Corrupt / Glitchy Cursor in InDesign (CC 2017) in macOS High Sierra

UPDATE: 10/9/17 – I wasn’t able to apply the supplemental update since I’m on the beta (thx Apple), but a new 10.13.1 beta was released today, and the issue appears to be fixed. Thank god. I do still see graphic glitches with some shapes, but applying a transparency effect to any object fixes it.

UPDATE: 10/5/17 – Apple released an update which fixes the bug.

UPDATE: 10/1/17: The 10.13.1 Beta does not fix this issue. Here’s Adobe’s official page saying it’s a known issue and High Sierra is not supported.

Apple released macOS 10.13 High Sierra to the public today, and a nasty bug affecting InDesign from early betas is still an issue.

https://twitter.com/tophrrrr/status/909937722336448519

The issue causes the cursor to change into a box of glitchy lines. Other graphical tearing can sometimes be observed. In previous InDesign issues, disabling GPU acceleration (InDesign CC > Preferences > GPU Performance…) could fix the issue, but that is not the case here. The glitch seems to appear after InDesign loses focus (i.e. a different app is used and then the window switches back to InDesign). Restarting InDesign or the computer will fix it, but it the issue will quickly return.

Adobe is aware of the issue, but their current recommendation is not to upgrade. A suggestion echoed by other power users:

The issue has been reported to Apple and is being discussed in other Mac forums. It’s unclear whether it’s Adobe or Apple that will need to issue a fix. Fingers crossed it happens soon, as trying to guess where in the distorted area is the real point of the cursor is a major productivity killer.

5 Comments

Leave a Comment

  1. alyssa says:

    this is the WORST. i keep shutting down indesign and restarting it hoping it would fix it, but then i see this. -_-

  2. alex f says:

    Same s**t here, upgrade for a worst experience.
    Waiting for an update quickly because it’s hard to fin “wally” inside this mess.

    Best !

  3. geo says:

    @alex f u mean Waldo?

  4. Nan says:

    Same here, I had to upgrade to macOS High Sierra
    Now my Adobe InDesign has a yellow box that appears in place of the cursor.
    Very frustrating. The only fix thus far is to save and quit InDesign.
    And the cycle starts all over again.

    Give the bug a kleenex

Leave a Comment