How to Repair InDesign Files on Mac OS X [6 Easy Ways]

to Repair Corrupt and Damaged InDesign Document

Is your InDesign file causing issues and errors while trying to open or save, on your Mac OS X? Looking at how to repair InDesign files? Then this article is for you, here learn how to repair damaged InDesign file.

Well, there are various factors that could partially or completely corrupt your Adobe InDesign files.

Corruption in InDesign files could severely damage other InDesign elements such as Media Objects, Text, Images, Bookmarks, layers, Tables, Notes & Footnotes, Standard Shapes, Special Characters, Animation, Hyperlinks and many more

And, if you are too facing issues while accessing your INDD file then keep reading this article. Below check out the best possible fixes to fix damaged InDesign file, but first, have a look at the common reasons responsible for the corruption of the INDD file.

Causes Responsible for the InDesign File Corruption:

As said there are various reasons that make the InDesign file corrupt, below check out some of the common ones:

  • Due to sudden power crash
  • Virus or malware infection
  • Bad sectors on the hard drive
  • The third-party plug-ins can also cause corruption in InDesign file
  • Due to unexpected or unknown errors
  • The extensions of the file you are trying to open are not supported by InDesign

How to Repair InDesign Files On Mac OS X

1) InDesign Troubleshoot on Mac OS X

InDesign Program has a very helpful feature known as Document Recovery which lets you restore your lost INDD files.

This feature can restore your file which has been interrupted and damaged due to sudden power failure or other system issues. Unfortunately, there are various reasons behind the corruption of files like malware/virus attack, software glitch, disk crash, disk errors, and bad permissions.

2) Fix Mac Disk Permissions

If your file is corrupted due to disk error then with the help of disk utility you can repair your Mac hard drive with options like – Repair Disk and Repair Disk Permissions.

The permission differs for InDesign files so this might be the reason behind corruption. By repairing disk errors you can easily recover corrupt InDesign files. Once the disk check is over re-launch your InDesign application and check if this works for you to repair InDesign file.

3) Disk Maintenance

Don’t miss this point. Check whether your hard drive needs maintenance apart from disk repair. For example, your Mac hard drive may be choking due to insufficient space. So just check your files stored on Mac hard drive through Storage. To do so follow:

  • Apple Logo>>About This Mac>>More Info>>Storage

Don’t forget to perform disk cleaning by removing junk files from the drive to make more room for your documents. And, check the RAM consumption as low RAM can lead to frequent freezing of the application. You can even save your InDesign files to the external hard drives.

4)  Save the document in IDML or INX format.

After using the above ways to fix the corrupt file make sure to close your INDD application and launch it again. To open your InDesign file after relaunching the application follow:

  • Open up your damaged InDesign file
  • Choose File > Export.
  • Go to the save as type menu, choose InDesign Markup(CS4 and later), or InDesign Interchange (CS3 and earlier).
  • Assign name and location to your file and tap to the save option.
  • Now in the InDesign, open the exported IDML or INX file.
  • If the problem is resolved then continue using the IDML or INX file as a replacement of your original document.

Hope this works for you to repair InDesign files on your Mac OS X but if not then head to the next solution.

5) Check Compatibility And Install The Latest Indesign Update.

  • In InDesign, choose Help > Updates.

-or-

-or-

6) Re-name & Save Corrupt InDesign Document

If still you are unable to repair InDesign file, then make sure to close the INDD completely and launch it again.

Now try to open the InDesign file fresh launch, follow the below-given steps to do so:

  • Go to File >> Open >> then choose the InDesign file >> Copy >> and rename the InDesign file and save it to different location.

Check if this works for you to repair InDesign file.

Hope after following the given fixes you are able to repair damaged or corrupt InDesign file on Mac OS X. Below check out the tips to avoid INDD file corruption.

Tips to Avoid INDD File Corruption:

  • Take a valid backup of important Adobe Photoshop files
  • Delete the Adobe files after checking it twice or thrice.
  • Be sure to scan your PC with the authorized antivirus software and examine the computer hard drive.
  • Take necessary backup InDesign files on external storage devices.
  •  Keep your Windows program updated.
  • Avoid using virus-infected third party programs like downloading free software, audios, videos, etc.

Conclusion: 

InDesign is an important file, but sometimes this may get corrupted or damaged and start causing various issues. So, if you are facing InDesign file corruption while running the file in your Mac OSX then follow the steps given in the article.

I tried my best to list down the best possible solutions to fix corrupt InDesign file. Make sure to follow the steps given carefully.

It is estimated the article works for you to repair InDesign files and start using it in your Mac OSX.

Good Luck..!