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dmylrea
New Participant
August 18, 2017
Question

Acrobat DC opens previous version of file when opened

  • August 18, 2017
  • 17 replies
  • 32907 views

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.

    17 replies

    F
    Frederick Fleming
    New Participant
    November 20, 2024

    I have started having this same issue for about a month now. I export design files from QuarkXpress to a PDF, set at a lower resolution - and print proof samples from the PDFs as that speeds up printing while I have clients in the office. I make changes, save a new PDF overwriting the previous file, but when I open this new PDF with Acrobat Pro - it opens up the previous versoin. I can use Mac Preview to see the PDF file is indeed updated and correct, or emailing the file also shows its the updated file, but Acrobat pulls up the older prior incorrect file version. This is maddening!!! The only work around I have found is to quit and restart Acrobat. That will get it to acknowledge the new file is what it is. This is computing 101 - when you save a new file, you should be able to trust what it is! I have wasted a ton of print paper with Acrobat printing off an older version of a file, even though it has opened the correct new file.

    I'm running Sonoma 14.6.1 -
    Acrobat is Architecture: arm64
    Processor: Apple M1 Max
    Build: 24.4.20272.0
    AGM: 7.1.8
    CoolType: 9.1.0
    JP2K: 4.0.2.54782

     

    Please get this fixed or I will be forced to not use a program I rely on and pay good money for.

    Thank you!!

    S_S
    Community Manager
    S_SCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    November 21, 2024

    @Frederick Fleming,

     

    Sorry for the experience! 

     

    We are already aware of this, and the fix will be available with the upcoming update.


    -Souvik

    G
    gailp37330037
    New Participant
    January 9, 2025

    I have this same problem and it has been long standing and infuriating. I create a PDF contact sheet in bridge, make changes then overwrite it and I always get the first contact sheet no mattter what I do. Usually I shut down Acrobat and it usually works. Today I renamed the file, cleared my recent documents shut down Acrobat and I still got the first version. I also had to shut down Bridge and finally I got the new contact sheet to send off. This is no way to have to work. 

    A
    apm2024
    New Participant
    October 21, 2024

    I'm facing the same issue. In my case it's a long tax document (US 1040 + supplements) so I can't share it but here is how it happens.

    v2024.003.20180 on MacOS 15.

     

    1. Create a long doc (I generated it from Turbotax) and save it.

    2. Open in adobe reader. Close it

    3. Make a minor change to the file (I changed one line of text) - save it. (you can overwrite the file, or I also tried deleting the original file and creating a new one with the same name)

    4. Open in macOS preview - see file has changed. Open in Adobe Reader - see that it shows the same content as the original doc.

     

    Rename fixes it. 

    5. I tried renaming the file to somthing else, and Acrobar showed the updated content

    6. I tried renaming it back to the original name, and Acrobar still showed the same original content.

     

    So there's some level of caching that's happening somewhere and it's tied to the file name (and maybe small enough changes to the content).

     

    S_S
    Community Manager
    S_SCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    October 22, 2024

    Thanks, everyone, for the responses.

     

    I have logged a ticket for the dev team to work on this, and I will update the thread as and when I hear back.

     

    -Souvik

    B
    BBash-50
    New Participant
    November 14, 2024

    We have followed the same process as user apm2024 and are encountering the same issue with itineraries sent via PDF. When these documents are updated and we use the “Send as Email” function in Adobe Acrobat, the old version is sent as an attachment, even though the update content shows correctly when opening Adobe. It appears that something is causing these documents, which have the same name, to be cached incorrectly and send the incorrect file when using the send an email button in Adobe. 

    G
    Giovanni22846570mald
    Participating Frequently
    May 23, 2024

    Hi,

     

    I think I have the same (or similar problem).

     

    I have 2 pdf documents.  I am reading the first pdf document and since I have to refer to the "second" pdf document for understanding of the first, I've created an "attachment" in the pane of the first pdf  document (for easy opening). I thought this was just a kind of link to the second pdf, but when I double-click in the pane it open an old version of the second pdf.

     

    Regards,

    Giovanni

    Rowtype538600
    Rowtype538600
    Participating Frequently
    August 30, 2024

    Still have the same issue, driving me mad, some people have said "just save as a new name"

    Nope why should i changed how i have been saving file for the last 33 years.

    Adobe please fix this issue

    G
    Giovanni22846570mald
    Participating Frequently
    September 12, 2024

    Many thanks for the reply, i shall try this asap


    Hi,

    Do not know if it is related to the same issue, but if I open a pdf attachedment from a pdf document it shows the older version. However, opening the pdf directly (not from the pane of file attachment) it show the latest version.

     

    Regards, 

    R
    Rhiannon Prepress
    New Participant
    January 17, 2024

    We are still seeing this in 2024, over six years after the problem was initially reported. After overwriting a PDF file with a new version, Acrobat continues to open the old version until it is relaunched. It's a significant problem for us when we are going back and forth with changes. We should not have to relaunch the app just to open an updated file. 

      Rowtype538600
      Rowtype538600
      Participating Frequently
      May 1, 2024

      100% issue for me also, although i dont think its always done it, as create PDF's with the exact same file nameing every day.

       

      mikethemacguy
      mikethemacguy
      New Participant
      September 13, 2023

      Still happening in September 2023! Has anyone submitted a bug report we can vote on?

        Alex Powning
        Alex Powning
        New Participant
        September 13, 2023
        Still happens with mine too!

        --

        powning@gmail.com
        fredricsgraphics.com
        203.254.4455
          M
          michaelm56656252
          New Participant
          October 29, 2022

          I just suffered from this problem for several days with a single particular file. It was a broken pdf that trailed off in the middle into blank pages, but I simply could not get rid of it, no matter how many times I deleted the file or stopped Acrobat Pro. I'm running a Mac with macOS 12.6. Eventually I notice an additional program, "Adobe Acrobat Synchronizer" running in the background. I forced that to quit and the problem was solved.

          Alex Powning
          Alex Powning
          New Participant
          July 16, 2021

          I'm having the exact same issue. Has is been solved or fixed yet? These posts are so old.

          I've gotten used to NOT being able to see the most recent saved version of my file each time I save on illustrator. But it's really annoying.

           

          Any fix yet?

           

          Thanks!

          G
          GreenRoof
          Inspiring
          August 19, 2021

          I've been having this same problem for quite a while. When I export a new PDF from InDesign by overwriting an existing file, Acrobat DC opens the previous version instead.

           

          The only way to fix it is to quit Acrobat and then relaunch when opening the new PDF file. I don't always remember to do this, which creates problems especially if I'm creating an accessible PDF, when there are so many things to check, and I think I've gone mad becuase the fix I've just made in InDesign is not showing up in what I thought is the new PDF. In fact I'm still looking at the old version. Grrr. Why is this not fixed after so many years of people raising the issue??!!

           

            AcmeCoffeeRN
            AcmeCoffeeRN
            Participating Frequently
            January 16, 2020

            I have two Acrobats of the same versions (19.021.20061) on two different Macs. One behaves like you said and the other one behaves normally. I realized what triggers this issue is after I opened a 3D PDF file sent by a vendor. Since then, only this particular Acrobat behaves abnormally. Also both of my Macs have Default Folder installed. 

            Solution: Uninstall Illustrator (include deleting preferences) and reinstall Illustrator solves the issue.

            Prinny Laharl
            Prinny Laharl
            Participating Frequently
            December 21, 2018

            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.

            S
            StClairSoft
            New Participant
            December 21, 2018

            I'm the developer of Default Folder X, and I can't see any programmatic reason why Default Folder X would cause this sort of behavior. Default Folder X doesn't cache anything, nor does it interpose itself in any way in the the actual reading or writing of files (in modern versions of macOS, it's not possible to do so because of the improved security). Default Folder X performs all of its functions using the macOS Accessibility API - the same thing used by the built-in VoiceOver feature in macOS. In some applications, that _does_ result in them executing different code internally in some cases - so if there's a bug in Acrobat, it's plausible that running Default Folder X (or VoiceOver) _could_ trigger the bug even though it doesn't normally occur. But the low-level nature of this doesn't sound like something that's susceptible - when Default Folder X does trigger a different code path in app, it's generally directly related to the user interface (since that's what the Accessibility API hooks into).

            I'd appreciate any bug reports correlating or refuting Prinny's report - I'll definitely have a look and see if I can reproduce things here.

            - Jon

            Prinny Laharl
            Prinny Laharl
            Participating Frequently
            December 21, 2018

            Thanks for the reply Jon. I agree that it's not immediately logical, but that is the result we are experiencing. I know our prepress operators really enjoy the functionality of Default Folder X and would love to have it back. I'll be interested to see reports from others as well.

            T
            Test Screen Name
            Braniac
            November 21, 2018

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

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