Acrobat will not open

[Nick H]

Having trouble getting Acrobat DC to open PDF. When double-clicking on a PDF I get error saying Windows cannot find the file. The same file will open without problems using Foxit PDF software. The files are associated as default with Acrobat. Acrobat will not open either from CC Desktop. I have uninstalled and reinstalled.

Running on Windows10 with the optional Acrobat DC July update installed just, in case it fixed my issue, it didn't.  Does anyone have any ideas? 

[Amal. · Accepted solution]

Hi Nick

We are sorry for the trouble. As described you are unable to open the PDFs with Adobe Acrobat DC and getting the error messgae as windows cannot find the files

Would you mind sharing the screenshot of the error message for a better understanding?

Are you getting the following error messgae 'Windows cannot find C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe' ? If yes, please try the steps below and see if that works for you.

1.Close the Adobe Acrobat DC

2. Hold down Windows key and press R on your keyboard, this will bring up Run dialogue box.

3. Type regedit in the run dialogue box and hit Enter

4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options, delete the key Acrobat.exe

5. Relaunch the application and check.

You may also take a look at a similar discussion https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/adobe-acrobat-dc-will-not-open-a-message-comes-up-that-said-w...

Let us know if you are referring to something else.

Regards

Amal

[Nick H]

Hi Amal, Ok so I deleted the Registry entries for Acrobat(ALL reg keys referring to Acrobat, 4 or 5 of them), uninstalled again, ran the Acrobat Cleaner, rebooted and reinstalled... This solved the problem and Acrobat now runs, thank you Amal.

[Amal.]

Hi there

We are glad to hear that the issue got fixed.

Feel free to contact us for any assistance required in the future.

Regards

Amal

[Rainpoodle]

The Adobe Acrobat will not open on desktop. It shows up on task bar and you can see it with your mouse, but it will not open up as a window.

I am running Windows 11, and this started after receipt acrobat update.

I tried running as administrator and that does nothing.

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Rainpoodle,

Thank you for reaching out, and sorry about the trouble.

Please try to repair the application installation. Reboot the machine once.

If that does not help, remove the application and run the cleaner tool (https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/cleaner.html). Reboot the machine.

Then reinstall the latest version from the following page: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-downloads.html. 

If you still experience issues in opening Acrobat, please share the following logs:

Crash logs: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/collect-logs-crash-freeze.html. 

Process logs: https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/acromonitor.html. 

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Richard36376215nrye]

4 Years later still happening. So frustrating when you pay for a product and have to trouble shoot it! Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Worked every time until I became a paying user!

[Amal.]

Hi there,

Have you tried the steps suggested in the correct answer shared above?

What is the version of the Acrobat DC you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Acrobat and make sure you have the recent version 24.01.20615 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-defau... and see if that works.

~Amal

[Hennie37433560sbzw]

I am having the same issue after an update yesterday for Windows 11. I open a pdf file on my desktop once and then nothing opens again from anywhere I try, outlook & desktop. When I log in to my Adobe account, strangly it works again.  I just tried it as I am busy posting this.  And again, noting opens again.

I follow the instuction on this thread, reinstalling, changing the preferences folder name, restarting and still it continues to do the same thing with not opening pdf documents.  This is quite frustrating to do keep on doing the same thing when I have a lot of work. Is there any permanant solution so this doesn't keep happening?

[Amal.]

Hi there

If the file is stored on a shared network/drive please download it to your computer locally and then try again.

Also try to turn off the protected mode for testing. Go to Preferences (Ctrl,Cmd+K) > Enhanced Security > Uncheck 'Enable protected mode at startup' > click Ok and reboot the application once.

Note: Please turn in the security after testing to avoid any security risk.

~Amal

[Hennie37433560sbzw]

Hi Amal,

Thank you for your reply.  I have done as you advised and for now it is working.  I have checked 'Enable protected mode at startup' again after testing.  Let's see how it goes and if any issues again, I'll reply here.