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A
Anonymous
October 8, 2019
Question

Error messages when loading PDFs from embedded Excel document

  • October 8, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 12498 views

Hello,

 

I am currently looking into two error messages that seem to occur when trying to open up embedded PDF documents from an Excel document. These error messages do not seem to occur when opening the PDF files directly from file explorer.

 

Any advice on how to resolve these error messages would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Kind Regards,

 

Ryan 

    1 reply

    Amal.
    Community Manager
    Amal.Community Manager
    Community Manager
    October 9, 2019

    Hi Ryan,

     

    Thanks for reaching out. As described above, you are getting error messages when loading PDFs from embedded Excel document, correct?

     

    As the documents are opening fine when opened directly from the file explorer, there seen to be an issue with the excel file.

     

    Is the file located locally on your computer or is it on a shared network? Please try to download the file to your computer and check.

     

    Please try to add the location of the file in Adobe Acrobat/Reader. Go to Edit (Windows), Adobe Acrobat/Reader (Mac) > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Add File And Add Folder Path > Click OK and check.

     

    For testing purpose, please try to turn off the protected view. Go to Edit (Windows), Adobe Acrobat/Reader (Mac) > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Turn off the Protected view and uncheck the Enhanced security > click OK > Restart the computer and check.

    Note: Please turn on the security after testing, irrespective of the result.

     

    If turning off the security works for you, please refer to the steps in the help article - https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/protected-mode-troubleshooting-reader.html

     

    Additional information: Make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat/Reader installed. Go to Help > Check for Updates. For detailed information please use the help link  https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotesDC/index.html

     

     

    Let us know how it goes

     

    Regards

    Amal

    B
    Bill.R
    Participating Frequently
    April 20, 2022

    I have the same problem.  I've embedded a PDF file (not a link) in an Excel spreadsheet,  The source file opens fine if I open it in Windows, but I get the following error if I try to open it from within Excel:

    I followed all the suggestions in the previous post and nothing works.  I'm running the ltest version of Acrobat.  I tried disabling all of the advanced security features.  I added the folder and file name to trused sources (not sure why that would matter since the embedded file isn't a link).  Nothing works.

     

    How do I fix this?

    AnandSri
    Community Manager
    AnandSriCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 23, 2025

    Hello Amal

     

    Did this ever get resolved ?

     

    Just read through thread and see this is being touted as a problem with MS.

     

    I am having the same issue as Bill with various PDF's that are being inserted/embedded into Excel with the exact same method used in the video, as are other colleagues that use Adobe. As a workaround, I am now creating folders outside of excel to store all the raw PDF files, so others can pull these files away from excel. This is a workaround and not really suitable for the task at hand, especially when in some cases, we are talking about 100's of PDF files. The more complex the data/PDF is, the higher chance the embded process then returns an error on the extract/client view side.

     

    Today, I noticed a colleagues embeded files look different. He is using Bluebeam and the embed formula shows as:

    =EMBED("Packager Shell Object","")

     

    We are adding the exact same PDF, only I am using Acrobat DC. This formula shows as:

    =EMBED("Acrobat Document","")

     

    Amazingly, his PDF works via excel, whereas mine throws error 109 and cannot be read. How is this possible, the issue has to be with Adobe. Exact same file, exact same insert to pdf, process Bluebeam works and Adobe DC does not. 

     

    I really don't want to have to switch to using Bluebeam instead of Adobe as the ultimate workaround.

     

    Help !!!

     

    Regards,

    James 


    Hi James,

     

    I hope you are doing well. Thanks for sharing the detailed information. We're sorry for the trouble.

     

    Could you please confirm the current version of Acrobat? Please ensure you have the latest version of Acrobat installed on the machine: 25.001.20458. The Planned update is April 15, 2025. Check for any pending updates from the Menu > help > check for updates, install the updates, and restart the app and the machine. 

     

    Could you please collect the logs from the affected machine and provide the current version of the Office suite and the OS installed? Additionally, a screen recording that demonstrates the specific issue in your environment would be very helpful for our investigation.

     

    Thanks,

    Anand Sri.

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