Skip to main content
Participant
June 6, 2018
Answered

Acrobat Pro DC lag issues and freeze [2018]

  • June 6, 2018
  • 8 replies
  • 54816 views

We have an individual who needs to do a lot of work on subdivision engineering plans (editing them/viewing). The PDF's he gets constantly lag and freeze up. If you're scrolling through them they freeze before you get 5 or 6 pages into them. It's very frustrating to view the documents. It definitely seems related to the particular PDF's he gets. They're usually in the 30MB range and have a lot of text and maps. Is there anything we can do to speed Acrobat up? I tried viewing on a higher end computer with 32GB of RAM and an i7. It was only marginally better.

 

Foxit reader seemed to do a slightly better job.

Correct answer Adorobat

Hi kpontusa,

You may also try  following troubleshooting steps and check if that helps:

You may go to preference > Page Display, uncheck "Smooth line art" , "Smooth images.

Also, check if an update is available for Acrobat using "Check for updates" option under "Help" menu,  You may also download updates from here:  Adobe software and product updates

Reboot the machine after installing update and try again.

You may also refer to the following forum thread discussing the similar issue:

Why is the following PDF so slow to render and how can I make it faster to render?

Viewing PDFs and viewing preferences, Adobe Acrobat

Thanks,

Shivam

8 replies

Participant
February 1, 2023

I have had the same problem, but this worked for me! I went into my files, and opened my PDF file with chrome, then printed as pdf. It compressed the file and now I'm able to comment and scroll through my plan sets with no lagging.

Participant
August 30, 2023

I have the same problem as everyone else: Acrobat Pro is way too slow when a document has comments.Right now I'm working with a 290 page doc with 300 comments, and it's painfully slow.

 

None of the fixes in this thread worked.  Browsing the internet shows this has been a problem for years. Adobe clearly doesn't care. Can anyone recommend a good, non-Adobe product for commenting on PDFs?

Known Participant
November 9, 2023

𝖶𝗁𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖾 (Cursing removed) 𝗂𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝗅𝗍𝗁𝗒 𝗌𝖼𝗎𝗆 𝗌𝗈𝖿𝗍𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗈 𝗎𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗅𝗒 𝗎𝗇𝗎𝗌𝖺𝖻𝗅𝗒 𝗌𝗅𝗈𝗐, 𝖺𝗌 𝗌𝗈𝗈𝗇 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝖯𝖣𝖥 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗍𝖺𝗂𝗇𝗌 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝖺 𝖿𝖾𝗐 𝖽𝗈𝗓𝖾𝗇 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗈𝖻𝗃𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗌?

 

𝖠𝖽𝗈𝖻𝖾 𝖠𝖼𝗋𝗈𝖻𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗌𝗈 (Cursing removed) 𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗄𝖾𝗇, 𝗂𝗍'𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝗒𝗈𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈𝗅𝖾𝗋𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾. 𝖨 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾 (Cursing removed) 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾𝗇'𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 (Cursing removed) 𝗉𝗂𝖾𝖼𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗀𝖺𝗋𝖻𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝖿𝗍𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 (Cursing removed) 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝖺𝗒.

 

𝖡𝗎𝗍 𝗎𝗇𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗎𝗇𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗃𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝗆𝗒 𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗀𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗉 𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 (Cursing removed) 𝗌𝗈𝖿𝗍𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝖽, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗎𝗅𝗍 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝖺𝗇'𝗍 𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝗈𝖼𝗎𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖨 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖽𝗎𝖼𝖾.

 

𝖩𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 (Cursing removed) 𝖺𝗇𝖽 (Abuse removed) 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗏𝖾 𝗁𝗂𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗆 𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝗂𝗇 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗀𝖾 (Cursing removed).

Known Participant
April 18, 2022

Not sure if this will work for everybody but it seems to work for me. But the problem I had is slightly different: Eeverytime I opened a document with Acrobat Pro, the program lagged for a minute or more, not allowing me to click anything or even do a scroll. But after that initial lag, the program worked correctly until I closed it. If I open a second document while the program is still open it works normally, but if I close the program and then open a new document (so opening the program again) then the lag appears again. I followed these steps and the lag dissappeared at last!:

 

  1. Go to Edit Menu and Navigate to the Preferences.
  2. Press on "Security (Enhanced)" on the left-hand pane.
  3. Then deselect "Enable Protected Mode".
  4. Close Acrobat and restart your PC.

 

Participant
June 28, 2022

This is an issue that's bigger than what version I am using or if I am on PC or Mac. This is a problem with my employees, my friends, and my family. Adobe Acrobat is horribly optimized and cannot use the available resources on high end computers and it has been like this for years. You ask us how to replicate it and send in logs, yet nothing gets fixed. It's like the developers do not use the program. My other software does not crash when I ask it to open up 50mb files. What makes Adobe above that standard? I understand how lucrative a subscription based model is, but there has been a direct correlation in quality loss. There's no reason for you guys to fix anything because of that product model. All we get is our monthly "security update". Optimize your program or other businesses will follow suit.

Participant
March 21, 2022

Same thing happening to me, and I'm incredibly frustrated. Was going to buy Acrobat Pro DC at my own expense because my company will no longer provide, but it's as balky, slow and clumsy in a simple task (editing names on a floorplan) as the free FoxIt softtware the company gives us. I'll follow this thread for a few more days, then cancel during my trial period if nobody comes up with a solution. I've already implemented the few suggestions I've found (unchecking Page Display>Smooth Line Art and Smooth Images) with no improvement. I assume this is the newest version as I just installed it; never had any issues previously when I used to use it.

Can send the file but can't upload to a public forum.

Participant
March 22, 2022

Unfortunately I'm still using this. With my background my computer savvy is generally way beyond average. I attempted all previously outlined fixes and I'm still bogged down by the same issues. I will be jumping ship as soon as I figure out where to go. Here's my specs for those interested:

Adobe Acrobat Pro 2021.011.20039
i9-10900K CPU
64 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro Pro P2200
Windows 10 Pro 21H2 build 19044.1586

At this point I'm pretty sure it's not my computer.

Regards,

Participant
August 16, 2021

Years later I am using Pro DC version 2021.005.20060 and this issue still plagues my work day regularly. I would ask if there is a fix for this yet but I've essentially lost confidence that it ever will be. Please prove me wrong.

Participant
September 30, 2021

We use this software at my work and I'm in the middle of editing a large PDF. I have tried all ideas above. upgraded to 64 bit Pro DC, restarted computer. Split up the file into multiple parts eg: 125 pages cut up into 3 parts to edit a section of pages at a time and nothing. the program seems to only get worse the most I edit the file. Was fast ain't even usable atm. tried different computers too. I'm going to recreate the file nect but this is not very good and a lot of people pay good money for this. 

AkanchhaS8194121
Legend
October 1, 2021

Hi,

 

Latest update is available for Acrobat & Reader DC Continuous track: Adobe Acrobat and Reader - 21.007.2009x Optional update.

 

Please install the latest patch and let us know if you experience any issues.

See this article for detailed information about this release, bug fixes and how to update the app: https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/adobe-acrobat-and-reader-21-007-2009x-optional-up...

 

Thanks,

Akanchha 

Participating Frequently
October 8, 2020

Unfortunately this fix did not help me. There is an incredible amount of lag when trying to use and apply Comments on a PDF in Acrobat DC. It is almost unusable. I would go back to Acrobat X (which I was using up until 2 weeks ago) but it won't run on my new system.

 

This software is a disgrace. It's been 5 years since DC was released and it is still SLOW, buggy and has a very wasteful UI.

 

COME ON ADOBE. Wake up and make Acrobat professional again, like it was in 9.5 and X.

Participant
October 16, 2020

I am having this problem with Acrobat DC, trying to comment on and edit large PDF files. It's basically unusable and I'm up against a deadline. I don't know what to do but I can't believe I pay for software that is so unbelievably buggy.

Participant
November 25, 2020

I am also having this issue and it is really stuffing up my work day. It can take 10 minutes just to get two lines of text down in the form filling or editing mode.  Like others, my software is completely up to date and I have a newish iMac

 

there is clearly an issue here that Adobe needs to fix.

kpontusa
Participant
November 20, 2018

We have notices the same issue here, both with 2017 and 2015.  At first we thought reinstalling would fix it - it didn't.

Our Engineering team creates several thousand page PDFs and we had been trying things to get their rendering of the PDFs faster.  All system were originally i7 laptops with 8GB memory.  In a test, we increased the memory with what we had on hand (2 8GB SODIMMs) - immediate performance gain!  So we bought the team enough to max out their laptops (32GB), now all are slower than they previously had been.  Will be trying to drop them to 24GB and see if that suddenly returns the speed.

Adorobat
AdorobatCorrect answer
Participating Frequently
November 27, 2018

Hi kpontusa,

You may also try  following troubleshooting steps and check if that helps:

You may go to preference > Page Display, uncheck "Smooth line art" , "Smooth images.

Also, check if an update is available for Acrobat using "Check for updates" option under "Help" menu,  You may also download updates from here:  Adobe software and product updates

Reboot the machine after installing update and try again.

You may also refer to the following forum thread discussing the similar issue:

Why is the following PDF so slow to render and how can I make it faster to render?

Viewing PDFs and viewing preferences, Adobe Acrobat

Thanks,

Shivam

Participant
June 21, 2021

I cannot uncheck these because they are greyed out. 

Participant
September 17, 2018

Hi Drewb, I'm as frustrated as you are. Did you manage to get the issue fixed? So over this version of Acrobat Pro DC... :/

Adorobat
Participating Frequently
June 8, 2018

Hi Drewb,

As per the issue description mentioned above Acrobat Pro DC is freezing when viewing pdfs, is that correct?

Try the troubleshooting steps suggested in the following forum thread under correct answer and check if that helps:

How to fix a SERIOUS lag issue for Acrobat and Reader on a Macbook Pro for forms? Please.

Also, check if an update is available for Acrobat using "Check for updates" option under "Help" menu, reboot the machine after installing update and try again. You may also download updates from here: Adobe software and product updates

If that doesn't work, try toggling the settings given under Preferences > Page Display > Rendering and check if that helps. You may refer to the following forum thread for the same: Scrolling through PDF files is slow using Adobe Reader on MY MACBOOK pro with retina

Also. let us know the dot version of Acrobat installed on the machine? To check the version, refer to the steps given in this link: Identify the product and its version for Acrobat and Reader DC

Let us know if you need any help.

Shivam

Participant
June 11, 2018

This isn't on a Mac it's on a PC so those suggestions don't really help. This happens on Adobe Acrobrat Reader DC 18.011.20040 and the equivalent pro version.

The rendering changes made no difference.

Adorobat
Participating Frequently
June 18, 2018

Hi Drewb,

Would it be possible if you can share the pdf file user is working with to replicate the issue at our end? To share the file here in the forums, refer to the steps given here: How to share a file using Adobe Document Cloud

Thank You,

Shivam