Garbled Characters when try to open a PDF in the Adobe Reader

Report · Jul 08, 2025

Hello Community,

A month ago, in the "Chinese" site of the company I work, we start to have an issue with PDF Documents. This documents can be opened correctly in Google Chrome, MS Edge, MS Word, FoxIt PDF, etc..., but we try to open in Adobe Reader some characters comes garbled.

I already tried to install the newest version of the Adobe Reader, but the issue persists, then we are using the Google Chrome and MS Edge as workaround.

However one of ours Service Desk analyst, fix the issue deleting and re-installing the font "NOTO Sans SC" again in the computer. Then I think that Adobe Reader is not recognising the font once the other application does.

The issue happens in computers with Windows 10 and also Windows 11.

Please, could you investigate why the Adobe Reader is opening the documents with garbled characters.

I attached a screenshot as an example:

Thansk and best regards,

Report · Jul 08, 2025

Hi @clljunior,

Thanks for reporting this. We understand how frustrating it can be to see garbled or unreadable characters when opening a PDF, especially when other apps like Foxit or Chrome’s built-in viewer display it just fine.

Why Acrobat Might Show Garbled Text While Others Don’t:

This behavior often comes down to how different PDF viewers handle missing or non-embedded fonts:

Adobe Acrobat and Reader follow strict PDF standards — if the required fonts are not embedded in the file, Acrobat expects them to be present on your system. If they’re missing, it won’t try to “guess” substitutions, and this can result in unreadable characters (especially for non-Latin scripts or symbol fonts).
In other words, Garbled characters often point to missing or non-embedded fonts in the PDF file itself. If the PDF creator did not embed the required fonts, Acrobat (or any PDF viewer) may try to substitute them, which can lead to incorrect or unreadable text, especially for non-Latin scripts.
Other viewers (like Foxit, Chrome, Edge, etc.) may use font substitution more aggressively. They attempt to match the missing fonts using system fonts or web fonts, which can make the file look correct, but this isn’t guaranteed to be accurate, especially for specialized or stylized fonts.

Reinstalling fonts on your system typically won’t resolve the issue unless the missing font matches the original font used when the PDF was created and is being substituted locally, which is rarely predictable.

To help troubleshoot further, could you please confirm:

1. Are you seeing this issue with one specific PDF or with multiple PDFs?

2. Was this PDF created by you or received from someone else?

3. Are you able to check if the fonts are embedded in the file? You can do this by:

Opening the PDF in Acrobat
Go to File > Properties > Fonts tab
Let us know what fonts are listed there, and whether they show as Embedded or Embedded Subset

If possible, and if the content isn’t sensitive, feel free to share a sanitized version of the file for closer inspection.

So while it may seem like Acrobat is at fault, it’s actually enforcing more reliable font handling based on what the PDF creator included (or didn’t include).

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

Report · Jul 17, 2025

Hello Tariq,

How are you?? I hope this message finds you well!!

Regarding you questions, follow the answers:

1. Are you seeing this issue with one specific PDF or with multiple PDFs?

A: We have a lot of Incidents (08 incidents so far) with several PDF files.

2. Was this PDF created by you or received from someone else?

A: The PDF is created by an internal application.

3. Are you able to check if the fonts are embedded in the file?

A: Yes, I checked the properties of the file (fonts) and we have the font as you can see in the below screenshot:

I also have attached one file as a sample.

Thanks and best regards,

Report · Jul 25, 2025

Hello Tariq,

How are you?? I hope this message finds you well!!

Regarding you questions, follow the answers:

*1. Are you seeing this issue with one specific PDF or with multiple PDFs?*

A: We have a lot of Incidents (08 incidents so far) with several PDF files.

*2. Was this PDF created by you or received from someone else?*

A: The PDF is created by an internal application.

*3. Are you able to check if the fonts are embedded in the file? *

A: Yes, I checked the properties of the file (fonts) and we have the font
as you can see in the below screenshot:

[image: 2025-07-10 17_22_36-Quotation Letter Template - Adobe Acrobat
Reader (32-bit).jpg][image: expand image]

I also have attached one file as a sample.

Thanks and best regards,
--
*Cleuber Junior*
Problem Analyst
FFIT
Givaudan Business Solutions, Avenida Engenheiro Billings, 2185, Jaguaré,
CEP:05321-010, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. www.givaudan.com

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Report · Jul 30, 2025

Hello Tariq,

Have you had time to check the information I sent to you??

Thanks and best regards,

Report · Aug 07, 2025

Hi Tariq,

Have you had time to check my request. I had one more incident with the same issue and again, the PDF is able to open in the MS Edge, Google Chrome and FOX IT Pdf as well. The issue happens only when I try to open it in Adobe Reader.

Thanks and Best regards,

Report · Aug 26, 2025

Hi @clljunior

Sorry for the delayed response. I haven't received a notification about your update on the discussion.

It seems that while you answered the question on July 25, you may have responded to the thread through your inbox; sadly, the file hasn't been attached.

Please open this discussion in a browser and try attaching a couple of files we can look at.

If you can't share the file publicly, upload files to any cloud drive and share the link via private message. To send a private message, click on the envelope icon in the top right corner.

Thank you for your patience and support.

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

Report · Aug 26, 2025

Hello Tarik,

Thanks for your reply!

Sending for you all the information that you requested at that time and also the WORD and PDF file the User sent to me.

Regarding you questions, follow the answers:

1. Are you seeing this issue with one specific PDF or with multiple PDFs?

A: We have a lot of Incidents (08 incidents so far) with several PDF files.

2. Was this PDF created by you or received from someone else?

A: The PDF is created by an internal application.

3. Are you able to check if the fonts are embedded in the file?

A: Yes, I checked the properties of the file (fonts) and we have the font as you can see in the below screenshot:

I also have attached one file as a sample.

Please, I'd really appreciate it if you could reply to this email confirming that you received all the information and files.

Thanks and best regards,