Acrobat DC opens previous version of file when opened

[dmylrea]

We have a weird issue with Acrobat DC PRO (and DC Reader, too) on a Mac Pro opening with stale versions of a file.

For example, using InDesign (CC 2017) say we export to PDF, save it on the desktop (or a network share does the same thing).  Open it in Acrobat by double-clicking it on the desktop.  Looks good.  Close Acrobat.  Back to InDesign to make a change.  Export again, same location, say REPLACE.  Double-click the file on the desktop and up comes the PREVIOUS version of the file!  Using PREVIEW, we can see the file itself is the correct, newer one.

If we change the name of the file, it opens correctly and shows the new version.  Rename it back to the original file name, and it opens the previous version again.  Acrobat Reader DC does the same thing (we use OPEN with... to open with Reader).  Somehow, Acrobat is caching the file and not updating its cache.

Acrobat has this behavior on 2 of the 5 Mac Pro systems in our office.

It seems there must be some sort of cache file or folder that holds these somewhere, but I've done a good bit of research and cannot find any info, apart from a post from another user that had the same issue, but no answer.

Also, we found that logging out of macOS (10.12.6) and logging back in, the file in question opens correctly.  But do the same thing (save, modify, resave/replace) and the issue happens every time. 

So, is there a cache folder for Acrobat or some other reason that this might be happening?

Thanks.

[Dov Isaacs]

Neither Acrobat nor Reader cache files between invocations.

          - Dov

[dmylrea]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Dov+Isaacs  wrote

Neither Acrobat nor Reader cache files between invocations.

          - Dov

That is interesting to know, so do you have any ideas then, how the system is bringing up old versions of the file when they've obviously been overwritten by a "replace file" when saving changes to the original?

The new file is obviously there, too, since Preview shows the correct version, but Acrobat manages to bring up the previous revision.  If it doesn't cache it, where is it getting it from?

(sorry for the late reply...I wasn't getting notifications of responses here and I just now remembered to check!)

[Dov Isaacs]

dmylrea  wrote

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Dov+Isaacs   wrote

Neither Acrobat nor Reader cache files between invocations.

          - Dov

That is interesting to know, so do you have any ideas then, how the system is bringing up old versions of the file when they've obviously been overwritten by a "replace file" when saving changes to the original?

The new file is obviously there, too, since Preview shows the correct version, but Acrobat manages to bring up the previous revision.  If it doesn't cache it, where is it getting it from?

(sorry for the late reply...I wasn't getting notifications of responses here and I just now remembered to check!)

I am not denying that you are seeing a really big problem. I was simply stating that there is nothing that Acrobat is explicitly doing to cache files or somehow access hidden old content on disk.

Question — When you close the document, are you exiting Acrobat or are you leaving Acrobat open but just closing the file?

What I am also wondering is whether you are hitting a situation whereby Acrobat (or Reader) remains active even though you exit Acrobat (i.e., the window closes but the program is still actually running). (You can determine this if after you exit Acrobat, you can still see it running in the Activity Monitor!) If you can provide a bit more information, maybe I can get my friends to track down what is really going on.

Clearly the symptoms you are seeing are not acceptable!

          - Dov

[KJezza]

I have the exact same problem, I must have run an update earlier in the week as it wasn't happening last week. The solution here is to QUIT Acrobat (on Mac 10.11.6) every time. Seems like a caching error Dov but you say not possible, so what could it be friend?

[Scandella]

Hi Dov,

This issue is still there with Acrobat version 18.011.20058

Can we get some help from Adobe here?

Thanks for your help.

[mikethemacguy]

This is still happening, I'm not sure why this is marked "Assumed Answered." This is unacceptable behavior. The workarounds do help, but what happens when we DON'T recognize that this random glitch has occurred? Our clients tell us we are idiots for not making their changes. This did not happen with Acrobat XI using earlier Mac operating systems. I recently upgraded EVERYTHING (new Mac, High Sierra, new Adobe Suite) and this is the reward.

Anyone here know how we take this to the next level? Submit a bug report I suppose?

[kimpeters]

Exactly. Having to restart an app is a band-aide. Not a fix. BTW: ME TOO!

[00rhodiad]

I've noted and reported this behavior before. It is still unfixed (now v. 20.12.20048.400142) after over five years and dozens of version updates.

[bcmstudiodude]

YEP. Got this problem too. Exactly the same as OP described.

Saving with same filename sometimes causes this issue. But it is random and unpredictable.

Changing the filename fixes the problem.

It never occurs when saving with a different filename.

[dmylrea]

bcmstudiodude  wrote

YEP. Got this problem too. Exactly the same as OP described.

Saving with same filename sometimes causes this issue. But it is random and unpredictable.

Changing the filename fixes the problem.

It never occurs when saving with a different filename.

Apart from changing the filename when saving, have you discovered why or how this is happening?  Was it all of the sudden for you or after a CC update?  Just trying to figure out why this is all of the sudden happening.

[bcmstudiodude]

Sorry. Haven't worked out the why.

I believe the error began after an update (currently running 2017.012.20095)

Also noticed that the file opens correctly if you quit and restart Acrobat (without changing the filename)

So ... two workarounds :

1. quit and restart acrobat

or

2. change filename

Will try the update and see what happens

[bcmstudiodude]

Update : Have not had this problem since updating to version 2017.012.20098

[00rhodiad]

Just noted the bug here in v. 20.12.20048.400142 believe it or not. 

[Guest]

I have a client who also has this issue, except instead of exporting from InDesign, they were doing a trim-and-shift which creates a new page for printing and deletes the original (first) page. The issue was the first page wasn't deleted and threw an error: "One or more pages are in use and could not be deleted." The showstopper was that Acrobat used a cached version if you didn't close Acrobat as @KJezza indicated. Deleting the 2nd page, closing the file WITHOUT SAVING but leaving Acrobat open, and then opening the file from Windows Explorer will show the old UNSAVED version with the 2nd page deleted.

The affected versions are Acrobat Pro DC version 2017.012.20093 and 2017.012.20095. I tested this on Windows 7, Windows 10 and Mac OSX. Fortunately, Acrobat Pro DC version 2017.012.20098 was released today and doesn't have the problem. See the release notes for details. Try updating and see if it happens in the latest version.

[KJezza]

Well that seems to have done the trick - fast work Adobe! (At least in my instance.)

[blackforge_James]

Am having the same problem when I export a new PDF from InDesign by overwriting an existing file. Acrobat DC would open a cached version instead.

bcmstudiodude's above solution works. 

Mac OS X 10.12.5

Architecture: x86_64

Build: 17.12.20098.240878

Adobe please solve this rather than saying this problem should not occur...

[Jumiah]

Hello, I am having the same problem.

I work at a print shop, use MacOS High Sierra 10.13.5.

I operate InDesign CC 2018 and export to .pdf for Adobe Acrobat DC and eventual printing. As changes are made to the artwork in InDesign, and new .pdf's are exported and overwriting themselves, they intermittently revert back to the file that should have been overwritten.

The file can be closed and re-opened and then it takes.

This is extremely frustrating when producing proofs and new versions for our clients, especially when attaching/sending reverted .pdf's. The clients accuse us of not implementing their changes/edits.

Another forum suggested deleting the cache files and restarting but that did nothing. Now I read here that the cache has nothing shared between the two, so what's the deal? Is this a Mac problem or Adobe problem? I do not see any answers here, please help!

[Scandella]

Hello,

I'm having the same problem with Acrobat version 18.011.20058  and we are now more 1 year after the initial post about this issue.

Is there any Acrobat update planned in a near future to resolve this?

I have to quit and relaunch Acrobat to see the latest version of the PDF files generated by InDesign.

Very frustrating.

Thanks for your help.

[Prinny Laharl]

Please take down the "Assumed Answered" status, it absolutely is not answered. I also work in a print shop and, as described above, this is a very serious issue. With the amount of work we produce, quitting and restarting Acrobat upwards of 100 times a day for one operator is not acceptable. This is now affecting three operators and if it's not very carefully monitored it has potential to cost us thousands of dollars.

Like mikeh12584855 mentions, this needs taken to the next level. It's not an annoyance, it's a big problem. It's already costing us in productivity, but we've had incorrect proofs because of this and no customer wants to hear "sorry, it's a bug," they may just take business elsewhere.

If this thread is being ignored because it's "Assumed Answered" then we need to start several new ones and escalate this by all possible means until it is addressed.

[Test Screen Name]

It seems that Acrobat is sometimes keeping the original file open behind the scenes, open but invisible. In this case, trying to open a new file with the same name will keep reading the old file. The question is why... clearly there was an Acrobat bug at one time and it seems to have been fixed.

The possibilities include:

- you are running an old version. You didn't say what version you are running.

- it's a new appearance of a similar bug with the same effect

- a third party plug-in is stopping the close working properly (a plug-in can do this by accident). If you have any third party plug-in, try running without them as a test; if the problem goes away contact the plug-in makers.

[Prinny Laharl]

It's on a Mac running High Sierra 10.13.6 with Acrobat DC version 2019.008.20080

We use Enfocus Pitstop Pro 2018, like many prepress departments. We'll try uninstalling and see what happens. Can anyone else here confirm whether they run into these issues using Acrobat with no plug-ins installed?

[Prinny Laharl]

I uninstalled Pitstop, the only Acrobat plug-in being used on that machine, and we still encounter the same issue.

Signs are pointing to this still being a bug, does anyone know if this is actively trying to be resolved?

[Test Screen Name]

Adobe fix bugs based on votes, it seems. Suggest each person seeing this report it here: Feature Request/Bug Report Form

[Prinny Laharl]

We have found what appears to be a solution. Most of our operators were using a program called Default Folder X that alters the save functionality in macOS. Deleting this program cleared up the behavior of Acrobat. If you have software installed that alters the OS in similar ways, try removing it and see if the issue is resolved.