A Script to Avoid the “Delay with Missing Fonts” Bug in InDesign
Users of InDesign 2022 have widely reported a bug that causes a significant delay when opening files with missing fonts. The delay lasts around 30 seconds, during which time the program is inoperable. To me, it seems like the program is trying to contact Adobe’s servers and auto-activate the fonts, even though turning off that preference won’t fix the problem. Whatever the case, the delay is maddening and a huge hit to the productivity (and sanity) of InDesign users everywhere.
Fortunately, as with many InDesign problems, someone has stepped up and written a script to help users. Olav Kvern posted the code for the script in the Adobe InDesign forums, which will bypass all warnings when opening a file, not just ones related to fonts.
To use the script, download it here, install it, and double-click it in the Scripts panel when you want to open a file that you know or suspect has missing fonts. You’ll get a dialog box to navigate to the file, which will then open instantly.
Thanks, Olav. You are a life-saver!
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Thank you so much for posting this, Mike — I’m not on the prerelease site, and I haven’t been finding much of anyone complaining about the issue elsewhere. I was starting to think it was just me.
Hmmm, can be adjusted as startup script?
Note: if you turn off check for missing links when opening document in preferences…then if you export a book, you will get wrong exported pdf…will try if this is the same case.
Thanks
Thank you very much for this script. It is a really time saver for me. I was wondering if could be pushed a bit further and allow to open multiple files at the same time or all the files in a specific folder.
Thanks.
A true life saver, but it seems that this issue was addressed in v 17.4. Documents with missing fonts open instantly — with and without automatic Adobe Fonts activation.
Thanks goodness! But I’m keeping it handy just in case a future update brings the problem back.