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Adobe Acrobat DC giving error saying file cannot be opened, file damaged

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
November 27, 2017
5 replies
29949 views

Hello,

I have a filled-in dynamic pdf that is saved to my hard drive. It was initially saved with information several months ago. I was able to open and edit the form 7 days ago. Today, I tried to open the same form and it gave me an error that said "There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired."

It happens in both Reader and Adobe Acrobat Pro

Why would this happen all of a sudden? It doesn't happen for files of other dynamic pdf forms.

I'm using Windows 8.1 Pro

Thanks

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer AnandSri

Hello David,

Adobe Acrobat and Reader official update containing the fix for this issue is now available. This update will be automatically pushed to all existing installations of Acrobat and Reader. You may also manually install the update by navigating to Help > Check for Updates.

You may also install the updates manually through https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/release-note/acrobat-dc-november-29-2017.html

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

lorneb87540091

Participating Frequently

I have the same issue. It's January 2023. Acrobat DC reader. Windows 10.0.19045. Seems like about half of my pdfs won't open. Same error message: "There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired." That said, the same files open just fine on my Macbook. Even on my iPhone. What is up? Help?

AkanchhaS8194121

Legend

Hi @lorneb87540091

Sorry to hear that the issue persists.

Would you mind sharing the exact version of Adobe Acrobat you are currently working on? Open Acrobat>help>about Acrobat

Also, regarding the files you have been receiving this error, are these files saved locally on the system, or were they available online and in the Recent view of Acrobat?

~Akanchha

lorneb87540091

Participating Frequently

Hello Akanchha,

Acrobat Reader Version 22.003.20310.0

Local files, files on my Google drive, and files on my OneDrive. A mix.

Lorne

AnandSri

Legend

Hello David,

Thank you so much for your time and patience.The Updates of Acrobat Classic 2015 and 2017 is live now. Please check for the latest updates from Help>Check for updates. Install the update and reboot the machine and check with the file.

You can download the updates manually through the URL https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/release-note/acrobat-dc-2015-acrobat-2017-december-01-2017.html

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

lorneb87540091

Participating Frequently

I have the same issue. It's January 2023. Acrobat DC reader. Windows 10.0.19045. Seems like about half of my pdfs won't open. Same error message: "There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired." That said, the same files open just fine on my Macbook. Even on my iPhone. Also they open fine in Chrome.

What is up? Help?

AnandSriCorrect answer

Legend

Hello David,

Adobe Acrobat and Reader official update containing the fix for this issue is now available. This update will be automatically pushed to all existing installations of Acrobat and Reader. You may also manually install the update by navigating to Help > Check for Updates.

You may also install the updates manually through https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/release-note/acrobat-dc-november-29-2017.html

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

Dave_ErhoAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you. This update fixes my issue with Reader. As I understood from your email, an update for my version of Acrobat Pro DC will be coming in the next couple of days.

Regards,

David Erho

AnandSri

Legend

Hello David,

Assuming you are using a Windows machine, try to repair the installation files of Reader from Help>Repiar installation.

If it's a Mac machine, then try to reset the preferences, refer to How to reset Acrobat Preference settings to default.

I have also sent you a private message, please check your email inbox.

- Anand Sri.

Dave_ErhoAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hello Anand Sri,

I know you already received my email, so I'll await your findings on the files. I wanted to mention that I did try the Help>Repair Installation on both Acrobat and Reader and continued to have the issue.

David

AnandSri

Legend

Hello DaveErho,Dave Erho

We apologize for the inconvenience caused, as per the description above, you are not able to open a PDF file in Reader or Acrobat as getting an error message that the PDF file is damaged, Is that correct?

Please refer and try the troubleshooting steps from the following KB docs Resolve damaged document error when opening PDF files

Can't open PDF

Hope this helps, and let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

Dave_ErhoAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hello Anand AnandSri,

I did see those two KB articles yesterday. However, I do not believe that the issues there are what is causing the problem. The documents were created with livecycle. I did not recently install a new version of Acrobat Pro or Reader. The files worked perfectly fine a week ago. The file type is pdf. Also, I looked at the header for one of the files and there were no extraneous bytes before the %pdf header as far as I could tell.

I had this issue for four different forms that I created. However, 10+ others created the same way still work correctly. None of the files are ever opened, edited and saved through anything other than Adobe Acrobat Pro or Adobe Reader.

Could this at all be related to the recent continuous update released on November 14th?

Thanks,

David

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