Participant

Answered

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC on Mac freezes not long after opening, regardless of the file and even without

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 18, 2020
13 replies
35216 views

As per title

Mac OS 10.15.3 (latest version)

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 2020.006.20034 (latest version)

The software freezes a few seconds after it opens. It happens with any and all PDF files and even happens if I open the application without a file.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software via the Creative Cloud app and it has made no different. The problem still occurs.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Crash or freeze

Correct answer AnandSri

Hello @jos5E90!

I hope you are doing well, and we apologise for the trouble you had with the app.

Please ensure you have the latest version of Acrobat installed on the machine: 25.001.20458 Planned update, Apr 15, 2025. Check for any pending updates from the Menu > help > check for updates, install the updates, restart the app and the machine, and check. For more information, see this: https://adobe.ly/42n8HLl

If the app still freezes with the latest build, please collect the logs from the affected machine and share them with us for further investigation.

Thanks for your time and cooperation.

Anand Sri.

G

Goldie 214

Participant

I have just had the displeasure of dealing with John at Adobe support for Acrobat. My system keeps freezing when attempting to open and work with a PDF. This has been going on for some time. During the process John took control of my computer which was great and then everything went down hill. He attempted to repair and then he uninstalled and reinstalled and then said it was fixed when it wasn't. The freeze continued and then when I questioned him on that he went back in and dearmed my security and the 'read all' function. When I questioned him on that he reinstalled these functions. Then he went back and said that he fixed it and all was resolved as he had fixed a glitch. 4X I asked him what the glitch was and he said don't worry about that it is fixed (or something very similar). So I have been lied to, had security dearmed and rearmed and another major function i have paid for removed and put back. AND FURTHER IT STILL f#@%ING FREEZES. Surely there must be some recourse for this. PS it is also happening to my wife. Also John said don't worry I have had a few people with this problem I will fix it. Nope!! Would love to hear from someone from Adobe.

T

Tariq Ahmad

Community Manager

Hi @Goldie 214,

We are truly sorry to hear about your experience, and I appreciate you taking the time to share it in detail.

This clearly wasn’t the support experience you deserved. We sincerely regret the confusion, lack of clarity, and the fact that the core issue — Acrobat freezing — remains unresolved after multiple steps.

Your concerns about security settings being modified and vague explanations being provided are taken seriously. We are escalating this case internally for review, and we want to ensure the root cause of the performance issue is thoroughly investigated.

To move this forward, here’s what we’d like to do:

1. Collect diagnostic logs

Please use our Acrobat Diagnostic Utility: Download the Diagnostic Tool

Run the tool, click Start Diagnostics (make sure Advanced Logging is checked)
Reproduce the freezing issue
Then click Stop Monitoring and copy the Log ID

2. Collect crash logs (if applicable)

📄 How to collect Acrobat crash logs

If your wife’s device is also affected, we’d like to gather logs from her setup too.

Also, let us know:

Acrobat version installed: https://adobe.ly/3PQQ7nE
OS name and version.

Once we have these details, we will set up a meeting to check the workflow. For example, is Acrobat freezing while editing a PDF, Creating a PDF, etc.?

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

G

Goldie 214

Participant

Can someone please help me?

Goldie 214

Regarding this:

I have just had the displeasure of dealing with John at Adobe support for Acrobat. My system keeps freezing when attempting to open and work with a PDF. This has been going on for some time. During the process John took control of my computer which was great and then everything went downhill. He attempted to repair and then he uninstalled and reinstalled and then said it was fixed when it wasn't. The freeze continued and then when I questioned him on that he went back in and disarmed my security and the 'read all' function. When I questioned him on that he reinstalled these functions. Then he went back and said that he fixed it and all was resolved as he had fixed a glitch. 4X I asked him what the glitch was and he said don't worry about that it is fixed (or something very similar). So I have been lied to, had security disarmed and rearmed and another major function i have paid for removed and put back. AND FURTHER IT STILL f#@%ING FREEZES. Surely there must be some recourse for this. PS it is also happening to my wife. Also John said don't worry I have had a few people with this problem I will fix it. Nope!! Would love to hear from someone from Adobe.

Even the trouble shooting information is hard to follow. We pay you guys nearly $80AUD a month for this (I am sorry to say) Horrible product. I would like direct assistance ASAP.

Grant

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J

jos5E90

Participant

Apple M3 Max, 15.3.2 (24D81)
Exactly this: adobe acrobat dc 25.001.20432 hangs after startup. I try to log in but I can't log in fast enough to "counteract" that hanging.
I disinstalled my old acrobat and then installed the new one again and same problem.
This ticket is already open since 2020. This is a disgrace for Adobe. It is clearly reproducable.

And they dare to ask money for this? Or ask to make it the main PDF viewer?

AnandSri

Correct answer

Community Manager

Hello @jos5E90!

I hope you are doing well, and we apologise for the trouble you had with the app.

Please ensure you have the latest version of Acrobat installed on the machine: 25.001.20458 Planned update, Apr 15, 2025. Check for any pending updates from the Menu > help > check for updates, install the updates, restart the app and the machine, and check. For more information, see this: https://adobe.ly/42n8HLl

If the app still freezes with the latest build, please collect the logs from the affected machine and share them with us for further investigation.

Thanks for your time and cooperation.

Anand Sri.

TiRiCREO snc

Participant

Hello, i had the same problem. I found the solution and solved the issue using this simple guide:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-default/td-p/4792082

After reset predferences, every PDF is opening fine. No more freezes! I use mac os Ventura 13.6.4

L

Laurent27203909yl12

Participant

I think I found the solution. Within Adobe Acrobat, go to "Preferences," then to "Adobe Online Services," and then unselect "Sync preferences across devices and document services." Seems to have stopped the freezing shortly after starting the app or opening a PDF file.

T

tormodg30836595

Participant

That setting is greyed out on my Mac. I have been unable to use Acrobat Pro for a long time now. Incredible performance from Adobe.

S

Susan32834116dxvd

Participant

You'll need to sign in (see top right corner) to be able to un-grey the check box. Unchecking it solved the repeated hanging, spinning beachball of death issue for me. Phew. So frustrating!

M

michaelm93484798

Participant

Just for the record, I'm having the same problem, Acrobat hangs a few seconds after opening any document on MacOS. It's happing on both a Mac Mini (Intel) and a MacBook Pro (M1), so nothing to do with the chip. Killing the synchroniser doesn't help. Acrobat DC is unuseable on MacOS and I am ditching it for something else...

A

abhiram234018974tco

Participant

I found a simple workaround!

Do these steps:

force quit the Adobe Acrobat Reader application
right click on any pdf file and open it with Adobe Acrobat Reader application
You'll see a sign-in dialog box
enter your credentials and signin. that's it!

My Adobe Acrobat Reader version: 21.11.20039.0

macos version: 10.15.7

Intel CPU

I tried restarting the Adobe Acrobat Reader application, restarting my laptop, but nothing worked.
(resetting the application preferences using app cleaner also works, but the above workaround is much much better and simpler)

K

Kathleen27073214xt1d

Participant

You lose your unsaved edits if you force quit.

S

Scott5EE1

Participant

Once I removed Acrobat from my computer, all of my issues went away. I even dusted off an old Mac that was giving me issues and the problems on that machine went away as well once deleting Acrobat. Sad Adobe cannot figure this out.

T

thomaspd

Participant

Yep, same here, just started hanging. Have updated, uninstalled, (I'm not stupid) restarted, logged into and out of the creative cloud and nothing. Used to be my go-to .pdf, heck it was the best out there but not if it hangs. Spent hours messing with it and am going to move on to something reliable. Tried everything listed below.....zip. Junk and not to be expected from Adobe. They should be all over this...and no, it isn't the doc, it is non-responsive on EVERYTHING.

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Chris232651951jwf

Participant

Having the same issue on my work MacBook. I saw this once before a month or so back and then suddenly it resolved itself. If this is related to cloud accounts, is there a chance that it's a server-side issue?

C

Carles5C45

Participant

Hi there!

I am using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC in my MacBook Air (M1) and have the same issue. The problem fixes if first you open Adoble Creative Cloud, log out your account and log in again. Now, open any PDF file and the program will not freeze.

The problem is that if you open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC without refreshing your login the program does not synchronize properly with your account nor with the cloud so it freezes. That's why some people get it fixed by quitting the Adobe Cloud Synchronizer.

Hope it helps! By the way, I don't really know why the **** anyone in the Support Team from Adobe is able to figure out this simple thing and why is this bug even happening.

C

Carles5C45

Participant

The issue has come back after 20min of use. I repeated logging out and in Adobe Creative Cloud and is working again.

...

R

ranpan1990

Participant

You are correct! I have noticed the same exact thing. Works for a little while after logging out. It is really frustrating that there is no fix so far.

Do you know if there is an offical bug report on this?

merleg16724931

Participant

I may have found the solution! Adobe just change the way sign in works just recently (something regarding personal/bussness profiles) so I logged out of creative cloud app and then back in. Acrobat is not locking after startup anymore.

merleg16724931

Participant

Update: This was not a perminate solution. It seems the only way is to kill the "Adobat Acrobat Synchronizer" And that only last for a little.

S

Scott5EE1

Participant

I decided to dump Adobe Acrobat on all my Macs and took the time to learn a bit about Apple "Preview"! It works fine and I can sign and annotate my docs with a bit more work. I must say that my Macs run flawlessly now. Bye bye Adobe! Sad you have not focused more on the Apple community. Clearly you have given up or these issues would not persist.

D

defaultb24ilpdytqjt

Participant

What is the status on this issue? I have the exact same issue that came out of nowhere for the past 2 weeks and now Adobe Acrobat DC Pro is literally unusable.

merleg16724931

Participant

Same issue here on a mac mini M1. It is really frustrating!! Anyone know Is there eny way to roll back to a previous version?

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