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Participant
Mar 27, 2020 2:04 AM UTC
Answered

This file is already open or in use by another applicatication

In Acrobat Reader DC:  I have 3 computers sharing WiFi (all have Windows 10, version 1909) with the latest Firefox (74) set to open .pdf files in the browser. 

I opened a file in the browser on 1of the computers, then downloaded it and saved it.  Now, on the other 2 computers, when I attempt to 'open with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC' a displayed file from the internet, I get the message:  'There was an error opening this document. This file is already open or in use by another application'.  I can 'save file' as usual and then open it, but can't open it directly.  If I set the browser to open .pdf 's in Acrobat, I get the same message.  I removed DC from one of the affected computers and reinstalled it with no effect - I still get the message.  The original computer doesn't have this problem.  Anybody have the same problem and found a fix?

Sophia22010757ygrlCorrect answer
Participant
Nov 30, 2021 1:16 PM UTC

I found that if I turn of the McAfee Webadvisor extention in firefox it worked fine after that...

17 replies

JR Boulay
Community Expert
Community Expert
Nov 14, 2023 10:22 AM UTC

[MOVED TO THE ACROBAT READER DISCUSSIONS]

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Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
Participant
Sep 7, 2023 12:25 AM UTC

Try turning off "preview" in the file exporer, or navigating away from the file you are trying to save so that it is no longer showing in the preview pane. When another application is accessing the PDF for some purpose (such as preview), Adobe thinks something else is using that document and won't allow changes.

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Participant
Oct 18, 2023 2:17 PM UTC

Preview was already unselected for me so that wasn't the issue.  I would love an answer for this.  This is so frutrating.

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Sophia22010757ygrlCorrect answer
Participant
Nov 30, 2021 1:16 PM UTC

I found that if I turn of the McAfee Webadvisor extention in firefox it worked fine after that...

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Participant
Dec 6, 2021 10:25 PM UTC

Thanks Sofia, that was defnitely the problem. As soon as I disabled the McAfee Webadvisor extension it was no longer a problem. 

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Participant
Dec 10, 2020 1:58 PM UTC

I had this problem, with my striata reader, and adobe reader dc. Finally found that the culprit was the adobe reader ext on google chrome. deleted it no more problems!

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Participant
Feb 11, 2021 8:16 PM UTC

Hello, I have been having the same problem for about a week. I'm not as computer savvy to know what it means to find the Adobe Reader ext on Google Chrome. I am using Chrome, and I went to settings, but couldn't find anything like that. I tried putting Adobe in the little Search box for the settings, and tried putting in Reader. I expanded sections and went to Advanced, and just didn't see anything like that.

 

I'd love to get this fixed.

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Participant
Apr 9, 2021 9:06 PM UTC

It's in the extensions. I went in and deleted my Adobe extension, and it solved the same problem I was having. 

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Participant
Aug 24, 2020 11:57 AM UTC

I had the same problem right NOW. After a few times trying to save the PDF document, I copied the document to the desktop...and tried saving it there. It worked a charm. The issue for me is that the depth / hierarchy of folders where it was located was too deep. Meaning that the limit of characters in its address was past its max (I cannot remember the write technical terms at this time, but hope that you catch my meaning).

 

So try and copy the offending file to the desktop and see if that is not the issue. If so, investigate the number of folders and length of the folder names that may be causing the fault.

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Participant
Aug 27, 2020 2:47 PM UTC

I have had he same problem on two desktop computers running windows 10 and Firefox. I still have not found a solution but the downloade file is always in the download folder so can be opened from there as soon as you get the message. It will be found right away by clicking the download blue arrrow.

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Participant
Aug 18, 2020 2:09 PM UTC

We have over 300 users on our network and so far this issue only seems to affect about 6 but once it happens for that user it happens every time.  They can save it to a local drive but not a network drive.  I saw the comment below about changing ISP but that is not possible in a network enviornment.  our default is chrome.  Any ideas yet from anyone else?

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Participant
Nov 14, 2023 4:30 AM UTC

Having this issue as well. Works fine on local, but if they try to manage networked files, they get an error. It's only with Adobe files created since a fresh install of Acrobrat.

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Participant
Mar 27, 2020 8:18 PM UTC

I have a co-worker with the same problem.  Haven't found a solution yet.  Her setup is Windows 10, Adobe Acrobat DC, using Firefox.  She too can save the PDF to her hard drive and open it but if she tries to open the file from Firefox (which is set to open PDFs using Adobe) she gets the error that the file is in use.  She has told me that if she closes that error window and tries again it will open the second time.  I've asked her to check some different settings, try a different browser so as to narrow this down.  If I find anything interesting I'll report back.

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CaryTXAuthor
Participant
Mar 28, 2020 2:04 AM UTC
Thanks for the info. Trying again doesn't work for me. Everything works fine on the computer that originally downloaded the file, but that one doesn't get used much - it is in the shop. The problem still exists on two other computers. I hope you find something.
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Participant
Mar 30, 2020 12:54 PM UTC

Have you tried with a different browser?  I had my co-worker try with Edge since she already had that on her computer and it worked fine.  I'm wondering if some combination of recent updates (be it Adobe, Windows, and/or Firefox) caused some sort of glitch.  I'm probably going to have her do a complete uninstall/reinstall of Firefox next.

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