Participant

Answered

Combine PDFs not showing in file explorer

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
August 18, 2025
3 replies
1446 views

I had to reinstall Adobe acrobat pro but after I did I lost the combine pdf option in the file explorer, I have ran updates (even the one that was supposed to fix this issue), repaired the installation, enabled optional addins, etc and can't get it to come back up. Is there anything else I can take a look at, I need this feature.

Correct answer Tariq Ahmad

Hi @riley_6020,

Please keep us updated on how it works after using the cleaner tool.

Also, you need to check if the Thumbnail preview preference is checked.

How to check:

1. Launch Acrobat.

2. Press Ctrl + K > Preferences > General, and check "Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer." Then click OK.

3. Acrobat will restart. Wait for a minute.

4. Try selecting files only and check context menu options. (Select PDF files only)

Let us know how it works.

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

A

Akash2653276196i4

Adobe Employee

Hi @riley_6020 , Apologies for inconvenience, we have shared the feedback to the engineering team. Once we hear from them, will update the group.

For now, could you please check if the "Combine Files" menu option is appearing in secondary level menu, under "Show more options". You may refer the below screenshots.

R

riley_6020Author

Participant

I have checked that already, I am doing another adobe cleaner this morning with a restart just to see.

T

Tariq Ahmad

Correct answer

Community Manager

Hi @riley_6020,

Please keep us updated on how it works after using the cleaner tool.

Also, you need to check if the Thumbnail preview preference is checked.

How to check:

1. Launch Acrobat.

2. Press Ctrl + K > Preferences > General, and check "Enable PDF thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer." Then click OK.

3. Acrobat will restart. Wait for a minute.

4. Try selecting files only and check context menu options. (Select PDF files only)

Let us know how it works.

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

J

jamesmarsden8

Participant

You might want to check context menu settings in Acrobat preferences or even re-register the shell extensions. Sometimes a small reset brings it back, kind of like natürliche Farbvariationen subtle fixes can make a big difference.

T

Tariq Ahmad

Community Manager

Hi @riley_6020,

Thanks for reaching out, and sorry for the troubled experience.

Let's try the following:

- Launch Acrobat > Help > Repair Acrobat installation.

- Restart the machine.

Test again and let us know the following if the issue doesn't get resolved:

- Acrobat version installed

- OS name and version.

- Is this your personal machine or an IT-managed(office machine?

Let us know how it works.

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

R

riley_6020Author

Participant

Hello Tariq,

I did go ahead and do those before putting this up. It is Windows 11, IT managed computer (I am with the MSP and this is a clients computer that I did verify all restrictions are unblocked.

T

Tariq Ahmad

Community Manager

Thanks for the quick update.
If there are group policies in place and the installer is customized, this will happen. If you have an option to create a user profile on the client's machine with the fewest restrictions, you can try installing Acrobat non-customized, and it should work, as there are no changes to the installation or features at our end.

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

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