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Eric38509534fts9
New Participant
July 9, 2024
Answered

Acrobat XI Pro only opens to Recent Files

  • July 9, 2024
  • 4 replies
  • 2165 views

Hi I am running Acrobat XI Pro on Windows 10, and have recently had a puzzling change to how my documents open. I have always been able to open .pdf files directly from desktop to Acrobat, but now when I try either through double-clicking, or right clicking to "open with... Adobe Acrobat", Acrobat will open, but it will not open the .pdf, only the application, which defaults to the "Recent Files" screen. In order to actually open a .pdf, I either have to drag-drop the document to the "Recent Files" screen, or open it from within the app. It's very strange, and quite annoying. I wonder if it's related to Microsoft's relentless efforts to get me to use Edge, which I hate (mostly because they so clearly want me to use it).

Correct answer try67

> I wonder if it's related to Microsoft's relentless efforts to get me to use Edge

Not likely. It's probably related to the fact that Acrobat XI is an old and outdated version, not compatible with any current OS. That doesn't mean it won't run, but that problems with it are to be expected, especially when it comes to things like integration with the OS, such as double-clicking a file.

To increase the chances of it working properly make sure you have all updates installed (up to 11.0.23) and run it in Compatibility Mode with an earlier OS, like Windows 7.

Updates are available here:
ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/acrobat/win/11.x/
(You must use a dedicated FTP client to open the link, it won't work in most browsers)

4 replies

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Community Manager
Tariq AhmadCommunity Manager
Community Manager
August 13, 2024

Hi @Eric38509534fts9 

You may check this help page: https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/hub/how-to-change-your-default-pdf-viewer.html to learn how to set Acrobat as the default app on your system. It seems to be an OS-related issue. 
Also, as suggested by @simonics26, it is better to use Acrobat only on your machine.  



~Tariq

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simonics26
Participating Frequently
July 9, 2024

Forgot to say - if you also have another version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, that may cause conflicts, especially if it is a later version like DC.

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simonics26
Participating Frequently
July 9, 2024

- I am actually running Adobe Acrobat X Pro Vn 10.1.16 [= all updates] with good performance on Win10 22H2. You should be on 22H2, as it is the last OS for Win10, and needs updating monthly for security. If you need to update to 22H2 and keep your apps, make a Win10 MCT datastick for 22H2, off the Win10 MS Downloads site. Then open it on your computer desktop - Click setup.exe and follow instructions. Do it with internet on is best.

Back to PDfs:

- If you open a PDF file directly from Desktop, it should open with the default PDF App.

- Just a thought - Have you checked the default for PDFs hasn't changed to MS Edge as default app to open PDFs.

- If you Right Click the PDF, and clk on 'Open With', does it show Adobe Acrobat, which means it is not the default PDF App.

- Settings - Apps - Default Apps - Click link 'Choose Default Apps by File type' - .pdf = Click icon + choose default App

- For me, .pdx for Adobe Acrobat Catalog and Index, is Adobe Acrobat, while .pdf is MS Edge as default. I open PDfs with Edge to browse quicker, but do more involved tasks in Adobe Acrobat.

- If you sign into your Win10 OS with MS Account, then the desktop is normally backed up onto OneDrive, which can cause anomalies.

- Therefore I keep my files in the Downloads folder [which is not connected to OneDrive], while working on them, backing up to USB stick, and when finished, I move files to external hard drive.

- I hope this helps in some way.

try67
try67Correct answer
Adobe Expert
July 9, 2024

> I wonder if it's related to Microsoft's relentless efforts to get me to use Edge

Not likely. It's probably related to the fact that Acrobat XI is an old and outdated version, not compatible with any current OS. That doesn't mean it won't run, but that problems with it are to be expected, especially when it comes to things like integration with the OS, such as double-clicking a file.

To increase the chances of it working properly make sure you have all updates installed (up to 11.0.23) and run it in Compatibility Mode with an earlier OS, like Windows 7.

Updates are available here:
ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/acrobat/win/11.x/
(You must use a dedicated FTP client to open the link, it won't work in most browsers)

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    Eric38509534fts9Author
    New Participant
    July 10, 2024

    Thanks, try67. I do have the latest update of Acrobat XI. While I know that it's old and outdated, it's worked fine on Windows 10 for six years (that's like a century in computer years), and more to the point, there's no reason it should be working any differently now, this is clearly a new problem. I only mention the link to Edge because it started happening after my most recent reassignment of .pdf document type back to Acrobat, after Windows had yet again assigned it to Edge without asking me. I'm not updating my OS to Windows 11 because the computer is ancient, and my work will be replacing it this fall. But for now it's an annoying problem that I'd like to fix. I'll try compatibility mode, thanks for that suggestion.

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    simonics26
    Participating Frequently
    July 10, 2024

    - It could be a buggy Win10 update interaction, that a future update may solve.

     

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