Adobe InDesign: Rebuilding Preferences and Cache Files

Posted on: February 3rd, 2019Author: barb.binderCategory: Adobe InDesign

by Barb Binder, Adobe Certified Instructor on InDesign
updated: Mar 26, 2024

When InDesign suddenly starts behaving erratically, it may be due to corrupt preference or cache files. Closing InDesign, deleting (or renaming) these files and reopening InDesign will force InDesign to recreate a fresh copies. This resets InDesign back to a default installation. It is more effective than uninstalling/reinstalling InDesign (which leaves the problem files behind) and is quicker than completely removing InDesign using the Adobe CC Cleaner tool.

Rebuilding preferences to solve quirky InDesign behavior

1. New in InDesign 19.3!

The keyboard shortcut on launch technique explained in the next section works for all versions, but is difficult for some to accomplish because of the precise timing required. InDesign 19.3 has introduced a new feature that will allow you to reset preferences from within the program.

1. Save and close all open files.
2. Open Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > General (Mac.)
3. Click Reset Preferences on Quit. Close and then restart InDesign.

2. Keyboard shortcut on launch (use on 19.2 and earlier versions of InDesign)

1. (Windows) Start InDesign, and then immediately press Shift+Ctrl+Alt. Click Yes when asked if you want to delete preference files. If you don’t see this message, either try again (it’s a timing thing) or move on to manually removing the files.
   
2. (Mac OS) Start InDesign, and then immediately press Shift+Option+Command+Control. Click Yes when asked if you want to delete preference files. If you don’t see this message, either try again (it’s a timing thing) or move on to manually removing the files.
   

3. Manually removing (or renaming) the files

Delete (or rename) the InDesign SavedData and InDesign Defaults files. Renaming allows you to restore the old files if this doesn’t fix the problem.

Close Adobe InDesign.

1. Mac OS
   Users/[user]/Library/Caches/Adobe InDesign/Version [version]/InDesign SavedData
   Users/[user]/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign/Version [version]/InDesign Defaults
2. Windows 10
   Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Adobe\InDesign\Version [version]\[language]\Caches\InDesign SavedData
   Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\Version [version]\[language]\InDesign Defaults

Restart InDesign.

Rebuilding the cache files if the above steps don’t solve the problem

If the problem persists, on to rebuilding the cache folders.  To avoid frustration, please read the notes before you start. 

Windows:

1. Close InDesign
2. Rename both InDesign folders:
   1. C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign
   2. C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Adobe\InDesign
3. Restart InDesign

Note 1: These folders may be hidden in Windows. Use Control Panel > Folder Options (or File Explorer Options) and then click the View tab. Enable Advanced > Show hidden files and folders (or Show hidden files, folders or drive options).
Note 2: Renaming the InDesign folders will remove saved Find/change queries, saved workspaces, etc. Once you establish that the software is working as expected, you can move those folders from the renamed InDesign folder into the new one.

Mac:

1. Close InDesign
2. Rename the following file and folder:
   1. ~/Library/Caches/com.adobe.indesign
   2. ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign
3. Restart InDesign

Note 1: The Library folder is hidden by default. Open a Finder window. Hold the Opt key and open the Go menu. When the Option key is held down, Library will appear in the menu between Home and Computer. Now you can navigate to Caches and then to Preferences. (New in Mojave: press Cmd+Sh+. to show hidden files and folders.)
Note 2: Renaming the InDesign folder will remove saved Find/change queries, saved workspaces, etc. Once you establish that the software is working as expected, you can move those folders from the renamed InDesign folder into the new one.