Skip to main content
T
Thomas_Calvin
Inspiring
May 27, 2026
Question

Why are shared documents not accessible?

  • May 27, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 14 views

One of the touted payoffs of CC is “collaboration.” So we are attempting to use it, in a review-&-approval use-case. But it doesn’t work, because if we distribute a link to a document we’ve put in CC, the recipients get permission errors. There is no other discoverable way of “sharing” the document.

Anybody have insight on this?

Thanks!

 

      3 replies

      T
      Thomas_CalvinAuthor
      Inspiring
      May 27, 2026

      Welp, it turns out that we have a few problems here.

      1. If the file happens to be a PDF, Adobe just removes the Share option from the menu. This is not correct behavior. If an option exists but is simply not currently available, you grey it out. You don’t just make it disappear. This is UI 101. By greying it out, you show the user three critical things:
        A. The function exists.
        B. Where it resides
        C. Some condition must be satisfied to enable it.
      2. The documentation at Share cloud documents suffers from a similar defect: It shows you how to share files, but makes no mention of the fact that the steps don’t apply to PDFs. That critical information is off-screen, at the bottom of the page where you have no reason to scroll because you can see all four steps for file-sharing without scrolling. Why? It should be mentioned in the first section by simply saying “Except PDFs; see below.”
      3. The links created by “copy link” appear to be useless.
      T
      Thomas_CalvinAuthor
      Inspiring
      May 27, 2026

      Installed all available updates today and it’s still broken.

       

      kglad
      Community Expert
      kgladCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 27, 2026

      is this a pdf document?

      T
      Thomas_CalvinAuthor
      Inspiring
      May 27, 2026

      Yep.

      I had a look at the “do not have permission” dialog the recipients get, and the title of the dialog includes the word “review.” So the intent is actually understood at some level. But nobody can access the document.

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices