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C
Catherres
Participant
September 24, 2025
Question

"Preparing document for reading"

  • September 24, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 184 views

So, I have had about 100 chats with tech support. None of them seems to know what to do. I have gone through all the posts in the community. NONE of the steps suggested work. Every time I open a document, a pop-up window appears, displaying "Preparing document for reading" with a progress bar. The progress bar freezes about 1/3 of the way, and I then have to close the window manually. This occurs 50-60 times a day and is VERY disruptive to my workflow. Sometimes, I'm able to close it with no further interruptions; other times, it repeatedly pops up in the same document. Someone please help, I have tried every .pdf program out there and all of them absolutely SUCK. 

 

 

    1 reply

    C
    CatherresAuthor
    Participant
    September 24, 2025

    I also noticed that this has been a known issue for at least 12 years. Geez, Adobe, how long does it take you people to address and fix an issue? I could have taught myself to code by now and fixed this. 

    AnandSri
    Community Manager
    AnandSriCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    September 25, 2025

    Hello @Catherres

     

    I hope you are doing well. Thank you for reaching out, and I am sorry for the trouble you had.

     

    This behavior is typically caused by:

    • Screen Reader settings are being enabled or misconfigured.
    • PDFs with complex structures, scanned content, or missing accessibility tags.
    • Acrobat is attempting to prepare the document for assistive technologies.

     

    1. Launch Adobe Acrobat Pro.
    2. Go to Preferences

    Click Menu> Preferences (Windows) or Acrobat > Preferences (Mac).

    3. Navigate to Reading Settings

    In the left-hand panel, select Reading.

    4. Change Screen Reader Options

    Under Screen Reader Options, set:

    Page vs Document: Choose “Only read the currently visible pages” or “Do not read the document”.
    Confirm before tagging document: Uncheck this box.

     

    5. Save and Restart

    Click OK to save changes.
    Restart Acrobat.

     

    This should prevent the pop-up from appearing every time you open a document.

     

    Let us know how it goes.

    Thanks for your time and cooperation.

    Regards,

    Anand Sri.

      simplyfries
      simplyfries
      Participant
      February 18, 2026

      🤞 … crossing fingers that this works… 🙌 

      Thank you either way!

       

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