Fillable Form not working correctly after emailing/downloading on other computers

[jennielowery]

I'm having an issue with my fillable form.  The form works perfectly on my desktop computer but when I email it or save it to drop box and download it to my laptop or .. it no longer works correctly.  One of the calculation fields (and there are a lot) aren't calculating correctly.

I have it open on my laptop and my desktop and it's working completely differently on the 2 different machines.  What could cause this? 

[try67 · Accepted solution]

The application(s) being used on those machines to view the PDF file are the most likely culprit.

Make sure to download the file and open it in Adobe Reader (or Acrobat), not inside a browser window or using third-party apps, like Apple Preview.

[RobMCM]

Really? I buy Adobe Pro and create a fillable form, email it to 50 people,and then tell them they need Adobe Reader to use it.  

[try67]

Correct, at least if you want to be sure it works properly.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

It's _possible_ that other readers may open/read the form correctly, but it is a crapshoot. Mac uses Preview by default which I know mangles forms; Windows uses the Edge browser. Best to strongly recommend the free Adobe Acrobat Reader as @try67 suggested. By recommending Reader, you are not spending hours to troubleshoot other people's systems. 

[stevie_6535]

This is such a frustrating issue that I also have.  Not everyone will use Adobe and I don't think they should have to...but there's got to be a better way to make fillable forms.

[try67]

If you can't make sure they will use Adobe Reader (or another viewer with proper support for form fields), then don't use PDF. Use a web-form, instead.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

If you can't make sure they will use Adobe Reader (or another viewer with proper support for form fields), then don't use PDF. Use a web-form, instead.

By @try67

Or at very least, when they call to say the form isn't working, ask if they are using Adobe Reader. If not, tell them to call back when it is installed. 😜