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quade_9212
Participant
August 25, 2026
Question

Running Instance Error

  • August 25, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 18 views

Hello, we have a large number of users that use both the free Adobe Acrobat Reader as well as the Pro version and on the latest update they are getting an error in the background that says "A running instance of Acrobat has caused an error. " I've reinstalled the applications, I've repaired the applications, I've confirmed the version numbering with the registry from the Adobe support article (https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/troubleshoot/performance-issues/acrobat-run-error.html). I can't seem to get to the bottom of this and it is happening quite often. Users also do not have task manager to close all the instances out. Is there a known issue currently with this version?

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/troubleshoot/performance-issues/acrobat-run-error.html

    1 reply

    Amal Jaiswal
    Community Manager
    Amal JaiswalCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    August 25, 2026

    ​Hi @quade_9212 ,

    Hope you are doing well, and thanks for the detail, and for confirming you have already reinstalled, repaired, and checked the registry against the troubleshooting article.

    That rules out the usual first steps, so a few follow-up questions to help narrow this down:

    What exact Acrobat and Reader version numbers are your users on right now (Help > About)? "Latest update" can mean different builds depending on when each machine last updated, and this error has been tied to specific builds in the past.

    Are the PDFs being opened from local drives, from a network or shared drive, or both? 

    Given the scale you are describing across a large number of users, it would also help the team to have a small video recording of the steps you are taking and the issue as it occurs, along with the crash logs from an affected machine, for more investigation.

    The steps to collect them are here:
    https://adobe.ly/3SZ0evP 
    https://adobe.ly/467V189

    If you can share the version numbers, whether network paths are involved, the set of logs, and the required video recording, that will give us enough to check against any current known issues for this build.  

    ~Amal

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