Acrobat freezes when editing accessibility tags

Forum|Forum|7 days ago
September 16, 2026
3 replies
31 views

I am using Acrobat version 26.1. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program twice, and restarted my computer several times.

Over the last couple weeks, Acrobat has been slowing down for me when trying to remediate documents for accessibility. It has gotten so bad that Acrobat now completely freezes if I select a single accessibility tag and no ammount of waiting seems to resolve it.

It is not the file as this happens to me with every file. I’ve sent a file to a collegue to test and he has not issues. It doesn’t seem to be any CPU or memory issues as my computer runs fine otherwise, even when acrobat is open.

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DFWTechGuy

Participating Frequently

Since it happens with every PDF and your colleague can edit the same files without problems, I'd focus on the local Acrobat environment.

First, make sure Acrobat 26.1 is fully updated. Then check Task Manager for stuck AcroCEF.exe or RdrCEF.exe processes and end them before testing again. Adobe specifically recommends this for Acrobat performance issues.

I'd also test with Protected Mode temporarily disabled just to see if the freeze changes. If it does, security software or a third-party plugin could be interfering. Adobe recommends keeping Protected Mode enabled normally, so this should only be a test.

If it still freezes, try a new Windows user profile. If Tags work there, that would point more toward something in the original Windows/Acrobat user profile rather than the PDF itself.

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daniel_9308Author

Participant

Updating my computer seems to have mostly resolved the issue, although Acrobat still runs very slow

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daniel_9308Author

Participant

I’m running Windows 11 Enterprise. Version 23H2. Im currently updating to version 25H2 and will see if that resolves anything.