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lmspence
Participant
October 2, 2012
Answered

Cannot delete individual pages in Adobe Acrobat X PDF

  • October 2, 2012
  • 20 replies
  • 195179 views

So annoying.  When I try to delete individual pages it gives me the error message "one or more pages are in use and cannot be deleted".  I have tried closing the thumbnail page preview pane, selecting the pages and hitting backspace (delete), highlighting and choosing the 'delete page' icon at the top of the toolbar....nothing.  I have seen a lot of threads about this issue that are dated 2011 with no solutions.  Has anyone out there found the solution?

Much appreciated.

Using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.4, Mac OSX 10.7.4

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer ijustwanttopost

    Thanks for your post.  The original poster (Imspence) did supply both pieces of information for his situation, and the exact same is true for me:  We are both using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.4, and it happens on all PDFs, although not every time. 

    Any help would be appreciated.

    THanks.


    After raging about this myself for awhile, I found  Help Menu - Repair Acrobat Installation. It requires a restart. And, it seemed to work. So far, two files, which wouldn't delete a page no matter how I much of a bribe I tried to offer, delete pages as if nothing was ever wrong. If that changes, I'll repost, but for now...

    (Win7 64-bit, Acrobat 10.1.4 Pro)

    20 replies

    jackdalrymple
    jackdalrymple
    Participating Frequently
    March 18, 2022

    10 years later... MacOS 12.

    Still happening. 

    Drives me crazy =[

    Just give up. 

    G
    Grift_GFX
    Participant
    February 10, 2022

    I love how I found this post in 2022. Ten years later, and this still happens. Adobe's software is a trainwreck, and we all pay entirely too much for it. The power of monopoly.

    CollinsMoore
    CollinsMoore
    Participant
    November 11, 2021

    Its an Error and exists in DC as well

    TWO options to Try

     

    1) Dont delete the page - EXTRACT it and select the Option to Delete on Extraction ( This is my Fav fix 99/100 works)

     

    2) Under Preferences and Documents change PDF/A View mode to NEVER

     

     

     

    M
    Martha22896016f0uj
    Participant
    January 29, 2022

    I closed Acrobat completely and reopened it - was able to delete the page then. (Mac)

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 29, 2022

    Yes, restarting the application or restarting the computer solves a lot of problems in any application. That is, why I trained my support people to ask people systematically to save all work and to restart the computer. 

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
    L
    LP5ECF
    Participant
    May 16, 2021

    Right Click on Page you want to delete, Go to Tools, Select Redact. Click on "Remove Hidden Information." Then Delete. This worked for me after getting several error notifications despite trying methods below. 

    N
    noneyo5FFB
    Participant
    March 2, 2021

    I ran into this again today in 2021, it was a specific file and it turned out the windows explorer preview pane was causing Adobe to believe the file was in use, started working after turning off preview pane.  Hopefully this helps someone else next year.

    drd-
    drd-
    Participant
    March 7, 2017

    OK, try this simpler solution.  Close file, shut ofg Acrobat X, but also !!! shut off your browser (maybe you've been using adobe on it ???). Then reopen the file in Acrobat.  Worked for me after fighting with this for months. 

    M
    morrieg
    Participant
    November 10, 2020

    Shutting down Safari did it!!  What a nuisance.  Thank you.

    I
    Ingo_D_
    Participant
    December 14, 2016

    What worked for me was to split the document to remove the problematic page. It's a workaround, but it did the trick for me and saved me some time.

    J
    j toddd46945843
    Participant
    April 28, 2015

    With all due respect, Acrobat Pro DC has been a nightmare ever since it was installed on my Mac. To delete pages I have to close the document and shut down Acrobat Pro each time and then reopen. The whole idea of computers is to save time, but at every step it appears that Adobe engineers have added more steps and frustrations to my workflow. Do they ever actually use the products they produce in a real work setting? Of course not. I'm very close to uninstalling Adobe Acrobat DC and finding non-Adobe products for all my work needs.

      S
      SamDael
      Participant
      April 15, 2015

      This is really quite simple once you understand. I am using Mac Acrobat X Pro and after scanning an additional page to a previously loaded  file, the former files remain even if you save as or close the window. The former cannot be deleted. You have to select close from the icon after closing the window. You then have to click the file saved and then delete the appropriate pages and save again.

      electrode49
      electrode49
      Participant
      October 16, 2014

      On the 15th of Jan 2013 "ijustwanttopost" wrote:

                If you actually want to fix this problem in Acrobat X:

                     1. Go to the Help Menu

                     2. Select Repair Installation

                     3. Follow the instructions

                     4. Get on with your life

      This solved the issue for me.  I'm using:

      • Windows 7 Professional with Service Pack 1
      • Adobe Acrobat version 10.1.12
      Show more replies
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