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Christopher336069038fl1
Participating Frequently
August 21, 2025
Answered

Stop Enabling AI On Updates

Why must the AI settings be enabled every time Adobe Acrobat updates?  Acrobat doesn't need the dumb AI features to slow it down, it does a good enough job at being slow as it is.  Now when I open Acrobat, it wants to show off all the assenine features no one asked for and get in the way of the work I'm trying to do.  The least Adobe could do is make Acrobat free with the amount of data they are gleeming from us users. I ask again why must the AI settings be enabled every time Adobe Acrobat updates?  To the Brain Dead Devs, grow a spine and just stop this behavior.  Let users select what features they want to have on or off and stop messing with it on updates.  People already hate you all and this type of activity just makes us want to take action.

    shabbir291Correct answer
    Participating Frequently
    August 21, 2025

    You can turn off the AI features again by going to Preferences (ctrl,cmd+K) > Gen AI > Uncheck 'Enable generative AI', and Acrobat  will work fine without them until the next update.

     

    [Spam link removed]

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    9 replies

    Mr Mikel
    Known Participant
    October 9, 2026

    I believe I can see what the developers have been directed to do. There is usually always a financial reason for this type of application behaviour. As of today, it’s not obvious to see what that is, but I suspect some “Free trial” of a feature or service will soon be forthcoming. 

    Today, Adobe Reader’s AI generative summary of my one page document took almost exactly five minutes. I was going to cancel the summary generation, thinking it was just going to time out, but I waited (impatiently) and it did eventually produce a very nice result, as if someone had personally read the short document and summarized it in three sentences. I could not have produced a better summary, had I done it myself, and it was a technical help file.

    While I am not in favor of the preference resets with every (very frequent) update, I can attest that I have rediscovered the very real benefits of this quality of AI. 

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    BaniVerma
    Community Manager
    BaniVermaCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    October 12, 2026

    Hi @Mr Mikel,

    Thank you for following up, and we understand how frustrating it is when the setting turns back on after an update.


    Could you let us know which Acrobat plan you’re using, such as an individual plan or a Teams or Enterprise plan? That will help us point you to the right option.


    On an individual plan, you can turn generative AI off by closing any open documents, then going to Menu > Preferences > Generative AI on Windows, or View > Preferences > Generative AI on macOS. Deselect Enable generative AI features, and select OK. This setting may turn back on after an update, so you may need to turn it off again.


    If you’re an admin for a Teams or Enterprise organization, you can contact Adobe Customer Care to revoke generative AI access for your team or organization.


    Please let us know if you have any questions, and we’re happy to help further.

    Thanks,
    ^BS

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    colin_7014
    Participant
    July 1, 2026

    Yeah, until the next update.  And then you have to do it all over again.  Adobe has become so invasive and problematic that I suggest we all switch to an alternate PDF provider.

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      teddy-chan040497
      Participant
      September 18, 2025

      Can you add a registry key? If possible, try the following:

      Add the below registry key on your machines.

      Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureLockDown

      create new D Word key: bEnableGentech

      value: 0

      Setting the value to 1 will enable generative AI features.

      Translate
        shabbir291Correct answer
        Participating Frequently
        August 21, 2025

        You can turn off the AI features again by going to Preferences (ctrl,cmd+K) > Gen AI > Uncheck 'Enable generative AI', and Acrobat  will work fine without them until the next update.

         

        [Spam link removed]

        Translate
        Amal.
        Amal.
        Legend
        August 21, 2025

        Hi there,

         

        Hope you are doing well and thanks for sharing your feedback—we understand how annoying this must be.

        When Acrobat updates, some settings (like AI features) may turn back on. This happens because updates reset parts of the app to keep it stable and secure. But we know it can be frustrating if your choices don’t stay the way you set them.

        You can turn off the AI features again by going to Preferences (ctrl,cmd+K) > Gen AI > Uncheck 'Enable generative AI', and Acrobat will work fine without them until the next update.

         

        You may also share your feedback directly with the development here https://adobe.ly/47HANDT for their consideration and future implementation.

         

        ~Amal

        Meet Acrobat Studio

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        Christopher336069038fl1Author
        Participating Frequently
        August 21, 2025

        Hi Amal,

         

        If you understand how annoying the AI tool is, why is it forced on the application users?  If you understand these changes can be frustrating, why are they being changed in updates without the user input?  Use your position as an Adobe employee to listen to feedback and empliment it.  If the user has something turned off, it should not be changed in an update.  

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