Cannot change "unlock comment" properties globally in Adobe DC pdf Mac OS

[marthaw52882529]

Days of research online without finding an answer to my problem leads me to post this cry for help!

I am proofreading a book in an Adobe Acrobat Pro DC pdf on Mac OS Big Sur 11.4. 

I used to be able to do these things in Comments mode of the pdf:

-add note to replace text

-insert text at cursor

-strikethrough text

-use drawing tool

Now, however, I have to unlock the properties of a new comment in order to do the above actions. I usually add about 1,700 comments as part of proofreading a book, so that means I have to right-click each comment, go to properties, and uncheck the "Lock" option for each one BEFORE even typing anything into the comment field. 

NOTE: Even when I check the "Make Properties Default" box after unchecking the "Lock" box, eventually the properties for add note, insert text, strikethrough, and drawing change back to "Lock." It's like I have no control over the locking property of this pdf's (or any pdf's) comments function. Applies to all pdfs I'm working with now. Either the answer is staring me in the face or the answer is complicated (like I have to create a custom program for this).

Solutions to this gnarly problem much appreciated! 

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

This is odd. The "Make Properties Default" should let you clear the locked flag. I just tried this on my Mac (but I am running Mojave), and I can make new comments be locked by setting this as the default, but I can then go in and change the properties to unlocked, and when I select to "Make Properties Default" again, the next comment that is added is not locked anymore. As far as I know, there is no preference setting that would do that, and I don't remember there ever being such a setting. It's possible that something got corrupted in your Acrobat installation. 

Are you running any custom scripts or custom plug-ins? If not, I would uninstall Acrobat and run the Acrobat Cleaner to remove any trace of Acrobat from your system, and then re-install again. You can find the cleaner here: https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/cleaner.html

[JR Boulay]

"like I have to create a custom program for this"

It looks like a bug in the latest version of Acrobat Pro for Mac.

I created this (JavaScript) Action which unlocks all the comments in a document, unzip and double-click the .sequ file to import into Acrobat Pro:

https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/1ac47e69-2417-4c68-7009-c5ede99cebf4

https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/1ac47e69-2417-4c68-7009-c5ede99cebf4

https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/1ac47e69-2417-4c68-7009-c5ede99cebf4https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/1ac47e69-2417-4c68-7009-c5ede99cebf4PS: the script in this action returns an error and stop if the document contains at least one hidden page template

https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/1ac47e69-2417-4c68-7009-c5ede99cebf4