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margieo89160434
margieo89160434
Participant
November 29, 2018
Question

Fillable fields are gone in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

  • November 29, 2018
  • 6 replies
  • 10122 views

I used to fill out pdf forms with fillable fields but now the fillable fields are gone. The fillable form fields used to be highlighted with light blue where I can easily enter the information but one day it just disappeared and the file looks like it's printed already. As I clicked many times the fillable fields, an error message appeared saying "The updater plug-in has been removed. Please re-install Adobe Acrobat to continue viewing the current file". I re-installed the application many times but it did not fix the issue.

Below is the screenshot of the error message. You can see on the form below there are boxes, those are the fillable fields that used to be highlighted with light blue.

Does anyone know how to fix it or can anyone help me?

This topic has been closed for replies.

6 replies

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
March 8, 2019

Thank you for confirming that the form fields are not present in the file until you choose Prepare Forms. IThis means the file does not contain any form fields at all. If they were there, you would have seen them on opening. It was probably flattened, by accident or design, removing the form fields but leaving the appearance of them. Prepare Form scanned the file and guessed (correctly) where the form fields were.

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
March 8, 2019

Please answer: In the top image, the blues boxes aren't there but are the fields still fillable?

kree8v1
kree8v1
Participating Frequently
March 8, 2019

I'm sorry, I forgot to answer that earlier. No, there is no response to trying to enter any text into the Reader version.

~graffiti
~graffiti
Legend
March 8, 2019

So, when you open in Acrobat with "prepare forms", you have fillable form fields but when you open in Reader, you do not have fillable form fields. Does that about sum it up?

If so, that means the form has no fillable fields. Acrobat is creating those when you open it and use "Prepare forms".

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
March 7, 2019

Ok, it's a very different problem, as few of your symptoms are the same as the original post.

So, we know that the PDF files are still good, because they still work in Pro. Y

But they are no good in Reader for you. You also note that the fields seem to have completely vanished in Reader, so it isn't just the highlighting. I'd like you to confirm for me that it is actually happening in the Reader app - you see a title bar saying Acrobat Reader along the top? Not just that it happens, perhaps in an email or web browser, on the same system as Reader?

Is there any chance this file can be shared publicly? I realise it is probably sensitive and can't be.

kree8v1
kree8v1
Participating Frequently
March 7, 2019

Top image is in Reader (see top bar in image). Notice NO BLUE boxes to enter text.

Bottom image is in Pro. Opened with Prepare Forms, and only some original form fields exist...

i may be able to send files, but here are screenshots.

~graffiti
~graffiti
Legend
March 7, 2019

In the top image, the blues boxes aren't there but are the fields still fillable? The boxes is a preference thing and it looks like you just have them turned off in Reader. Edit>Preferences>Forms

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
March 7, 2019

So 25% of the form fields are still there and still work?

Do the other 75% still work but are not highlighted?

Do you get the message "The updater plug-in has been removed."?

What is your version of Acrobat or Reader?

What changed since the last time it worked for you with 100% of fields?

kree8v1
kree8v1
Participating Frequently
March 7, 2019

The 25% that are still there, do not appear in Reader, they only appeared when i opened in Pro.

The other 75% were entirely missing, absent from the form.

No, did not receive a message "The updater plug-in has been removed."

Both Reader & Pro show they are version 2019.010.20098

Last time 1000% fields worked was probably January?

Any changes: perhaps an update, because i did change the subscription to auto-update...

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
November 29, 2018

Are you still getting the "plug-in missing" message?

If so, please try this

Use Windows key + R (Windows key probably between left Shift and Alt)

Paste this: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\plug_ins

You should see a folder with a lot of files in including Acroform.api and Updater.api. Do you see that?

margieo89160434
margieo89160434Author
Participant
November 30, 2018

Yes, I still have the updater plug-in missing message. I don't see the acroform.api and updater.api even on the folders. Here's the screenshot of the folder.

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
November 29, 2018

If one plug-in has gone, then others might be gone. Form filling is done by plug-ins, so, that could explain it. Someone using your computer might have done this - or you might have used a "speed up Reader" tool which does this. Or you or someone might have removed a folder by accident.


Anyway, Try doing a REPAIR (from the Help menu).

margieo89160434
margieo89160434Author
Participant
November 29, 2018

Thank you for your reply but it did not solve the problem. I have tried the repair installation from the help menu many times even before posting here and again did it after reading your suggestion. I even have it reinstalled from a qualified programmer and good thing it worked but the problem came back after 3 days.

On my laptop, the adobe reader XI is working perfectly fine. I wish to download that old version on my windows 10 desktop computer where I have the problem but it does not allow me.

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