Allow InDesign to complete its automatic repair when it detects document corruption.
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Troubleshoot
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Launch and crash issues
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- Crash or Error 2 when saving documents
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File and output issues
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Settings, interface, and feature issues
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Recover documents
Last updated on
Jun 2, 2026
Learn how to use automatic recovery to restore unsaved work after unexpected power failures, crashes, or system failures in Adobe InDesign.
Adobe InDesign protects your work through automatic recovery, which saves document changes to a temporary file separate from your original document. This safety net activates when InDesign closes unexpectedly due to power failures, system crashes, or application errors.
The auto-repair mechanism in InDesign detects and attempts to fix corrupted documents caused by internal factors, external system issues, or disk errors. When the repair succeeds, you'll receive a prompt to save the recovered document before continuing your work.
Recover documents
Review any recovered documents that open automatically—these display [Recovered] after the filename in the title.
Select File > Save As to save the recovered version with all automatically recovered changes.
When InDesign successfully recovers a document, you'll view unsaved changes incorporated into the opened file. If you prefer to discard the recovered changes and use the last version you explicitly saved, you can revert the changes using the History Panel or close the recovered document without saving it, then open the original file from disk.
Change document recovery location
InDesign automatically saves recovery data to a temporary folder while you work. This recovery data helps restore unsaved changes if the application or system crashes unexpectedly.
Recovery files remain temporary and are automatically deleted when you save or close documents normally. Only modify this setting if you need recovery data stored in a specific location for backup, performance, or IT policy reasons.
Select Edit > Preferences > File Handling (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > File Handling (macOS).
Select Browse (Windows) or Choose (macOS), in the Document Recovery Data section.
Navigate to the folder where you want InDesign to store recovery data, and select it.
Select Select (Windows) or Choose (macOS) to confirm the folder.
Select OK. The new location takes effect immediately. Existing recovery files in the previous location remain until InDesign no longer needs them.
Tip
Choose a location on a local drive with sufficient free space and reliable performance. Network locations may cause slower saves or recovery failures if the connection is interrupted.
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