Unable to copy text when opening in Acrobat Reader

Question

When I open pdf files via the acrobat reader then I cannot copy any text from any of the pdf files. They're all unsecured. I can select the text, copy/paste from edit is not greyed out, but when I try to paste nothing happens.

If I open the same files with google chrome, I can copy with no problems.

Anyone knows any fixes I could try?

Amal. · Answer

Hi @Kaspar31652981fehm

Hope you are doing well and sorry to hear that

Is this an issue with a particular PDF file or with all the PDFs? Please try with a different PDF file and check. If the file is stored on a shared network/drive please download it to your computer locally and then try again.

What happens when you try to copy and paste the text from the PDF file? Do you get any error message, If yes, please share the screenshot of the same, a small video recording of the workflow and the issue would be very helpful.

What is the version of the Acrobat Reader you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Acrobat and make sure you have the recent version 23.03.20269 installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once.

Also try to repair the installation from the help menu (Win Only) and see if that works.

Please try to reset the Acrobat preferences as described here https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-default/td-p/4792082

Also, go through the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/reader/using/copy-content-pdfs.html and see if that works.

Note: Web browsers use their own PDF mechanism to render and display the PDF content and they are not Adobe dependent.

~Amal

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