Participating Frequently

Question

Why so bad?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
March 12, 2025
11 replies
1179 views

Does anyone know why Acrobat is such an incredibly bad program?
Is it because it's so sloppily programmed, or simply because it's completely overloaded with questionable "features" that nobody needs and that don't work properly?
It's slow, crashes during standard tasks, and is incredibly cumbersome to use.
I've rarely seen such junk...

Modern Acrobat

K

kerryr9650882

Participant

I agree, Adobe is the worst piece of software I have every used. I have a very simple agreement that I edit and send for signatures. Every time I do this a 5 minute task takes 2 to 3 hours because the program has works differently or makes random edits to my document for some reason or just does not work. I am sick of it.

Anand Sri Bhattacharya

Community Manager

Hello!

To fix the performance issue, please try the suggestions:

Update the app to the latest version: Go to Menu (Windows) or Acrobat (Mac) > Help > Check for updates, install any pending updates, and then restart the app and the machine.
Open the app Preferences (Menu > Preferences, or Ctrl+K / Cmd+K) > go to Reading > Screen Reader Options and choose "Only read the currently visible pages " to stop the "Preparing document for reading ".
In the same Preferences window, go to > Page Display > Rendering, turn off Smooth Line Art and Smooth Images. Click Ok, restart the app, and check the performance.
Test whether the issue occurs with all PDFs or only certain files.

You can also repair the app’s installation files from Menu > Help > Repair installation. Restart the app and the machine.

If Acrobat crashes or hangs, please collect and share the following information:

OS version.
A sample PDF file
The logs from the affected machine.
To collect the logs, please check this article: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-diagnostics.html

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

C

creative_wisdom2820

Participant

oh and...”turn it off and on again”. Give it a few days and Acrobat will be right back in the mess you just fixed and you’ll need to re-run the above routine. You know, update your version, confirm all of your preferences, and then test it on different pdf versions to fix the problem...that’s got to reduce the 2 to 3 hours you encounter when attempting the task you designed to take 5 minutes :). Adding the 4 steps above to the 5 minute routine you mentioned above could shave that 2 to 3 hours it actually takes for your task currently down to a comfortable 45 minutes to 90 minutes instead...depending on how many different document versions you need to test to make sure the application is actually working. How much is Adobe charging to use their licensing? Does that include downtime, bug fixes and suggested workarounds?

Amal Jaiswal

Community Manager

Hi @creative_wisdom2820 ,

Hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out. We are sorry for the trouble you are experiencing.

Update, check preferences, test on different PDFs" is a reasonable one-time check, but it's not meant to be a routine you repeat every few days. If it's coming back that often, it's worth getting it in front of the product team as an actual bug rather than working around it yourself each time.

As suggested in the previous reply, please collect and share the following information:

OS version.
A sample PDF file
The logs from the affected machine.
To collect the logs, please check this article: https://adobe.ly/4wwSy1N

So that we can get this issue reviewed by the development team to further isolate it for the fix.

~Amal

P

Pavel Tsvetkov

Participant

It is funny to see “pdf standard” argument or use in industry as an excuse. There are much larger and much more significant software packages that have many more features that do not have Acrobat issues. It is just sloppy programming by developers riding on historical glory of what Acrobat used to be. I see not properly closed processes, not cleared memory, not properly opened and closed files … the list is just going on and on. Now I see a sloppy attempt to add AI features… again it is terribly implemented. I am sure there are users Acrobat works for well and I will keep using Acrobat just because I have been using it for a long time. But to fix the issues, as an industry executive, my first step would be to fire whoever is leading the development. those folks are clearly not up to the job. It is sad as Acrobat is an industry standard and could be great. But it is not. But for why? entitlement on legacy and all alternatives not having needed features. Is it a standard now? Absolutely not. It is just something that does not have yet a strong enough alternative. I keep hoping since DC version that Acrobat team will be able to reinvent the product but it does not seem to be possible. Very sad for what used to be a true pioneering software.

C

creative_creation5EC5

Participant

Adobe is just a piece of garbage company that is too lazy actually to make user-friendly free programming

pifath67Author

Participating Frequently

Another "wonderful" experience with Acrobat today:
I made some changes and re-saved the PDF file. Then, when I reopened it, Acrobat showed me the old file without the changes. So I deleted the PDF and rewritten it. Result: Acrobat still shows the old, unchanged file.
Only after restarting Acrobat did the current file with the changes appear.
What was programmed here???
Apparently, this PDF viewer can't display PDFs properly. (I've gotten used to the fact that PDFs often only display fully after turning the overprint preview off and on again.)
I think if the people who produced this had written the software for a space shuttle, the space shuttle would have exploded on the launch pad—if the engines had even fired...

creative explorer

Community Expert

@pifath67 I hear you, Acrobat can definitely be frustrating when it's not performing as expected. It's understandable to feel like it's 'junk' when you're dealing with crashes and slowdowns. While it might seem like 'junk' at times, I'd like to offer a different perspective. You mentioned it being overloaded with features, and while that can sometimes lead to complexity, many of those features are essential for professional workflows and document security. Adobe has been the industry standard for PDFs for a long time, and a lot of that is due to its robust feature set and security.

I've personally used Adobe products for nearly 30 years and haven't experienced the same level of instability you describe. I regularly work with large PDFs, often over 100MB, without major issues. My system has 16GB of RAM and an i9 processor, which might be a factor. It's possible that your specific system configuration or the nature of your PDFs are contributing to the problems.

m

pifath67Author

Participating Frequently

I've been working in prepress with Adobe products for about 30 years too, and I have to say that Acrobat only got this bad with the DC version.
And I'm not so concerned about the many features, which are undoubtedly necessary, but rather with the fact that the usability of certain functions is completely overlooked.
Even small PDF files are often not displayed in full immediately—which is what you would expect from a standard PDF program—but only after you've turned overprinting off and on again in the output preview, for example. And this is just one example. There are numerous other places where the usability is a disaster.

I also work with 16GB of RAM, but opening PDFs correctly isn't rocket science.

T

Tariq Dar

Legend

Hi @pifath67,

Sorry to hear about your experience with Acrobat, and I appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We understand that performance, usability, and reliability are critical for your workflow, and we take concerns like yours seriously.

If you’re experiencing slow performance or crashes, I recommend ensuring Acrobat is up to date. We regularly release improvements and bug fixes. You can check for updates via Help > Check for Updates. Additionally, optimizing the application’s settings, such as disabling enhanced security features or repairing the installation, may help improve performance.

Regarding UI changes, we know adjustments can take time to get used to. Your feedback is valuable, and I’d encourage you to share specific concerns with our product team via Acrobat User Voice. This ensures your input is considered for future updates.

If you’re encountering specific technical issues, I’d be happy to assist you further. Could you share more details about the problems you’re facing, including your OS, Acrobat version, and any error messages?

We also require Crash logs. Here is the link that guides you through collecting crash logs: https://adobe.ly/3RcU0nr.
For all other functional issues, we need specific logs via the option "Troubleshoot Acrobat" Option under the "Help" menu.

If you don't see the "Troubleshoot Acrobat" option, select the Acrobat menu/Edit > Preferences... and then select the Enable troubleshooting option from the General tab. Once the option is checked, you need to navigate to Acrobat > Help > Troubleshoot Acrobat.

This tool helps you upload logs to our servers from your machine and share the log ID with us so we can track them.

Thank you for your patience and support.

~Tariq

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