Limited options in the Acrobat ribbon in Word (Mac)

[Jowes]

I use a Mac computer, and Windows 16, with acrobat pro. 

I have a friend also with mac that has more options than me in the acrobat section. I only have Create PDF and preferences. But I cannot open the preferences, just a popup asking med to use create pdf cloud service. I want to open preferences in Word to make sure tags are correctly transferred and also links. To ensure accessible result. 
He has all of these: 

I have just these two, in Swedish, create and preferences:

How do I get all the options above and access preferences? 

[try67]

Right-click the ribbon and select "Customize the Ribbon...". On the left-hand side of the dialog select All Tabs, then expand the Acrobat item and add the items you want to the Acrobat group on the right:

[Jowes]

Strange because I haven't got the Acrobat tab among the other ones. And I don't know why. 

[try67]

What's your version of Acrobat and of Office?

Can you post a screenshot of what you're seeing?

[Jowes]

Version of Acrobat pro: 2020.012.20043

Version of Office Word: 16.40

Screenshot of ribbon and options for the Acrobat section, which is so limited

 

Screenshot of options panel where acrobat is not there among all tabs:

[Sudarshan32050758i51u]

I too have the same issue. Neither the Adobe Preferences gives any useful options nor the Acrobat shows up undre preferenaces. Unable to convert Word to PDF to include Track Change comments.

[showalters]

I'm having the same issue. When I click on the Acrobat tab in the ribbon, the preferences only has a popup asking me to use create pdf cloud service. When I tried to customize the ribbon, the process has changed now (Word on Mac no longer allows right clicking to customize the ribbon.) I went to preferences in Word and chose Ribbon & Quick Access Toolbar. I turned on All tabs, and even though I can see the Acrobat tab in the ribbon, it does not show up as a choice in the All tabs. I also expanded All Commands, and there was nothing related to Acrobat there either. When I try to use the PDF Cloud service to create the PDF, Word stops working. All it does is make the "bing" sound like there is something I need to click, but there is nothing to click. I then have to force quit Word. It shows that it crashes the Visual Basic Applications. I have uninstalled and reinstalled both Word and Acrobat multiple times trying to fix it, but it never does. 

Info for Word: 

Microsoft® Word for Mac

Version 16.97.2 (25052611)

License: Microsoft 365 Subscription

Info for Adobe: 

Version 2025.001.20476 Unified App

Architecture: arm64

Processor: Apple M3 Pro

Build: 25.1.20476.0

AGM: 7.1.11

CoolType: 10.0.3

JP2K: 4.0.2.54782

[showalters]

Futher update: If I'm in Acrobat and go to the "File->Create->PDF from file" I get the message "You need a valid Acrobat subscription to convert PDF using Acrobat." I am signed in to my valid subscription. I have tried signing out and signing back in, as suggested by Adobe, but it doesn't change anything. I also get the same message if I try to convert from Excel or PowerPoint. I never tried to update either of those two programs like I did with Word, so I'm assuming the update has something to do with why Word is crashing on my Mac when I use the Create PDF using Cloud Service. 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

The recent Mac versions of the Acrobat ribbon don't have any other options other than Create PDF and Preferences. On Mac, the Acrobat tab does not show up under the Word Ribbon and Toolbar preferences. 

As far as your creating a PDF problems, what happens if you save-as a PDF? Use the Microsoft online option if you want bookmarks; the print option used the Mac's built-in PDF creation and doesn't support bookmarks. 

[showalters]

Hi Dave-

Thanks for your reply.

I can use the "Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service)" to save the PDF to my computer. Will this preserve all of the accessibility options in the documents?  It didn't used to, but I also don't remember seeing anything about Microsoft online services when saving. We had to use the PDFMaker to keep the accessibilty that was done while creating the document. If this is the new normal, that's great!

Still not sure why it's telling me I have to have a valid subscription though if I try to create a PDF from a file in Adobe since I am signed in already. I can do it with the method above through the Microsoft program if I need to, but don't know why it wouldn't work in Adobe Acrobat.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS · Accepted solution]

According to Microsoft, the accessibility in the Word document is preserved in the MS online service PDF.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-accessible-pdfs-064625e0-56ea-4e16-ad71-3aa33bb4b7...

Be sure to run through the Accessibility Checker in Word and then again in Acrobat Pro. 

Try going to the Acrobat online service and log in (save your logon and password if safe). See if the online service works.

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/home/

[showalters]

Good to know that the accessibility is preserved!

Yes, if I go to the online Acrobat service, it works fine. 

Thanks for all your help. My takeaway is that Mac and Adobe, mixed with Microsoft is not a good combination. Not surprising at all, really.