Damaged fonts crash errors

Last updated on Jun 2, 2026

Fix startup and document crashes caused by corrupted or incompatible font files in Adobe InDesign.

InDesign may crash at launch, when opening documents, or during actions such as scrolling, exporting, or printing due to corrupted or incompatible font files. These crashes often occur when fonts cannot be properly loaded or processed.

Fonts with special characters or corrupted metadata

Open Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Fonts (Windows) or Font Book from Applications (macOS).

Search for fonts with special characters or symbols in their names.

Remove these fonts temporarily.

Restart InDesign and test stability.

Turn on fonts individually to identify problematic ones.

Replace problematic fonts with clean versions from the original source.

If removing fonts containing special characters doesn't resolve the crash, third-party plugins may be causing it. Third-party font management plugins conflict with native font handling during startup or font activation.

Third-party font management plugins conflict with InDesign

Navigate to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign [version]\Plug-Ins (Windows) or /Applications/Adobe InDesign [version]/Plug-Ins (macOS).

Create a folder named Disabled Plugins on your desktop.

Move non-Adobe font plugins to this folder.

Restart InDesign and test stability. If the crash resolves, re-enable plugins one at a time to identify the problematic one, then contact the plugin vendor for updates. If crashes persist after removing plugins, clear the system font cache. Corrupted font cache files prevent InDesign from reading font metadata correctly.

Corrupted font cache files prevent fonts from loading correctly

Windows

Close all Adobe applications.

Press Windows + R, type services.mscand press Enter.

Right-click Windows Font Cache Service, and select Stop.

Delete the FontCache folder from C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local.

Restart the Windows Font Cache Service and restart the system.

macOS

Close all Adobe applications.

Delete folders starting with com.apple.FontRegistry or com.adobe.FontCache from the following locations:

  • ~/Library/Caches
  • /Library/Caches

Restart the system.

Corrupt fonts

Keep the problematic font disabled in your font management utility.

Open the affected document in InDesign.

Select OK when prompted about missing fonts.

Select Type > Find/Replace Font.

In the Font Information list, select the missing font.

In the Replace With section, choose a replacement font and style.

Select Change All, then select Done.