Cannot OCR - Acrobat does not show menu but jumps to "Convert"

[andreas_8362]

Hello,
I experience issues with Acrobat on my new MAC (on PC, Arobat on the same licence worked fine).

On scanned PDFs, right click on the image to "Recognize Text" causes no effect. When selecting Scan and OCR from All Tools, the Scan and OCR menue does not open, instead it causes selection of the Convert menu. 

So far I have Logged in/out, deinstalled+reinstalled. Checked my licence is active.

Thoughts?

Andreas

About My Acrobat - C&P
Architecture: arm64

Processor: Apple M4

Build: 25.1.20467.0

AGM: 7.1.11

CoolType: 10.0.3

JP2K: 4.0.2.54782

[Tariq Ahmad Dar]

Hi @andreas_8362,

Sorry for the delayed response. 

I understand how frustrating it can be when a tool doesn’t behave as expected. Let’s get you back on track with OCR in Acrobat.

Here are a few things you can try:

1. Check if the file needs OCR

• If your PDF already contains searchable text, Acrobat will not show OCR options. Try selecting some text—if you can highlight it, OCR isn’t needed.

• If it’s a scanned image, Acrobat should prompt OCR automatically.

2. Use the correct OCR path

• Open the PDF in Acrobat.

• Go to Tools > Scan & OCR.

• If the sidebar doesn’t show OCR options, click “Recognize Text” > In This File.

3. Switch back to the classic Acrobat experience

If you’re using the new Acrobat UI (left-hand toolbars, simplified top menu), it may be causing this confusion. To revert:

• Click the hamburger menu (≡) in the upper-left corner.

• Select “Disable New Acrobat” or “Switch to Classic Acrobat”.

• Restart Acrobat and try again.

4. Repair or update Acrobat

• Ensure Acrobat is fully updated via Help > Check for Updates.

• If issues persist, try Help > Repair Installation.

Could you kindly share a short screen recording of the issue to better understand what's happening on your end? It would really help us see the exact behavior you’re encountering, especially how Acrobat jumps directly to the “Convert” interface.

Also, if we’re unable to reproduce the issue internally based on your steps, would you be open to a brief troubleshooting session or a Microsoft Teams meeting? That way, we can work together in real-time to triage the issue or collect logs if required.

Looking forward to your reply, and we appreciate your patience as we work through this with you. 

~Tariq

[andreas_8362]

Hi Tariq,

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond and your suggestions.

To illustrate the behaviour of Acrobat I have followed your suggestion of taking screenshots:

Here is a screenshot showing that the newly scanned document is a image that has not undergone OCR. When I click on the Recognize Text following RIGHT CLICK, nothing happens, literally.

THis screenshot shows that the Scan & OCR tool is shown under the ALL TOOLS, but clicking on it does not open this tool, but moves to Convert.

Also clicking on Scan & OCR on the menu, does nothing.

I would like to take you up on your offer on the brief troubleshooting session or a Microsoft Teams meeting. How do we get together?

Kind regards,

Andreas 

[gary_sc]

Hi, @andreas_8362, besides the guidance that Tariq provides, you might also want to check if Apple's security settings have been set. You may have already done all of the following, but it's good to check.

Go to your Mac's Settings, and search for "security." That will get you to the settings that Apple uses to let you bypass their default "vault" protection. (This is a good thing.)

Starting off, you see this, note I have three things marked out.

Starting from the 2nd, Full Disk Access, if you select that, you'll see all of the applications that have been granted Full Disk Access. If you see Acrobat but it is not turned on, click on the switch on the far right side. If you do not see Acrobat, click on the "+" symbol on the bottom, locate Acrobat to add it, then turn on the switch.

Next go to Accessibility, same conditions as above.

Lastly, go to Files & Folders, this should already be set but depending on where it's located (such as a server), you may have to set this as well.

Again, all of the above may have already been done by you, but it's wise to check.

 

 

[andreas_8362]

Dear Gary,

Thank you for your tips - I can confirm disk access

However, I could not see Acrobat in the security settings.

Thoughts? 

Kind regards,

Andreas 

[gary_sc]

Ah, OK, my bad for not explaining deeper. After typing "security" into the search field, underneath the search field is where you need to select what aspect of security. In this case, you'll want Privacy and Security, see below in the green rectangle in the upper right corner. Once there, you see the three sections you need to check as mentioned above.

Let me know what you find.

 

[andreas_8362]

Thanks Gary, I found the setting and granted Acrobat access. However, unfortunately did not solve the problem.
THnanks again,

Andreas

[gary_sc]

OK, Thanks, @andreas_8362, for letting me know. FWIW, if those were not set, you'd have a lot of difficulties working with files on external drives.

Did any of Tariq's suggestions work?

[andreas_8362]

Thanks Gary,

agreed!

I am asking Tariq for a TEAMs troubleshooting session.

Best,

Andreas

[andreas_8362 · Accepted solution]

Hello all,

Whilst restarting Acrobat or reinstalling Acrobat had not resolved the issue, I am pleased to report that a rebooting of the Mac, resolved the issue and OCR is now working in Acrobat. I have no hypothesis as to why.

[gary_sc]

Hi, @andreas_8362, good answer. A surprising number of problems have been known to be resolved by either restarting the program or the computer. I am embarrassed that I didn't think to suggest that.

I always think back to a quote attributed to Einstein where he supposedly said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." He obviously never worked with a computer.