Adobe Acrobat Pro DC freezes for several seconds after opening a PDF - Windows 10

[jasond15969313]

Hi Adobe Community,

Anyone have an issue with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC freezing for several seconds after opening a PDF on Windows 10. I tried uninstalling and installing as well and changing a few settings I saw suggested online like reducing the number of documents listed in the history. This problem just started today after having no issues for a long time. I didn't download, install, or update anything today.

Thanks!

[stevenh83422829]

I can also confirm this solved the problem.

[SLD91]

Worked for me, too!

[jasond15969313]

Thanks to everyone for posting. I believe there have been several posts that have been helpful though I'm still having hanging issues and I believe from your posts it is tied to connecting to Adobe when first opening Acrobat. I am on a subscription and I couldn't find a way to go into "offline" mode to test this. If I close out tabs and leave Acrobat running I don't get hang ups after first opening Acrobat but that is not an ideal solution for me. If I close Acrobat and open it the program will always hang.

[AkanchhaS]

Hi All,

We apologize for the delay in follow up.

Thanks for trying the troubleshooting steps suggested and sharing the updates. To get this issue escalated further and to know the root cause of the problem, we request you to check with the few more further troubleshooting steps suggested below-

1- Run the cleaner tool and remove the application once- Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs

Reinstall it through- Download and install Acrobat DC subscription

2- If you have got any internet security software installed, turn that off for a while and relaunch Acrobat.

[Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn't disable your antivirus software. If you have to temporarily disable it to install or activate other software, you should re-enable it as soon as you're done.]

3- Create Hidden Admin account and following these steps, and open Acrobat in hidden account.

1-Hold the Windows Key while pressing “R” to bring up the Windows Run dialog box.

2-Type: net user administrator /active:yes

3-Press “Enter“.

Replace “yes” with “no” to disable the admin account on the welcome screen

We would be looking forward for an update on this.

Thanks,

Akanchha

[hrrc]

Thank you.  We have this very issue.  The issue did not resolve itself by turning off signature verification.  Windows 10 Pro.  Using standard Windows defender software that comes with Windows 10.

We have done the steps of using the cleaning tool and re-installing.  We are not going to create hidden admin accounts to run in a different context.  This person already has full admin privileges on the computer (member of the "Administrators" group).

The user has discovered if they leave a PDF open by itself in Acrobat, they are able to open other documents without the delay/freeze in scrolling.  But every single first time they open a PDF without using this trick, Acrobat will stay locked up/frozen with no ability to scroll for 30 seconds to a minute.

[Matt N]

We have this same problem.  Issue exists on Windows 10 and Windows 7 on multiple workstations with Adobe Reader DC 2019.010.20098. We have tried everything in this thread with limited results but no real fix.  This has been happening for last 30 days or more and was not an issue with prior versions.  We are hoping that Adobe will fix this soon.

[Tbowie]

I have 70 plus users all being locked down by Adobe.  Promise of senior engineers calling me on a set appointment time and still nothing.

I have removed, cleaned and reinstalled Acrobat DC and still have the issues - I was told by one phone rep that the timing of the start of our issues are the same timing of the patch from 58 to 98 then to 99 -they told me they want to install the application base and only install the 58 patch and test it to see if that fixes the issue.

I agree - Adobe runs as if it is connecting to an external source lags and spins until it makes a connection. It also is causing Outlook to crash repeatedly and shutting down users.  Even when you uncheck the Adobe add ins the next day you will find one of the add ins rechecked.  This issue needs to be solved.

*Edited this part to add it in*

OS -  both win 7 and 10

Outlook both 2010 and 2016

It does not matter where you start...As soon as you instal Acrobat, the lock ups start.

[lunamarc]

Oh my goodness, I never thought my Outlook issue was connected but seeing as no one has the outlook issue as bad as I do then it must be. I am the only one who uses the most recent form of Adobe in the office so it must be connected. How you explained it makes so much sense as yes, it is running 'as if it is connecting to an external source'.

[davids91568086]

Hello everyone. This is an update to a previous post where I suggested disabling signature verification. Unfortunately, not long after I posted that suggestion the freezing episodes started again. I tried the cleaning tool and while I was doing that, I noticed I had Acrobat DC, Creative Cloud and Adobe Reader installed on my machine. I uninstalled everything. If it had the name Adobe associated with it, I removed it. I even deleted any remaining folders I found that had the name Adobe.

I reinstalled Acrobat DC through my subscription, (only Acrobat DC, nothing else). I appreciated the fact that all my settings and preferences were maintained. The tool bars were reconstructed exactly the way I had them configured before the uninstall.

I've opened at least a hundred documents and have not encountered the freezing that was occurring before.

I think there might have been a conflict with the Adobe Reader program and Acrobat DC program.

Crossing my fingers

[Dov Isaacs]

I doubt that this is due to “a conflict between the Adobe Reader program and Acrobat DC program” but quite frankly, there is not any really good reason to have both installed. Acrobat is a superset of Reader including all the functions of Reader plus all the PDF manipulation features. Having both installed in parallel buys you nothing except the possibilities of conflicts.

          - Dov

[metallums18]

Well we may have 20 different Adobe apps installed so I'm not planning on wiping it all out if at all possible.   I'll wait for something more specific.  Thanks for your updates David.  They are good to hear about.

[nickn40118664]

I had Reader installed so I've now removed it and first impressions looks promising. I'll report back with a few days of testing.

[metallums18]

I have the same issue when files open, but also getting constant freezing moments after every other little action performed.  Vers 19.010.20098

I tried turning off signature check on open.  I think it might have helped the opening pause, but I'm not certain because everything else is still being met with a couple second pause.   One example, adding watermark text, I get through typing a word and only two letters were typed.  I must wait, might see one more letter pop up.  Might not.  Then my cursor comes back and I know I can type again.  Right after finally getting the full watermark text in, it locks again.  On and on through out the whole time using it.

I might try one uninstall but this suggested step has never worked for any of my issues in the past.  I doubt I'm going to bother with "hidden admin" accounts and any of those suggestions.  I will attempt to roll back to prior versions first.

[metallums18]

Update from my issue:  A day later after turning off the setting for signature recognition on open, I think I have noticed improvement in the freeze ups I was seeing.  PDFs are opening faster and able to flip pages right away right now.   I haven't seen many pause freezes today yet where they had been constant.   I doubled checked and I had no Reader software installed.   So one computer restart after the signature setting has been turned off may be all it takes.  May have worked for me.  Have only worked with maybe 5 PDFs so far today so...grain of salt my update.

I am still seeing a spinning icon appear often while perusing PDFs that I am not familiar with seeing in the past. But it doesn't appear to be slowing me down or locking me up at the moment.

[emily79697487]

I'm having the same problem in my organisation across Server 2016 installations of Adobe Acrobat Pro. We're on version 2019.010.20098.

I have tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling from scratch but are having the same issue. I don't have Reader installed and I've already tried unticking the 'Enhanced Security' option which didn't make a difference.

[cglassen]

Also have this issue. Reader is not installed on my machine.

[michaelTGC]

I have been having the same issues on two different computers sharing the same network for a couple of weeks - intermittent slow response time when:

- opening Acrobat before the recent file list appears

- opening files

- trying to save files (save as function)

- when displaying a form (it sometimes comes up in bits and pieces - i.e. text displays several seconds before fields)

- when trying to scroll after the first page displays. 

These symptoms do not appear every time, but often enough during the day to be highly noticeable and aggravating.

I have 2019.010.20098 installed.  Adobe Reader is not installed, but Creative Cloud is.  Most of our files are stored on a NAS here in the office, so I thought it might have some connection with that, but other programs are not similarly affected.  I have not tried the remedial steps recommended by Akanchha yet (cleaning and reinstalling) in the hope that a definitive solution will arise.

[metallums18]

MichaelTGC if you haven't yet, at least try the suggestion to turn off signature verification on open that was posted earlier.  Then remember to restart and test Acrobat use.  

[cglassen]

Disabling Signature verification did not work for me. Acrobat does freeze without even opening a document. I've noticed that it seems to be checking for online notifications. Once it "unlocks" the notifications in the top right corner light up.

[hrrc]

We have Windows 10.  Signature verification checked off in Acrobat.  Reader is not and has not been installed.  Acrobat Pro DC is the only Adobe product on the PC.

I agree with cglassen -- it seems that once the "freeze" is done, the online ID pops up in the upper right corner to show it is connected.

Each of my people has their own Adobe ID that they register the software with, since this is the DC (subscription model) software.  The software is installed and registered.

Adobe, do you have an update for us on this?  Is this something you can reproduce?  Do you need a PC that you can remotely look at that is having this issue?

[metallums18]

Some of us are seeing improvements at least initially by turning off that Signature verification and restarting our computers.   If you are seeing that ID icon take a long time to log you in, maybe that is where the hiccup is happening in your situation. I for one did not see a delay in the icon/login verification during my issues.  This lockups/feezing issue wasn't happening for everyone at our location even though we all had the same version of Acrobat.

[jasond15969313]

I don't consider this a solution but I find the best work around is to open Adobe Acrobat DC directly and not by opening a PDF, then opening the PDF. There is still a freeze up initially but it's much shorter. Then don't close Acrobat only close your PDFs. Leaving Acrobat running seems to eliminate the freeze ups. I'm not used to that so if I do accidentally close Acrobat it always freezes when I reopen it however when I leave Acrobat open only closing the PDFs I don't appear to have any freeze ups.

[davids91568086]

Follow up report.

Maybe it was dumb luck, but my program is continuing to work smoothly without freezing, after going through the steps I mentioned earlier. To be clear, my documents would freeze for up to a minute.

Dell laptop - Window 10 Pro, 64 bit. Currently I have only Acrobat DC installed, no other Adobe product. Digital signatures turned off. Auto updater turned off.  Collaboration Synchronizer disabled in my startup services (task manager). I've opened and worked in at least a hundred documents in the past couple days. I almost feel bad that mine is no longer freezing and others are still experiencing trouble.

I'll check in with you guys in a few days and let you know if it reverts back.

[michaelTGC]

I have now turned off signature verification and disabled Collaboration Synchonizer and restarted my system.  There was still a good 15-second delay on startup (despite letting the computer settle after restarting and before opening Acrobat).  I'll monitor throughout the day and report back.  In the meantime, I wonder if anyone else on this thread is using both Acrobat and Quickbooks on the same computer where the issue appears.  I've noticed strange interactions between those two products in the past.

Thanks

[cglassen]

Now that you mention it - I have two workstations... The one with Quickbooks installed is having the issue.