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chrisb0509
Participant
June 21, 2018
Question

Acrobat Reader DC deleted files recovery?

  • June 21, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 10004 views

I opened my Acrobat Reader DC and when I tried to open my PDF it said it was unavailable and then the PDF was removed from my recent. I didn't have a copy of it so what should I do?

      2 replies

      davidj87027226
      davidj87027226
      Participant
      July 5, 2018

      I do understand how frustating to loose a vital data be it Documents, Spreadsheets, PDFs, or any media files.

      Yes, agree with graffiti, OS may have some options to get it back but Reader does not. You may try below methods.

      Assuming you are using Windows PC.

      A) Please check previous version using below steps.

      1. Went to Windows Explorer
      2. Right-clicked the PDF
      3. Next, selected the Previous Version
      4. Searched the desired file in the list and Select it
      5. Next, right-clicked on it and select Restore to recover it

      B) If still no success, you can leverage the third party [Link removed. Thanks for being helpful but please do not post links to third party tools here since we cannot vouch for them - Mod] program for complete rescue.

      Good Luck!

      Pro Tip : Have a multiple backup copies by next time.

      Abambo
      Community Expert
      AbamboCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 5, 2018

      Just to be complete: When looking into your link I have the impression that the Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery software is a paid one. davidj87027226 : Is that true?

      First the user needs to understand where he has stored his data (in this case the PDF files). It may well be a removable disk or a network attached storage device unavailable currently.

      If the user stored the file locally and deleted he should probably first look into the bin.

      If the file is not in the bin, he may try one of the recovery programs. If you read German, choose one out of this list: Datenrettung | heise Download . There are free ones and for pay software. Heise.de is the most renown source of computer technology in Germany. Read the comments for the tool you find appropriate.

      The user, however, needs to know that more time passes the chances are getting badder to recover the file, as the disk space may be getting reused very soon. If one of my users would call me, I would tell them to IMMEDIATELY shut down the system and to wait for my arrival. Even shutting down the system could cause overwriting harm. Trying to recover is only worth the hassle, if the file cannot easily recovered otherwise or simply recreated. Most PDFs could be recreated or recovered by other means (download, ...).

      chrisb0509 :Just one last remark: ~graffiti correctly said, that this is an OS functionality. You should ask this question in a Microsoft OS forum or an Apple MacOS forum. OS specialists there will answer the most effective way to your problem.

      ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
      davidj87027226
      davidj87027226
      Participant
      July 6, 2018

      Absolutely correct this is the commercial tool. I actually get to know about this brand, by one of the review in PCMag. Other than that no intention.

      ~graffiti
      ~graffiti
      Legend
      June 21, 2018

      Was it stored locally on your machine? Is your OS set to index all files? If so, your OS may have some options to get it back but Reader does not.

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