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Participant
September 18, 2019
Question

Unable to combine multiple word documents into PDF using Acrobat

  • September 18, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 9429 views

Hello there

After working flawlessly Acrobat DC will not combine multiple Word files to a single PDF. Probably stopped about two weeks ago. Had the same issue in 2018 already and back then Adobe published a new update, which solved the issue.

 

Haven't loaded any new programs on the computer, only done basic software updates from Microsoft (Office update).  The error message is "Document cannot be opened." It says it's opened/protected in another file but it isn't.

 

I've read all the other forum discussions about this issue that have popped up over the past year. I've removed Acrobat using the AcroCleaner Too. I've removed it using Adobe CC. I've rebooted, I've changed those "enhanced" security settings. I've tried putting the Word files on the local C: drive. I've tried doing it with new and old Word Docs. I've tried the .docx and .doc versions of the files. Nothing has worked.

 

I can make PDF's in Word from a Word document, and I can combine multiple PDF's into a single PDF file. This seems like a really basic function for Adobe. And it worked flawlessly before all this started. Its super frustrating.

 

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Participant
September 18, 2019

Dear Amal

 

Thanks for your reply and please find my answers below in red.

 

  1. Tag documents, right click, combine as pdf file
  1. Adobe Acrobat opens, documents are highlighted, press combine

 

  1. Error message. Files cannot be combined.

 

 

Best regards

Marcel

 

[Personal Information Removed by Moderator]

Von: Adobe Support Community Mailer <community_noreply@adobe.com>
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 18. September 2019 15:43
An: mmenotti@safemed.ch
Betreff: Re: Unable to combine multiple word documents into PDF using Acrobat (Adobe Support Community Folgen-Update)

 

 

Hallo marcelm48771517.

Re: Unable to combine multiple word documents into PDF using Acrobat

Hi Marcelm,

 

We are sorry for the trouble caused. As described above you are experiencing issues while  combining multiple Word files to a single PDF, correct? Correct

 

What is the workflow or steps you are doing to combine the Word files to PDF? could you please share the Screenshot of the same? See above

Are you trying to combine the Word files by right clicking  > combine? or through organise pages > insert? Yes, right click, combine. Then I choose the documents and click combine. I’ve done that the last 199 years and except from 2018, where there was a problem between Office and Adobe, it always worked.

 

What is the version of the Acrobat DC installed on your computer?  To check the version of the application please use the link - https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/identify-product-version.html Version 2019.012.20040

 

Please check for any missing updates and try to update the application to the latest version. Go to Help > Check for Updates. To know more about the latest version available please use the link - DC Release Notes — Release Notes for Acrobat DC Products Latest version, no updates available

Are you facing this behavior with a particular file or with any file you try to combine? Please try to combine less files at a time and check. Always, when office documents need to be combined. I can only take 1 pdf and 1 word.doc and it blocks.

 Please try to combine the pages  through the File menu of Acrobat Dc and check if that works for you.

Go to File > Create > Combine files into single PDF It does not work

 

Let us know how it goes. It doesn’t work at all and I’m pretty convince there’s a problem between your current version with the new office update. That’s what it was the last time with the identical error message.

 

Amal.
Legend
September 18, 2019

Hi Marcelm,

 

Thank you for sharing the information. We tried to reproduce the issue and its working fine. It seems to be a file specific issue, could you please share the PDF and the Word file with us so that we can try to reproduce the issue at our end?

 

Also, Please try to combine the file online - https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/home/ and check if that works for you.

 

Regards,

Amal

Participant
September 18, 2019
Yes Amal?
Amal.
Legend
September 18, 2019

Hi Marcelm,

 

We are sorry for the trouble caused. As described above you are experiencing issues while  combining multiple Word files to a single PDF, correct?

 

  • What is the workflow or steps you are doing to combine the Word files to PDF? could you please share the Screenshot of the same?
  • Are you trying to combine the Word files by right clicking  > combine? or through organise pages > insert? 
  • What is the version of the Acrobat DC installed on your computer?  To check the version of the application please use the link - https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/identify-product-version.html 
  • Please check for any missing updates and try to update the application to the latest version. Go to Help > Check for Updates. To know more about the latest version available please use the link - DC Release Notes — Release Notes for Acrobat DC Products
  • Are you facing this behavior with a particular file or with any file you try to combine? Please try to combine less files at a time and check.
  • Please try to combine the pages  through the File menu of Acrobat Dc and check if that works for you.

         Go to File > Create > Combine files into single PDF

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

Regards,

Amal

Participant
April 1, 2023

I uninstalled adobe, rebooted, cleared the registry, reinstalled back and I still have the same exact problem.  The documents work fine if I combine in another computer or on the cloud, but I cannot combine in my PC.  Anybody found an actual real solution to this that works?

Amal.
Legend
April 3, 2023

Hi @ALVAREZ & CUEBAS, CPA 

 

We hope you are doing well. We understand how frustrating it can be when you are unable to combine documents using Acrobat DC.

 

To better understand the problem, could you please let us know if you are receiving any error messages? If so, we kindly request you to share a screenshot of the error message for our reference.

 

In addition, we recommend checking if you have the latest version of Acrobat DC installed. You can do this by going to Help > About Acrobat. If you don't have the latest version (23.01.20093), we suggest you go to Help > Check for updates and install any available updates. After updating, please restart your computer.

 

If the issue persists, we suggest repairing the installation from the help menu (Windows only) and resetting the Acrobat preferences as described in this article: https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-default/td-p/4792082

 

If none of the above steps work, we recommend creating a new test user profile with full admin rights (Windows only) or enabling the root account (Mac) and trying to use the application from there.

 

We hope these steps help resolve your issue.

 

Regards

Amal