Skip to main content
B
BrendanK
Participant
February 20, 2017
Question

Acrotray blocking PDF printing

  • February 20, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 2283 views

Ok, I'm looking to figure out a problem I'm having when printing a document as a PDF (In Windows 10 64 bit).  Or rather printing more than one, because after the first pdf is created, a Creating Acrobat Document window will appear on the desktop (Behind everything, but there's an acrobat logo in the taskbar to reveal it), and any attempt to print a second PDF will fail unless I first go into the Task Manager and shut down AcroTray, which has jumped from background processes where it was while printing the pdf to Apps.  As long as I keep shutting down the Acrotray instances in the task manager I can keep printing multiple PDF's, but it's a serious pain to work with.  I'm using InDesign CC (The current version) and AcrobatDC, and it's installed on Window 10 64 bit.  Oh and the problem also shows up when I print to PDF from other programs like Word.

Any thoughts on what could be the source of this issue, and any possible fix's.

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

D
default4nwac1xarwkr
Participant
June 9, 2021

Just found this 4-yr old post.  Have had same problem for past year using Acrobat 9.5 on Windows 7 x64  Pro.  Stumbled on the solution on my own: using a task manager to close/terminate acrotray.exe after each instance of Printing to Adobe PDF, whether from MSWord, Excel or a browser.

 

This problem appeared suddenly sometime in early 2020 (?) for no apparent reason. I'm somewhat suspicious that it might actually be caused by some change during a Windows Update whereby an end-process flag is being ignored.

D
default4nwac1xarwkr
Participant
July 6, 2021

Updating with more details, in case anyone ever returns to review this matter --

It is nearly impossible to print a PDF from MS Excel 2013; might work 1-in-15+.  Even killing acrotray.exe does not help reliably.

Acrobat windows may disappear when Closed but Task Manager shows that a ghost Acrobat.exe process remains running which can only be removed by using Task Manager to force "Terminate".  Work sessions may show no visible Acrobat windows while Task Manager shows as many as ten Acrobat.exe processes running.

 

Meenakshi_Negi
Meenakshi_Negi
Legend
December 21, 2017

Hi BrendanK,

Sorry for the delay in response.

As you have mentioned above that a Creating Acrobat Document window appears in the background, did you try to open that window from the taskbar?

If yes, can you share the screenshot of the window that appears?

To add the screenshot here, please use the insert icon provided in the reply window as shown below:

Once you click on this icon, you get a small window.

Click on Insert Image and then browse the location where you have saved the screenshot file.

Select the file and click on Open > Insert Image.

Please make sure that the application is updated to the latest patch released.

Also try once to repair the application. To repair, launch the application and go to Help menu > Repair Installation.

Once done, restart the machine and check if that makes any difference.

It would be helpful if you can share the dot version of the Adobe Acrobat DC installed on your system.

You can take help from the steps provided here Identify the product and its version for Acrobat and Reader DC to check the dot version.

Let us know if you have any question.

We will be waiting for your response.

Regards,

Meenakshi

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