm using InDesign 2026 v21.0.2 and InCopy 2026 v21.3).
Okay, I’ve gone deep into the rabbit hole and I think I’ve figured out the problem with hyperlinks not showing up, or text you can’t add a hyperlink to. It’s a lengthy, complex explanation so I’ll start with the all too easy fix and then explain why.
THE FIX: When you create a link in InCopy, you have to click the “Shared Hyperlink Destination” button.
This really only applies to multiple links that have the same destination, like how Supplemental Table 1 and Supplemental Table 2 both go to the same URL, but I don’t think it will hurt to click it for every link, just in case that URL gets repeated later on.
If you don’t click Shared Hyperlink Destination, only the first hyperlink will show up in the Hyperlinks panel, and the rest become phantom links.
And to make things worse, apparently this isn’t an issue when you make a link in InDesign. It only happens in InCopy.
If I’m right, this will fix the problem. At least, it worked when I tried it. We’ll have to see if it works all the time.
THE EXPLANATION for us InDesign nerds.
If there’s text that you can’t make into a hyperlink (the New Hyperlink option is greyed out) it’s because there’s already a link there, but for some reason it’s not showing up in the Hyperlinks panel. It’s a phantom link. However, you can still see the phantom link if you open it in Story Editor. Story Editor shows where the link is, but you can’t edit it or add a new link to the text.
The only way to fix it is to retype the text outside of the link brackets, or copy and paste the text out of the brackets (except the link sticks to the first character so you can’t copy that, which is yet another pain). After you retype the text, you can highlight the link (everything in the brackets) and delete it, and then you are able to add a hyperlink to the retyped text. You have to do this for each phantom link individually. This is an annoying and cumbersome fix, but we’ve known about it for a while.
If you want to get into the nitty gritty, I think this kind of explains what’s going on. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17490661/how-to-properly-remove-hyperlinks-from-indesign-document-using-extendscript
I made a quick script to look for the phantom hyperlinks, but all it shows me are the hyperlinks in the Hyperlinks panel, so I can’t find the phantom links that show up in the Story Editor with a script. I may explore that some more in case the issue arises again.
But in any case, it looks like the links are losing their destination URL in InCopy because the URL is already taken by another link, but the hyperlink still remains and won’t show up in the Hyperlinks panel because there’s no destination. InDesign sees an empty link and doesn’t show it on the panel. However, when you use the shared destination button, all the links just point to that one URL and share it, and it shows up in the Hyperlinks panel. I’m going to report this to InDesign as a bug.
Whew!
Our InCopy editors are adding hyperlinks but they aren't showing up in InDesign. To make things worse, you can no longer add a hyperlink to the text. I discovered that InCopy is leaving phantom hyperlinks and it seems to be a bug, or at least has caused us considerable consternation. (I'm using InDesign 2026 v21.0.2 and InCopy 2026 v21.3).
Okay, I’ve gone deep into the rabbit hole and I think I’ve figured out the problem with hyperlinks not showing up, or text you can’t add a hyperlink to. It’s a lengthy, complex explanation so I’ll start with the all too…
1 vote -
Cannot make swatches permanent in InDesign now
We have a very efficient brand template with swatch libraries created as .ai and .ase files. In InDesign and Illustrator we right-click on the swatch library and click on "Persistent". Today (April 29, w2026) my swatches libraries are missing. I've rebuilt my preferences. I've re-loaded the swatches and the option to make them persistent isn't there any more.
I read that now swatch libraries are document specific, or to make them in a template, or to use Adobe CC libraries to make our swatches. We don't choose to use CC libraries.
None of these are efficient workflows for us. Please can Adobe bring the option to make the swatches persistent back? Please compare screenshots of InDesign issue and Illustrator, Thank you.
We have a very efficient brand template with swatch libraries created as .ai and .ase files. In InDesign and Illustrator we right-click on the swatch library and click on "Persistent". Today (April 29, w2026) my swatches libraries are missing. I've rebuilt my preferences. I've re-loaded the swatches and the option to make them persistent isn't there any more.
I read that now swatch libraries are document specific, or to make them in a template, or to use Adobe CC libraries to make our swatches. We don't choose to use CC libraries.
None of these are efficient workflows for us. Please…
1 vote -
make guides
I want to make angled guides but I can't find a solution? The only thing I could find online isn't available for some reason even though I have the most updated version of Indesign. The solution people posted was to right click and there should be an option to 'make guides' out of a shape but that option does not exist. super frustrating and this always seems to happen where there is this made up easy fix that I apparently don't have access to.
1 vote -
I'm paying monthly fee for InDesign. Am on new computer and need app download don't have password. Spent hours trying to solve problem
Should be something to make this easy to do
1 vote -
Rolling cursor in InDesign
I completely get how incredibly irritating that is, especially when you have a strict deadline to hit and the software is just stuck spinning. The constant rolling cursor in InDesign is usually caused by the program getting trapped in a loop, trying to calculate or locate something in the background over and over again.
Here are the fastest ways to force InDesign to stop lagging so you can
finish and submit your work:1 vote -
Change to Text Conditions show/print status not saved
Text Conditions are not saved, unless you do some other changes to the document.
- Change the show/print status to the text conditions in the relevant palette.
- Save the document.
The status of text conditions is not saved.
If you do some other changes afterward, it is saved.
1 vote -
Flex Layout is unusable
Flex Layout feature is unusable. Not once did it work like intended. Just as an example. I just tried it again with 40 images that were dropped arranged in a grid with the intent of just standardizing the gutters quickly. But it just scrambled the order randomly. It is mind bugling. This should be feature number one. Figma Auto Layout is way better.
1 vote -
Microsoft C++ Redistributable
Indesign and some other products are failing to open, and it all related to the Microsoft C++ Redistributable, we just have to repair it and it starts working again.
Please work with microsoft on the issue, something is happening that is making it very very hard to manage and work with Idesign because of the problem. I think it is happening with other Adobe prodcuts too1 vote -
Disable auto-scroll (hover scroll) during drag & drop
While working in InDesign with large catalogs (200+ images), there is a major usability issue during drag & drop.
When dragging images into the document, the canvas automatically shifts horizontally as the cursor approaches the window edge (auto-scroll / hover scroll behavior).
This results in:
the layout “drifting” sideways after multiple placements
the need to constantly reposition the view (similar to a typewriter carriage shift)
significant slowdown in production workflowExpected behavior:
Option to completely disable auto-scroll
Or disable it specifically during drag & drop operationsCurrent limitation:
There is no setting in Preferences to control or disable this behavior.Request:
Please add:a toggle to disable hover-based auto-scrolling
or a modifier key / setting to prevent canvas movement while dragging objectsThis is critical for high-volume layout workflows.
While working in InDesign with large catalogs (200+ images), there is a major usability issue during drag & drop.
When dragging images into the document, the canvas automatically shifts horizontally as the cursor approaches the window edge (auto-scroll / hover scroll behavior).
This results in:
the layout “drifting” sideways after multiple placements
the need to constantly reposition the view (similar to a typewriter carriage shift)
significant slowdown in production workflowExpected behavior:
Option to completely disable auto-scroll
Or disable it specifically during drag & drop operationsCurrent limitation:
There is no setting in Preferences to control or disable this behavior.…
1 vote -
InDesign 21.3 is not autofilling the file name on Adobe PDF Preset export even though the checkbox for that is auto-selected. The save As fi
InDesign 21.3 is not autofilling the file name on Adobe PDF Preset export even though the checkbox for that is auto-selected. The save As field also cannot be pasted into. I must type text into the field to export a PDF from that File menu item. I am working Mac OS Tahoe 26.4.1. Please fix this bug in the next update.
1 vote -
shadow
Same as Gavin at MRP previously posted : when I move a field/object, the drop shadow is not moved to the same place.
The bug appeared several months ago: whether objects are grouped or not, when I move an object with a shadow applied, the two separate and the shadow moves randomly. I have to position my object and apply the shadow only when I know it won't move ! (Up-to-date version of InDesign, Mac mini M4 Pro 48GB RAM)Also, when I try to move the Indesin window by clicking on the top bar with the mouse, I have to try several times before it works… Both bugs are disrupting my workflow!
Same as Gavin at MRP previously posted : when I move a field/object, the drop shadow is not moved to the same place.
The bug appeared several months ago: whether objects are grouped or not, when I move an object with a shadow applied, the two separate and the shadow moves randomly. I have to position my object and apply the shadow only when I know it won't move ! (Up-to-date version of InDesign, Mac mini M4 Pro 48GB RAM)Also, when I try to move the Indesin window by clicking on the top bar with the mouse, I have…
1 vote -
1 vote
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