PDF Documents Won't Open in Acrobat DC but will Open in Foxit Phantom

[sms130]

I have Acrobat DC installed as my default PDF software.  I previously used Foxit Phantom, which is still installed on my desktop computer running Windows 10 Pro, but is not the default PDF software and is not running.  In many instances, PDF files will not open in Acrobat DC, but when I then try to open them with Foxit, I have no problem.

[Amal.]

Hi there

Hope you are doing well and sorry to hear that.

What happens when you try to open the PDFs in Acrobat Pro DC? Do you get any error messages? If yes, please share the screenshot of the same for a better understanding.

What is the version of the Acrobat DC you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Acrobat and make sure you have the recent version 22.1.20142 installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once.

You may also try to repair the installation from the help menu (Win Only) and see if that works.

Please try to reset the Acrobat preferences as described here https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-defau...

You may also try to create a new test user profile with full admin rights in Win or enable the root account in MAC and try using the application there and check.

Regards

Amal

[sms130 · Accepted solution]

Thank you Amal.  I believe I have determined the source of the problem.  This issue only occurs with files that have a long file path exceeding 255 characters.  I have no problem opening the same file in Acrobat when I move it to a folder with a shorter file path.  Foxit has no problem opening files with the long file path that Acrobat can't open.  I found posts in the Adobe Support Community that refer precisely to this issue.  Adobe support posted previouly that a 2021 update fixed this problem, but it clearly has not been fixed.  I am running the latest version of Acrobat DC as confirmed by checking for updates.

[talented_spirit7469]

I am attaching a file which opens in Foxit Reader, but does not open in Acrobat. Acrobat gives an error message. The problem is not due to long filename. I managed to fix the problem by SAVING the file after opening it in FOXIT. Then the saved file was opened by Acrobat. But i do not know the source of the problem.  I am not sure if the file has attached properly, so I am also adding a link to my OneDrive file which can be used to examine the file itself. This was tested on latest Acrobat and Foxit  IER01CvEM.pdf  

[Tariq Ahmad]

Hi @talented_spirit7469, 

Thanks for sharing the file. Based on analysis of IER01CvEM.pdf, here are some observations about why Adobe Acrobat might fail to open it, even though Mac Preview and Foxit Reader can:

1. Corrupted or Non-Standard PDF Structure

• Some PDF generators (especially non-Adobe tools or browser-based export options) can produce files that deviate slightly from the PDF specification.

• Mac Preview and Foxit are more tolerant of these variations, while Adobe Acrobat is stricter and may reject such files as corrupted.

2. Incremental Save Errors or Bad XRef Tables

• The PDF may have malformed cross-reference tables (used to locate objects in the file), or improper incremental updates.

• In such cases, Acrobat often throws errors like “There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired.”

3. Missing Required Objects or Metadata

• Critical metadata (like the trailer, EOF marker, or root object reference) could be malformed or missing.

• Some readers can infer this and display content anyway; Acrobat typically won’t.

4. Security or Compatibility Flags (that is, likely the case here)

• The file may have unsupported security settings, or was created using a tool that set PDF version flags improperly (e.g., calling it PDF/A-3 but not following specs).

Let us know if you have further questions

~Tariq