Acrobat DC opens, then immediately closes

[Katherine233504661e41]

Hi,

I have windows 10 and Acrobat DC. It opens and then immedeatyely closes.

I think I have tried every single repair option I can find.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat DC

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the entire suite.

I have restarted my computer

I have gone in and removed the preference folder from C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\DC

I have done that, uninstalled, restarted my computer, then reinstalled

I am frustrated and more than a little peeved. Gold star to anyone who can help.

[Katherine233504661e41 · Accepted solution]

So I have finally managed to fix this for myself.

I uninstalled the whole suite, then I went into the C: drive and deleted all folders associated with adobe that were created after I installed it. Thankfully, I only had the suite for a day before it stopped working so this is a narrow time frame.

I then went back and re-installed the whole lot from the adobe site.

So far it seems to have be working, but we'll see. 

Please note that prior to this I had gone through the robot chat trouble shooting thing (the chat with the AI), and tried to open acrobat with my computer in safe mode. So this was a last ditch effort.

[Radu30879414ld4e · Accepted solution]

I've ran into this problem where Adobe Acrobat would open, then immediately close. I've managed to fix it so I'm sharing my fix on threads relating to this problem hoping it'll help others.

My issues was this:

I opened the app from CC (or from opening a PDF). The app would open but close after about 3-5 seconds. I did this for a few times and saw that in the bar at the top of the window, there was a "Sign In" button, right where the account usually is in my other CC apps. Before closing, a small window appeared to pop up in the middle of the screen, but it just disappeared in an instant. Then the app would close, even if it managed to open any PDF I wanted.

What I tried:

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling. 

I tried this fix: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-closes-after-launch.html but it did nothing. Plus it's a weird fix for Adobe to suggest, but anyway.

Then I came upon this thread: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-crashes-on-windows-os.html

Here, Solution 4 guided me to try opening "acrodist". When opening it, the same small window popped up in the middle of the screen, this time staying opened and indicating an error with my account, and an error code 205, with a prompt to contact support.

When searching for a fix for error code 205, I found this thread: https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/fix-licensing-error-205.html

Another seemingly weird fix, but I tried it anyway. And this worked for me. If you do try it, here are the steps:

1. Press WIN-R and type in CMD

2. Type in the text below:

for /F "tokens=1,* delims= " %G in ('cmdkey /list ^| findstr /c:"Adobe App "') do cmdkey /delete %H

3. Hit Enter/Return

4. Wait for all the text prompts to stop. Then try launching Acrobat. This worked for me. 

I find it wild that 1. this is a problem that has been persisting for so many years, 2. That Adobe doesn't implement an automatic fix for a seemingly basic "just clear the auth tokens when you install/reinstall" feature that breaks a core app on their suite we pay a literal ton for. 3. That none of the support here on the community forum correctly identified and pointed to this absolutely basic fix, instead recommending wild things like deleting app preferences or running "tools" that don't seem to work in most cases. 

[daniels7228616]

Right on. Everyone I suggest trying what flight crew suggests here. Open in Photoshop. You will likely see you have reach your limit. Sign out on another device. The go back and open adobe. It started working for me right away. The issue is for whatever reason it doesnt stay open long enough in adobe acrobat to let you sign out of the other devices. Instead it just closes out almost imedatly. Try this 1st as its the easiest fix sugested here. 

[Jesse35486726a2q8]

I had the same issue, followed your advice and went to adobe account / activated devices / (You can install Adobe applications on more than one computer, activate them (sign in) on two, but use them on only one computer at a time. To activate apps on a third machine, you’ll need to deactivate (sign out) on one of the two current computers first.)

I can only be signed into two computers at once. Signed out of the one I no longer use and worked instantly. What really sucks is that there is no error messege saying that you have reached the maximum users.

Thanks for sharing!

[daniels7228616 · Accepted solution]

Your welcome. Yes its frustrating that it is such and easy fix yet there is so much bad advice from adobe encouraging people to delete everything and essentally start over. So un needed. I hope they can at some point just add a promt so people know that they just need to sign out of the other computer. The fact that there is no explained makes it so confusing unless you know what the problem is. Shame on you Adobe for not fixing this simple problem. So many peoples days are being ruined trying to figure this out!!

But for real everyone just open photoshop of another app and this will pop up sign out and your problem will be fixed. You can also navigate to 

https://account.adobe.com/activated-devices and try and logout that way. But i have had the most luck doing it though photoshop

[adela_3869]

This worked for me! 

[Stephen37312075nb4s]

This was the solution for me...thank you so much for figuring it out. I have the Acrobat Pro, and did not realize you only can activate it on two computers. I already had two active licenses. Going to the link https://account.adobe.com/activated-devices allowed me to deactivate one of the licenses and use it on the new computer. It literally instantly fixed the problem and Acrobat finished set up. You're absolutely right about everything.

The fact that Adobe is not programmed to tell you it can't be used because you already used up your licenses......is absolutely crazy for a product they think is worth 200$ a year. Instead, it just "disappears" with no warning, error, or explanation.

[shannon_9107]

This fixed my problem in about 2.5 seconds. Thank you for this 🙂

[Kitt Stone]

A reply for anyone still having this issue:

If acrobat is closing after a blank popup comes up immediately after opening, it might be failing to load the "Too many devices" menu. An easy fix is to go into any other adobe suite app, you'll be met with the popup, make sure to disable one of the other active devices and once it accepts your changes you should be good to try acrobat again. Hope this helps, my issue was similar and this fixed it.

[Abambo]

A reply for anyone still having this issue:

If acrobat is closing after a blank popup comes up immediately after opening, it might be failing to load the "Too many devices" menu. An easy fix is to go into any other adobe suite app, you'll be met with the popup, make sure to disable one of the other active devices and once it accepts your changes you should be good to try acrobat again. Hope this helps, my issue was similar and this fixed it.

By @Kitt Stone

Until now this dialogue did not fail me. But if you only have Acrobat, you can't obviously not open a different Adobe application. Going to https://account.adobe.com/activated-devices will be your solution in that case.

[JstevensDK7]

I fixed this issue by launching Distiller which should be installed along side Acrobat. I had too many activations and it allowed me to sign out other devices. Acrobat did not prompt me to sign out other devices nor notify that too many activations was the issue.

Adobe, WTH, how can this still be in an issue in 2024?

[Pascal36726389v74n]

Yup, that did it !

[akhnenaton]

It's probalby Adobe thinking you've reached your limit of activated devices. Go to the "run" command, type in "acrodist" (without the quotes). Acrobat Distiller should open, you'll probably be asked to delete one device since you've reached your "activation limit". Delete one device, continue, done. Close Acrobat Distiller. Now open Creative Cloud Suite and open Acrobat. Should work. 

Done. 

[akhnenaton]

"It's probably". Typos. Bananas. 

[Chadwick37059397bjln]

So, after being on vacation for 10 days, this was also happening to me. All it took was signing back into my account. Hit the little up arrow in your task bar and click on the infinity sign. Then sign in. If you are already signed in; sign out and sign back in. 

Good luck!

[marcum37122454pqni]

Same baloney previews print and gone blank all I have left is the outline of all the different sections available for editing all blank, I emailed to myself 

and was able to edit and then it wouldn't print. Abode is like the granddad of them all, their latest stuff makes garbage smell appealing in summer, what a disappointment, Big, Rich, Spoiled Rotten. This place caresa ZERO about customer appreciation..                                                                                                                          

[dennis_223]

Same problem.  I had both Adobe DC and Adobe Reader Touch.  I deleted Adobe DC and all is fine.

[Tom_Nassayan7657]

I had the same issue and found out that I was logged into another computer hence it was not allowing me to open another session.  Usually the app would tell you to log out of another computer but Acrobat shuts down iinstead. 

Do to Adobe.com.  Click on Help & Support, Manage my  account.  Click on Plans and payment drop down at the top of the screen. Click on Activated devices. From there you have the option of signing out of all other devices.

[ls_rbls]

Hi @Tom_Nassayan7657 ,

Thank you for updating this old thread and confirming this solution!