Stop Acrobat from installing PDFMaker and other Adobe Add-ins to my Microsoft 365 desktop appsl

​Hi @Electroscribe_2023 ,

Hope you're doing well, and thank you for such a detailed post. We are sorry for the trouble you are experiencing.

Before I walk you through the options, a couple of quick questions to make sure I point you to the right path:

• When Acrobat reinstalls the add-ins after shutdown, is this happening after a Windows/Office update, after an Acrobat update via Creative Cloud, or just on every fresh boot regardless?

• On your MacBook Pro, are you running Acrobat from Creative Cloud as well, or is it a standalone install?

• Are you on Acrobat Standard or Acrobat Pro? 

Please try the steps below and see if that works:

Windows:

Remove PDFMaker via the Acrobat installer (deepest Windows fix)

A thorough approach is to locate AcroPro.msi (typically in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\Setup Files\{your-version-GUID}\) and run it, choose Modify, then set Create Adobe PDF and Acrobat Distiller > Additional PDFMakers both to "This feature will not be available", then click Install and reboot. Please check the correct answer marked in the similar discussion here  Adobe Support Community

This tells the Acrobat installer itself not to deploy PDFMaker, which is more durable.

For full background on PDFMaker and its relationship with Office, the official Adobe reference is here:
Troubleshoot Acrobat PDFMaker issues in Microsoft Office on Windows — https://adobe.ly/4bfWSdV

Mac:

There is currently no Microsoft-documented method to manage or permanently block the Adobe PDFMaker macro or add-in on macOS. Acrobat drops the add-in files into ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup and replaces them whenever it updates, without prompting. Check the Microsoft help page here: https://adobe.ly/4wtwJ3D

The most practical workaround for Mac users is setting up a macOS Folder Action to monitor that Startup folder when Acrobat silently reinstalls the add-ins, you get a notification, and you can manually delete the files from the three relevant folders. It requires about 15–30 seconds every few weeks when Acrobat updates. Not ideal, but it's the most reliable method available right now on Mac without a supported Adobe toggle. Please check the correct answer marked here Adobe Support Community

You may also share this as feedback directly with our engineering team here https://adobe.ly/4wG6QO8

On the privacy concern: Your point about data sharing is noted. If you'd like to review exactly what Acrobat collects, Adobe's privacy controls for usage data are documented here: Adobe Privacy Center — manage your data

You can opt out of usage data collection from within Acrobat under Preferences (Ctrl,Cmd+K) > Trust Manager 

Hope this will help.

~Amal