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BWM80128
Participant
March 20, 2020
Answered

Acrobat Pro DC - There was an error opening this document. The file is already open or in use

  • March 20, 2020
  • 10 replies
  • 44567 views

I am using Acrobat Pro DC 20.006.20042 on a Windows 10 PC.

 

When I try to open a PDF from a website, I receive the dialog box asking me if I want to Open or Save the file. When I choose Open, Acrobat will open to the Recent files page and display the error "There was a problem opening this file.  The file is already open or in use by another application."  If I choose Save File from the webpage, save the file locally and then open the PDF files there is no problem.

 

This problem began within the last few days or weeks and I cannot find a fix in the Community.

 

I have tried the following steps to resolve:

1. Cleared temp files from windows and browser cache

2. Rebooted computer

3. Signed out of Adobe account in Acrobat Pro DC, rebooted and logged back into account

4. Tried the Help>Repair Installation from the Acrobat menu

 

 

 

    Correct answer Sophia22010757ygrl

    Yes - Its the Mcafee extention in firefox that causes it! Thank you! Now I disabled it, it seems to work fine 🙂

    10 replies

    R
    Raaz28977132geek
    Participant
    March 20, 2023

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    J
    John5D66
    Participant
    March 24, 2021

    I worked with McAfee on this for 3 hours.  
    Long story short, we uninstalled "WebAdvisor by McAfee" and reinstalled it.  Seems to work now.  Something was corrupted in that application.  

    Look for it on your program list in the "W's".  It's not grouped with the other two McAfee apps.  

      FengShuiWizardess
      FengShuiWizardess
      Participating Frequently
      April 20, 2021

      Thank you for your persistence in working with McAfee!

      B
      BRay1623
      Participant
      March 24, 2021

      Spell check !!

       

      Extension :0)

      B
      BRay1623
      Participant
      March 24, 2021

      Thank You!!! Was definitely my McAfee ectension! I disable it and pdf opened up perfectly!

       

      Thanks Again for sharing

      A
      Anonymous
      March 19, 2021

      I was having this issue too and come to find out, my McAfee WebAdvisor Add-on was causing the issue.  I guess it grabs the file for inspection, therefore, not allowing Adobe Reader app to open it from the browser.  When I disabled this Add-on, the file opens from within Fire Fox.  I'm not sure how to get this to work with this Add-on enabled.

        D
        defaultohsxnm3utnwb
        Participant
        May 10, 2021

        This!! My problem is finally solved.  I had this same issue but in Chrome. The McAfee web advisor was blocking the PDF from opening. Just for reference, I was getting the "this file is already open or in use by another application". Check your anti-virus settings in your internet browser! 

         

        Chrome Settings > Extensions > Disable McAfee. My PDF opened immediately. 

        T
        Thomas My Mortgage Guy
        Participant
        May 9, 2020

        I have the same error using Chrome, have reinstalled the program but when opening PDFs from websites 1st one will open but no additional ones. Any updates to this problem?

          Amal.
          Community Manager
          Amal.Community Manager
          Community Manager
          May 22, 2020

          Hi there

           

          We are sorry for the trouble and the delay in response.

           

          ++ Adding to the discussion

           

          A new version of Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC is now available v20.009.20065 please update the application go to Help > Check for updates and see if that helps.

           

          Let us know how it goes

           

          Regards

          Amal

          T
          Thomas My Mortgage Guy
          Participant
          May 22, 2020

          Amal,

           

          Unfortunately the update did not fix the problem. 😞

          I
          itsmedee
          Participant
          March 31, 2020

          For the past fortnight I have had an issue where I could only open a file (PDF via Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Excel, Word) if I saved it to a location first.  A small step, granted, but extremely frustrating. Your post (thank you!!) gave me an inkling it could be browser-related - I'm using Firefox 68.6.0esr (64-bit).  I opened the troubleshooting information window from the browser help menu, and clicked on the "Refresh Firefox" button at the top right of the next screen.  Voila!  I can now open files as expected. Be aware this step may remove some add-ons in the browser - but as I only had one I was happy to "give it a whirl".  If you have not yet had success, perhaps this might work for you too?

           

          Meenakshi Negi
          Meenakshi Negi
          Legend
          March 24, 2020

          Hi All,

           

          Please try uninstalling and reinstalling the application.

          Use cleaner tool (https://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html) to remove the application and reboot the machine.

          Then re-install the application from here: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/download-install/kb/acrobat-downloads.html

           

          If the issue still persists, please let us now so we can further investigate the issue.

           

          Regards,

          Meenakshi

          P
          ProlificUser
          Participating Frequently
          March 24, 2020

          Terminate all Adobe processes and the try again.

          https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/error-close-following-applications-continue.html

          S
          sharony71695457
          Participant
          March 23, 2020

          I am having the same problem with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC exactly as described above. It happens for every PDF I try to open, whether attached to an email or from a website. Problem started about a week ago.

            Meenakshi Negi
            Meenakshi Negi
            Legend
            March 21, 2020

            Hi there, 

             

            As you have mentioned above, the issue occurs when you try to open PDF directly from the website.

            Would you mind sharing that link to website from where you are opneing the PDF? 

            Did you check if the issue occurs when opening PDF from this particular site or with other websites as well?

             

            Let us know if you need any help.

            We will be waiting for your response.

             

            Regards,

            Meenakshi

             

            R
            rjreed1
            Participating Frequently
            March 21, 2020

            I am having the same problem with Acrobat Reader DC.  I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Acrobat Reader DC without any success.  This is happening on my Windows 10 Desktop PC.  It is not a problem on my Windows 10 laptop PC.  It happens with file downloads from more than one website. 

              R
              rjreed1
              Participating Frequently
              March 27, 2020

              After having time to investigate further,  I have discovered this appears to be a Firefox browser problem for me.  I was able to download and open PDF files directly from the websites when I tested four other browsers on both my desktop and laptop.  They all worked except for Firefox.  I use Firefox 74.0 (64 bit).  I previously said that it wasn't a problem on my laptop, but I had a different browser set as default on the laptop. Hope this helps.

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