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Bruce5FB0
Participant
October 6, 2020
Answered

"There was an error while opening this document. The path does not exist."

  • October 6, 2020
  • 14 replies
  • 185173 views

When double-clicking a PDF in Windows 10 File Explorer, Acrobat gives the above error message.  The same problem occurs when choosing "Open With..." from the context menu and choosing Adobe Acrobat.  Choosing "Open With..." using other applications such as Firefox or Chrome does not produce any error.  Choosing "Edit with Adobe Acrobat" from the context menu opens the file without error.  Opening the file from within Acrobat using File/Open does not give any error. The problem is recent, reproducible, and persisted after doing a repair installation of Acrobat.

    Correct answer Ian219169983t0l

    I had the same problem with Acrobat Pro DC (32-bit) in a dropbox folder. I fixed the problem by shortening the folder name.

    14 replies

    Show previous replies
    T
    Terrybyte
    Participant
    December 28, 2020

    I had the exact same problem with some of my PDFs. I noticed a pattern that only the files with rather long names (150 chars and more) had this issue. In the Downloads folder which has a shorther path, I didn't had any problems, however, when I moved the file in my folders which had a longer path I had this message. So I renamed the files and well, it worked. Maybe that would be helpful.

      W
      Work5E7C
      Participant
      December 28, 2020

      That's is exactly what I found as well.  Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader must ahve shorter file path limits than MS Office applications.   

      I ended up renaming some folders to shorten teh overall file path length.  We are using SharePoint and syncing local files, and the files path is quite long.  I believe we are over the 255 char limit with some paths over 300 character.

      I wish adobe would fix this.  It is causing havoc on our network. For example, we ahve a Word document that is located in one of these log file paths, but if we convert it to a PDF, we can't open teh PDF.

        D
        defaultp783j84bdesd
        Participant
        June 16, 2021

        I am also experiencing this issue that is due to long file path lenght. It is rather unfortunate that this issue only persists with Adobe as I'm able to open the said pdfs using other applications. If anyone has found a better workaround than renaming entire folders that are part of a larger hierarchy, please let me know!

        D
        defaultx80a98jtie2n
        Participant
        December 20, 2020

        I had the same problem. It was due to too long file names and use of dropbox. The file would open in my Downloads folder but when I copied to a Dropbox folder it would not open, nor could I change the name in the Dropbox folder. However, I could shorten the name in the Downloads folder and copy this to the Dropbox folder and then it would open in the Dropbox folder

          R
          Robert27606776n3uq
          Participant
          September 26, 2023

          This is precisely what my problem was.  Thank you for posting this!

          J
          johnn5023
          Participant
          October 19, 2020

          I am getting exact same error message and tried all the steps recommended and no fix. And this very recent. 

            Amal.
            Community Manager
            Amal.Community Manager
            Community Manager
            October 20, 2020

            Hi John,

             

            We are sorry to hear that. Please create a new test user profile with full admin rights in Windows or enable the root account in Mac and try using the application there and check.

             

            Also, please look at the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/kb/cant-open-pdf.html and see if that works for you.

             

            Regards

            Amal

            W
            Work5E7C
            Participant
            November 9, 2020

            I also have the same issue.  I can however right click and select Open With, and open the file using MS Edge.  And I can also open Adobe DC first, and use the open command, to naviate to the same file and open it. 

            But double clicking on the file from within Windows Explorer window casuees the error.

            Amal.
            Community Manager
            Amal.Community Manager
            Community Manager
            October 7, 2020

            Hi Bruce

             

            We are sorry for the trouble. As described, you are getting the error ' There was an error while opening this document. The path does not exist' when you  try to open the PDF from the windows context menu or by double click.

             

            Is this a behavior with a particular PDF file or with all the PDFs? Please try to open a different PDF file the similar way and check for the issue.

             

            What is the version of the Acrobat DC you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Acrobat and make sure you have the latest version 20.12.20048 installed. Go to Help > Check for Updates

             

            Also, for testing purposes, please tryto turn off the protected mode (Windows Only) and see if that makes any difference. Go to Edit > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Uncheck 'Enable protected mode at startup' Turn off the protected mode and uncheck the enhanced security > Click OK and reboot the computer.
            Note: Turning off the security may possess security risks. Please turn on the security after testing.

             

            If it works for you, please add the file and the folder path to Acrobat. Go to Edit > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Add file and Add folder path > Click OK and reboot the application.

             

            If it doesn't work, please try the steps below and see if that works for you.

             

            1) Close Acrobat application and close all acrobat processes from task manager.

            2) Go to "Control Panel" > "Programs" > "Programs and Features" > "Uninstall a program" and select "Adobe Acrobat DC".

            Click "Change" and select "Repair" from the following dialog.

             

            After product repair is done, restart the machine and then try again.

             

             

            Keep us posted with the results.

             

            Regards

            Amal

             

              B
              Bruce5FB0Author
              Participant
              October 8, 2020

              I do not know exactly how many PDFs are affected - possibly all, and certainly more than one. 

              Acrobat is up to date.

              Protected mode is not checked.

              Adding the folder path (to my user folder, c:\users\username) had no effect.

              Repairing Acrobat and restarting Windows had no effect.

              The files are stored locally, in folders that are synced to the OneDrive/SharePoint server.  Note that the files open satisfactorily from within Acrobat; the error only appears when I attempt to open them from File Explorer.   File Explorer obviously is handing off the default context menu action (opening the PDF) to Acrobat, but the action fails.  File Explorer does successfully hand off  opening a PDF to other applications (such as web browsers ) through the Open With context menu action .

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