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TS2265
Participant
May 13, 2026
Question

Dashes are disappearing in the Prepare a Form boxes

  • May 13, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 261 views

I have been using the same document that was created using Prepare a Form. I input SSN's and use dashes between the numbers. This has worked fine, however, today the form looked different, and it started using a different font. Unfortunately, the dashes disappear after you click out of the box and is blank where the dashes should go. I also put dates and if I put 3-3-23 the form would automatically change it to 03/03/2023 which was a great feature. Now it will not let me enter the date without entering the full year. This part is no big deal just makes it inconvenient. I am not entirely sure how to fix this. 

    2 replies

    Thom Parker
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 13, 2026

    Are filling the form in Acrobat/Reader, or a different PDF Viewer? Did you change the PDF Viewer that you are using? Has anything else changed? 

    The behavior described fits with a the form being opened in a different PDF tool than the one that was used previously. 

     

    Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScriptingUse the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often
    Dave Creamer of IDEAS
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 13, 2026

    Check out the Format setting under the field’s properties to see if an arbitrary mask has been applied. 

    David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)