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tracyf35133019
Participant
August 1, 2023
Answered

repeated "Adobe Acrobat has encountered an error and needs to close" referencing "error code 205"

  • August 1, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 13034 views

I've uninstalled Acrobat and reinstalled multiple times (and restarted my machine), because error code 205 appears to be an issue with the downloaded file, but I'm still unable to launch Acrobat. There are NO firewalls and I'm not on a network – I'm a freelancer working from home and on the same desktop (system updates all current) the past six years without any issues with Creative Cloud until recently. Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated. I'm unable to work without access to Acrobat!

Correct answer AnandSri

Hello Denise!

 

I hope you are doing well, and thanks for sharing the steps which worked for you. 

 

For future reference, if you encounter any similar issues with Acrobat activation, please refer to this article, which provides detailed information on troubleshooting activation problems: https://adobe.ly/3YaqnHr

 

Feel free to reach out if you need any assistance.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

5 replies

ananggadipa
ananggadipa
Participating Frequently
September 17, 2025

Having this issue for months and the only fix for me is open command prompt (cmd) on windows and typing:

 

for /F "tokens=1,* delims= " %G in ('cmdkey /list ^| findstr /c:"Adobe App "') do cmdkey /delete %H

 

To clear the Credential Manager storage for all the Adobe apps as stated here.

C'mon we pay for these expensive subscription to get this???

D
denise_2485
Participant
March 3, 2025

Hello, I have a MacBook Pro 15-inch (2018) and have been facing the same dilemma for months. I'm a college student, so my school gives me access to Adobe. 

 

I logged my Creative Cloud out and signed back in and that got my Adobe Acrobat working again, thank god!

AnandSri
Community Manager
AnandSriCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
Community Manager
April 20, 2025

Hello Denise!

 

I hope you are doing well, and thanks for sharing the steps which worked for you. 

 

For future reference, if you encounter any similar issues with Acrobat activation, please refer to this article, which provides detailed information on troubleshooting activation problems: https://adobe.ly/3YaqnHr

 

Feel free to reach out if you need any assistance.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

R
rolandos12886249
Participant
February 19, 2024

My fix was to logged out from Adobe app and log back in with Acrobat first.

    L
    Liam35154029fez8
    Participant
    July 10, 2024

    This worked for me too. Log out of Adobe and then reopen and open an Acrobat file first.

    C
    Cintia344070466rz5
    Participant
    July 12, 2024

    It worked for me too. I am happy that it's sorted. 

    AkanchhaS8194121
    AkanchhaS8194121
    Legend
    August 1, 2023

    Hi @tracyf35133019 

     

    Sorry to hear about the trouble caused. 

    Cause of this error:

    Sometimes Adobe apps cannot store your profile and licensing information in secure storage (Credential Manager in Windows and Keychain in macOS). When you try to open an Adobe app, you might get the error code 205.

    Try the troubleshooting steps suggested here https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/fix-licensing-error-205.html 

     

    If it doesn't help, then. 

    https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-downloads.html

     

    Hope this works.

     

    Thanks,

    Akanchha

    D
    DANIELLE34894035k3xo
    Participant
    January 19, 2024

    Hi Akanchha, 

     

    I had the same issue and did the exact thing you reported and the same 205 error is popping up. 

    Please help! 

    Thanks

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 19, 2024
    quote

    Hi Akanchha, 

     

    I had the same issue and did the exact thing you reported and the same 205 error is popping up. 

    Please help! 

    Thanks


    By @DANIELLE34894035k3xo


    What is your OS and version? Are you part of an IT managed computer pool, or is this your private machine?

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
      T
      tracyf35133019Author
      Participant
      August 1, 2023

      Dropping back in to say I saw elsewhere someone solved the same issue with Illustrator by logging out of CC and logging back in, but I just tried that and it did NOT work for me. Still got the same error on Acrobat. 😓

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