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acrobatty_user
Participant
October 6, 2019
Answered

Acrobat scrolling is incredibly laggy and slow

  • October 6, 2019
  • 34 replies
  • 249387 views

Hello,

 

For the last two years I have had consistent problems with Acrobat Pro DC being extremely slow/stuttery while scrolling, highlighting, commenting on a document. This happens no matter what the size of the PDF is from less than 1 MB to 10+ MB. It appears to be very poorly optimized compared to other professional software titles which all run smoothly on macOS: Word, Excel, Pages, Numbers, etc. I have tried deleting the prefernce files outlined in other topics, which did nothing to alleviate the issue at all.

 

My computer is a relatively powerful: 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro connected to an eGPU with Radeon RX 580 and an LG 4K monitor (more than enough power to edit PDFs). I am running the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and macOS Mojave and have never seen these issues alleviated by two years of updates.

 

Given the cost of this software, I would really appreciate some help from Adobe's support team, as well as an indication that they are planning on doing something about what is clearly an egregious lack of concern over glaring optimization issues. Having spoken with other macOS users (I work in I.T.), this is not merely an individual user issue but a broader problem plaguing Adobe Acrobat in general.

 

P. S. I have disabled the Show Online storage while opening and saving files, as suggested in other threads to no avail.

    Correct answer joe---

    What worked for me (based on suggestion from another user here) was to uncheck "Smooth images" in Preferences > Page Display > Rendering.

    34 replies

    Show previous replies
    B
    BackRiot
    Participating Frequently
    March 6, 2022

    I finally ended the nightmare by subcribing to PDF Expert which I did reluctantly.

    PDF Expert is nowhere near as cool as Acrobat but at least I'm able to fill, sign and make some adjustments to my forms smoothly without the form goin berzerk on me, and at $76 per year I can't really complain.

    Hopefully Adobe will get their Acrobat (stuff) together and I can return to using the it 🙂

    Dave__M
    Community Expert
    Dave__MCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 7, 2022

    Glad you have a working solution, but this should not be the route one takes to have important software applications perform properly,  in my opinion.

    Cheers,

    Dave

    B
    BackRiot
    Participating Frequently
    March 7, 2022

    You're absolutely right. 

    P
    Pedro23023503mzbu
    Participant
    February 18, 2022

    Guys, it is MacOs Monterey's fault.

    K
    Katie5FE6
    Participant
    February 18, 2022

    This problem has persisted for years, long before MacOS Monterrey was introduced. Timing-wise, our Adobe software performance coincidentally declined once MacOS transitioned to 64-bit systems.

      K
      KevinH.
      Participating Frequently
      February 24, 2022

      I've had this laggy problem for many years and on several computers, both Mac and PC.    I've tried the CTL-H work around, but it didn't work for me.    Adobe....you're products are so good....please fix this issue!

        P
        Pedro23023503mzbu
        Participant
        February 12, 2022

        It is 2022 I am having the same issue, the worst of all is they won't refund my money and charge me the full, what a fking piec of sht.

        R
        R5CB3
        Participant
        February 12, 2022
        I am in the UK. A consumer here is entitled to a refund if a product is not
        of satisfactory quality and reasonably fit for purpose. A PDF program which
        has very slow scrolling is not meeting those requirements. Consumers across
        the EU have similar rights. (I am not sure about the US).
        Would anyone here (EU only) be interested in becoming involved in a group
        claim by consumers to get a refund from Adobe?
        B
        Brad23081034vz7u
        Participant
        February 9, 2022

        I just installed this software on a 2020 Macbook Pro.  Wow - same problem.  Pretty much unusable.  Adobe should immediately fire all the Acrobat product managers and engineering managers for not using and testing their own product.  The reading mode trick doesn't work.  I'm going to go buy some software that actually works.  Not to mention with all the bloatware installed, it probably took 10 minutes to install.

          B
          Brad23081034vz7u
          Participant
          February 9, 2022

          I found the perfect solution.  Download PDF Expert.  Took < 1 minute and works immediately.  Much better than trying to figure out Adobe's poorly engineered products.  I'll uninstall Acrobat and cancel my cloud subscription when I get some free time.  I'm sure it will take an hour to do that.

           

          This should be marked as the right solution to the problem.

          W
          WaLeeD-64
          Participant
          February 1, 2022

          Dear Fellows, 

          I was facing the same issue of scrolling and came in this thread to find some anwers. I found a solution in which scrolling will be much smoother than expected. Below is the screeshot for reference as you can see the yellow highlighted tool. Click More and then select fit to width scrolling and then set zoom scale level to fit it to 100% or accoridng to your choice. The scrolling will be much smoother and better. I hope this would help. Thank you. 

           

          Waleed Azhar (Leo)
          U
          usermac
          Inspiring
          February 3, 2022

          Thanks WaLeeD-64, that works better, but not when you have the search window (Command F) open to search. Then, scrolling behaves like a zoombie being utterly slow, unresponsive and with unexpected and unwanted autonomous (zoombie) scrolling actions. Really frustrating! Again, it is amazing that Adobe has not fixed all these serious issues on Mac, when other applications like PDF Expert get it right.

           

          System: latest versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe Acrobat Pro DC on macOS 12.2 (21D49) Monterey (Intel iMac, 27-inch retina, mid 2017).

          G
          Glenn P Martin
          Participant
          January 21, 2022

          Is Adobe ever going to fix this issue, soooo frustrating everytime I want to even read a PDF. I always open PDFs in Mac Preview now as its smooth and quick to view them that way. Acrobat is slow and laggy on my macbook pro and all my iMacs. Non of the above mentioned things helped me

            R
            R5CB3
            Participant
            January 21, 2022
            Given the large number of messages and the length of time this thread has
            been running, there can be no doubt that Adobe are aware of the issue. I
            imagine the reason they are not dealing with it is because it results from
            some fairly fundamental aspects of the program, that cannot be remedied by
            way of an update. Basically, it seems we’re stuck with it.
            U
            usermac
            Inspiring
            January 21, 2022

            I do not think that the issues cannot be fixed. PDF Expert has not only fixed all of them, but also added amazing new functionality, like:

             

            - The awesome search engine (Command F) with right pane (much as Microsoft Word Shift Command H left pane search works).

             

            -Likewise, the possibility to move or rename the PDF in the Finder and still open it when double-clicked, being also update such name in recently opened files within the application.

             

            - And even the option to rename PDF files just clicking its name in the top menu bar.

             

            All that is really fantastic for productivity workflows. Adobe must improve Adobe Acrobat Pro DC for Mac substantially, or else it is basically useless and a block in productivity workflows.

            A
            Anonymous
            December 8, 2021

            My solution - 5$ no-name mini optical mouse ...

            That sounds crazy, it makes me angry on Adobe, but it works 100% and at last I do my job ..

            I have iMac Pro 2020, and I'm angry that Acrobat worked creepily... None of the easy fixes helped me. Read Me mode also didn't fix anything. And as a researcher, I work with lots and long documents saved in pdf...

            Accidentally I added a mini optical mouse, and it made the magic.. Adobe scrolled the document up and down without any lag .. That's crazy, but I believe it could be related to Apples' Magic Mouse (it has no wheel, and maybe Adobe didn't noticed it).

             

            If it works for you - share it.

            Dave__M
            Community Expert
            Dave__MCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            December 8, 2021

            Cool! (who would have thought?)

            Glad you found a solution -

            Dave

            U
            usermac
            Inspiring
            November 28, 2021

            It is amazing that this serious bug that blocks productivity has not been fixed after such a long time suffering it.

            No problem at all with competing products like PDF Expert for Mac 2.5.18, which scrolls smoothly and fine, even when the search is used.

             

            System:

            Acrobat Pro DC - Continuous Release 21.007.20099

            macOS 11.6.1 (20G224) Big Sur

            iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) -  Model identifier iMac18,3 (mid 2017)

            4,2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

            40 GB 2400 MHz DDR4

            Radeon Pro 580 8 GB

              U
              usermac
              Inspiring
              November 28, 2021

              As extra bonuses (great to significantly enhance productivity) not available in Acrobat Pro DC, PDF Expert (as other applications like Microsoft Word for Mac do) does the following:

              1. Show updated "File - Open Recent" file names. Amazingly in real time when the application is open and you change the file name in the Finder. Fantastic!

               

              2. Open files from such "File - Open Recent" even if you change their location in the Finder. Again, amazingly in real time when the application is open and you change the file location in the Finder. Fantastic!

               

              Adobe should significantly improve Acrobat Pro DC for Mac!

              U
              usermac
              Inspiring
              November 28, 2021

              I forgot another productivity bonus:

              3. Show the search hit keywords on side pane, in context, as Microsoft Word does. Such useful feature is also missing in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC for Mac.

              erichenao
              erichenao
              Participating Frequently
              October 12, 2021

              Hey I've too had this problem for a long time as well.
              I finally took it upon myself to try and find out what the issue is. I thought to check the preferences, as there are a LOT of them for Acrobat.

              Go to the Catagories and find Page Display. Click/select it.

              Now on the left you should see one section called Rendering. After checking these off and on, restarting the app, and opening different types of PDF's, (Word converted files, Auto CAD converted files, InDesign multipage docs) for ME the slow down was cause by the "Use local fonts" option. Checked it OFF and now Acrobat works like a champ.

               

              If I have any other problems in the future with the speed of Acrobat working, this will be the first place I'll look.

               

              Hope this helps!

              Eric

                erichenao
                erichenao
                Participating Frequently
                October 12, 2021

                Sorry meant to say, its on the RIGHT side after you click on Page Display. I turned the various options on and off. The picture attached has the options set that worked for me.

                 

                  K
                  Katie5FE6
                  Participant
                  October 12, 2021

                  Thank you for the suggestion erichenao!

                   

                  I also chose to deselect "Smooth line art" and "Use page cache" in my instance, in addition to deselecting "Use local fonts". Although I still get a bit of lag with heavier architectural drawings, it's mildly tolerable and eventually loads.

                   

                  It's unfortunate that Acrobat has grown into bloatware and still can't keep page with free alternatives like Mac Preview. Alas.

                    D
                    DeepakArora79
                    Participant
                    October 12, 2021

                    Same scrolling issue as everyone mentioned here on both of our Macs -

                    H/W Config: 2019 MacBook Pro 16", 1TB, 16GB, 8GB Graphics Card and 2021 M1 13" MacBook Pro, 1TB, 16GB.
                    S/W Config: Acrobat Pro DC 21.7.20096.454274

                    I wonder when will Adobe realize that people are going to abandon Acrobat for free PDF alternatives. 

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