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Sarah32422612muao
Participating Frequently
October 11, 2023
Answered

How to stop Adobe from opening automatically after printing to PDF

  • October 11, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 30255 views

Every time I "print to PDF" from anywhere, the document automatically opens in Adobe. How do i get this to stop happenng? 

      Correct answer try67

      No because that doesnt apply to me. The print to PDF feature for me DOES work in all applications. I need it to stop OPENING AUTOMATICALLY in Adobe Acrobat Pro when i print to PDF. 


      Open the Printers & Scanners window, click "Adobe PDF" and then Manage, and Printer Preferences.

      Under "Adobe PDF Settings" un-tick the box next to "View Adobe PDF results":

       

       

      2 replies

      Dariustor
      Dariustor
      Participant
      February 10, 2026

      Hi, 

       

      I had the same issue in Adobe Acrobat, which always opened the PDF documents I had just saved in Microsoft applications (e.g MS Word). I strongly dislike that this is the default option, as I consider I should have the choice to open my newly-exported PDFs or not. 

       

      To disable this, I found the following: 

      1. Open Adobe Acrobat 
      2. Navigate to “Menu”, then “Preferences”
      3. Click on “General”
      4. At the end of the “Basic tools” section, deselect the option “Always open PDFs exported from MS Office.”
      5. Click on “OK” to apply the new settings
      6. Quit all open Adobe and MS Office applications
        1. (before doing that, I had an issue where PDFs exported with MS Word would export twice per export request, and the second would always fail)

      The next time you use an MS Office app to export a document to PDF, Adobe Acrobat should not automatically open it.

        jrmorelock
        jrmorelock
        April 6, 2026

        Thank you - This was driving me crazy because I don’t use Acrobat or Reader.  Suddenly all my PDFs were opening in both Adobe and my preferred application.  Shame on any company that automatically changes settings like this without notification or consent.

        kglad
        Community Expert
        kgladCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 11, 2023

        what do you mean by "adobe", reader or acrobat?

        S
        Sarah32422612muaoAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        October 11, 2023

        Sorry, Adobe Acrobat Pro

        GobosToGo
        GobosToGo
        Participant
        January 24, 2024

        Open the Printers & Scanners window, click "Adobe PDF" and then Manage, and Printer Preferences.

        Under "Adobe PDF Settings" un-tick the box next to "View Adobe PDF results":

         

         


        I do this every timeAdobe updates. Sometimes it takes few prints to realize thst the box is unchecked, but it does work. The problem is thst every update restore the checkmark. How do I make the setting I choose persistent?

         

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