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bev_n12
Participating Frequently
October 7, 2025
Answered

Acrobat reader becomes unresponsive when opening a protected file.

  • October 7, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 706 views

Hi there

 

I have an issue where by users are experiencing Adobe becoming non-responsive when opening a protected a file. 

 

All other files work fine and initially protected files open fine as well. However when testing the issue i found that some protected files open the Acrobat window first and then pop-up for the password appears however with a specific file it opens the pop-up immediately, when selecting cancel the application then becomes non-responsive and has to be force closed from the task manager window. 

 

I have already uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat, i disabled the protected mode and disabled the enhanced security for testing purposes. This is affecting multiple users at the moment and accessing protected pdf files is a core function of the clients business. 

I have also tested several "Fixes" from previous threads on here which have not resolved the issue. All functionality was working last week without any issues.

 

The users are all on Windows 11 24h2 with the latest updates installed on the devices.

Correct answer PravalJain

Hi @AnandSri 

 

Can you advise if there has been any progress on the issue?

 

Kind regards,

 


Hi @bev_n12  - Thank you for your patience. This issue has been fixed in the latest release - https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotesDC/continuous/dccontinuousoct2025.html#dccontinuousocttwentytwentyfive. Please do a "Help -> Check for updates" to update to the latest version and let us know if you are still experiencing this issue. 

3 replies

H
hk_9158
Participant
October 14, 2025

Same issue. Hope quickly update.

Amal.
Amal.
Legend
October 15, 2025

Hi there 

 

Hope you are doing well. 

 

Our engineering team is working on this issue. It will be fixed in the future updates. 

 

Thanks for your understanding.

 

~Amal

JR Boulay
Community Expert
JR BoulayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 13, 2025

[MOVED TO THE ACROBAT READER DISCUSSIONS]

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
B
bev_n12Author
Participating Frequently
October 8, 2025

Thank you for the response. I have reviewed and confirmed there are none present currently. I performed a clean boot and the symptoms are still present.

AnandSri
AnandSri
Legend
October 9, 2025

Hello @bev_n12

 

I hope you are doing well. Thank you for sharing the details.

 

 

  • Please Go to Menu> Preferences > Security (Enhanced).

  • Uncheck:

    • “Enable Protected Mode at startup”

    • “Enable Enhanced Security”

  • Restart Acrobat.

  • Try opening the same protected file again, and check.

  • Please enable the security settings after the test.

Please ensure that all mandatory and optional updates for the operating system are installed. Then, perform a clean installation again using the Acrobat Cleaner tool. Restart the machine, and install Acrobat Reader. For testing purposes, please create a test user profile with full admin rights, install Reader, and test.

 

If the issue continues, please provide the following information: the current version of the operating system on your device, a sample PDF file, and the logs from the affected machine. To collect the logs, download and run the Log Collector tool. Ensure that you select all log options and attempt to reproduce the issue. After that, close the Log Collector tool; it will generate the logs along with a log ID. Please share this log ID with us for further investigation.

 

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

 

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