Set up smart text reflow

Last updated on Jun 2, 2026

Learn how to configure automatic page addition and deletion when typing or editing text within Adobe InDesign.

Smart Text Reflow automatically adds or removes pages as text changes, helping prevent overset text and empty pages. It works with primary text frames (text frames on a parent page), which must be threaded and appear on both left and right parent pages in facing-page documents.

Select Edit > Preferences > Type (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Type (macOS).

Select Smart Text Reflow.

Select options as required:

  • Add Pages To: Select End of Story to add pages immediately after the current story, End of Section to add pages at the section end, or End of Document to add pages at the document end.
  • Limit to Primary Text Frames: Select to restrict automatic page management to primary text frames on parent pages. Deselect to allow reflow in manually threaded frames across different pages.
  • Preserve Facing-Page Spreads: Select to add two-page spreads when text reflows in the middle of a facing-page document, preserving left and right page relationships.
  • Delete Empty Pages: Select to automatically remove pages when editing reduces text length, provided the emptied text frame is the only object on the page.

Select OK to configure the required settings.

When using Smart Text Reflow in text frames that aren’t based on parent pages, pages are added with full-page, single-column text frames, regardless of the attributes of the text frame to which the new frame is threaded.