Using delete key causes spinning pinwheel on MacBook Pro

[andytothemax]

I use InDesign as a replacement for Microsoft Word because it's a lot easier to create legal documents.  So I end up doing a lot of typing in InDesign.

In an ordinary document with no special content, effects, or configuration, I am getting the dreaded spinning pinwheel when using the delete key during normal typing.  See video here: http://www.andrewwatters.com/files/pinwheel.mov​​

You can't see the pinwheel in the video for some reason-- when I'm moving the cursor around after making a typo, that's when the pinwheel is appearing.  It's really annoying because the length of time I'm locked out of InDesign is unpredictable-- it could be a few seconds or as much as 45 seconds.  It appears that the longer the document, the longer the pinwheel spins.  This doesn't happen in any other application, and doesn't seem to happen on my desktop computer (iMac) running the same version of InDesign (2017.0 release).  The file is saved on my local drive, so there is no network issue.  I tried turning Preflight off because I thought that could be doing it, but it had no effect.  I'm not the best typist on the MacBook Pro keyboard, so this is a big barrier for me.

I'm running Mac OS X El Capitan (10.11.6) on a mid-2015 MacBook Pro and I only have Acrobat and InDesign running.  What could this be?

[Barb Binder]

As an experiment, try disabling the Type Contextual Controls. Does it make a difference?

[andytothemax]

Thanks Barb, unfortunately disabling type contextual controls did not make a difference.

Also, I tried this out on my desktop computer (2013 iMac) and the same thing is happening.  It appears to be random because sometimes when I hit delete, it doesn't happen, and other times it does. The length of the spinning pinwheel is also random.

I think it may have something to do with the length of numbered lists, because I don't recall this happening when typing a narrative.

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

Hmmm. I really don't know. I'm on the same OS, same InDesign and not seeing it. Did you try deleting preferences?

Troubleshooting 101: Replace, or "trash" your InDesign preferences

Or typing in Word and using File > Place to add the text to InDesign?

If you think it is a bug, you can report it here:

Wishform - Adobe InDesign

[Barb Binder]

I use InDesign as a replacement for Microsoft Word because it's a lot easier to create legal documents.  So I end up doing a lot of typing in InDesign.

On a [somewhat] unrelated note, most of us type our text in Word, and then use File > Place to add the text into InDesign.

[andytothemax]

My problem was solved by quitting the Mac ecosystem and switching to Windows.