Adobe Acrobat DC does not support Microsoft Word - I have Adobe Creative Cloud and Office 365

[dipaolt]

Hello,

Somehow, I am unable to create a PDF from within Acrobat DC from a docx document because docx (or doc) is not a supported format. I have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so my version of Acrobat is the most recent. I also have an O365 subscription, so my Word version is the latest and installed on my PC. I am able to print to PDF from inside Word, or Save as PDF, but that is not appropriate for me because I need to create a PDF using a different ISO standard than the one available from inside Word. Can anyone help?

[Mike Bro]

Hello,

To create a PDF with Acrobat DC from a docx document go to the file menu > open > navigate to your word docx, in the dialog window change the "Show" option from Adobe PDF Files to All files click open to convert the docx file to a pdf.

Regards,

Mike

[dipaolt]

Thank you MIke,

I tried that but it does not work. Doing the way you said, allows me to see the docx file, however, when I click "Open" I get this error message, which is similar to the one which from "Create a PDF" doesn't allow me to see doc or docx files.

[dipaolt]

Note that I know the docx file is good and not corrupted, because I am able to Create a PDF and navigate to this file, see it, open it, and create it from within Acrobat Pro DC on another computer.

[Test Screen Name]

Make sure Word is locally installed on the computer, even if you normally use the online app. 

[dipaolt]

Yes, it is. The entire office suite is. When I click on "Create a PDF" and go to open a file, I can see powerpoints and Excel files, but just not Word files.

[JR Boulay]

Open your DOCX with Word or LibreOffice, then export/save as to PDF.

[JR Boulay]

"I am unable to create a PDF from within Acrobat DC from a docx document because docx (or doc) is not a supported format."

???

[dipaolt]

I am sorry JR, but this doe snot work either because docx or doc is not a supported format. Word does not appear in the list in the prefernces:

[JR Boulay]

It looks like a bug!

[dipaolt]

Indeed. It was bug. I ended up calling Adobe Customer Support, and they were not able to help either. Re-installed Adobe Acrobat, deleted old files, checked system files, re-installed Office, nothing has worked yet. Perhaps there is a conflict with another app? But still no solution. 

[MikeGort]

It is indeed a bug, dipaolt. I have the same issue and have tried every fix I could find. None of the office file formats are listed in Convert to PDF. Mine looks exactly like yours. 

Mike

[codyh781394]

dipaolt, I know this is a long shot since this is from over a year ago, but did you end up getting this problem figured out? I am having the exact same issue... Microsoft Word is missing from the "Convert to PDF" list and docx files aren't being accepted in the "Combine" tool.

[timpmil]

I am having the same issue and nothing I tried has  fixed it...anyone been able to resolve this?

[MikeGort]

The case management software I use converts word to PDF, or I use the Adobe Acrobat addin for word and covert from Word.

[codyh781394 · Accepted solution]

@timpmilThis is what worked for me:

1.) Press the windows key (⊞) + R and run regedit

2.) Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.docx

3.) Change the (Default) value data to say Word.Document.12

4.) Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc (you must do this step even if you don't have any .doc files. This is where I messed up because I thought I'd only need to change .docx)

5.) Change the (Default) value data to say Word.Document.8

After doing this, Microsoft Word appeared again in the Convert to PDF list.

[Laurie-Ann28162199cx69]

@codyh781394 

Thank you!! That worked!!

[defaultvft4imwsi78h]

Omg I was having the same problem (where Microsoft Word was missing from the "Convert to PDF" list in Acrobat settings) and this worked for me! You are a lifesaver.

[timpmil]

@codyh781394  thank you so much for this fix. I am a year late in trying this. It solved my problem. Thank you!!

[timpmil]

@codyh781394 I can't thank you enough for this fix. I have used it countless times since 2022. A note for me and others if it helps. I also have to update the regedit settings for xls and xlsx to get those file types to work as well. 

xls = Excel.Sheet.8

xlsx = Excel.Sheet.12

[derekg44555188]

I've looked at dozens of posts and solutions about this issue and this is the only one that worked. Thank you!

[Mark29470019x7xw]

I was having this issue as well with a series of .doc files in File Explorer. I found .doc under Default Programs, but the only Application in the list was Adobe. From File Explorer I then tried dragging the .doc file onto my Word shortcut in the taskbar, which pinned the document to the list. Then I clicked to open in Word. Back in Default Programs, I now had Word in the list next to Adobe, so assigned .doc files to open with Word. This converted (or possibly restored) all the .doc files to Word documents.