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S
socialismistheft
Participant
December 20, 2018
Question

PDFs sometimes show blank in Windows preview

  • December 20, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 7805 views

We have two Windows 10 computers and one Windows 7 pc all with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.  When using the preview pane in Windows Explorer after a short period of time PDF’s stop displaying even though all Microsoft applications continue to display in the preview pane.  Sometimes a message pops up that Preview Handler Surrogate Host has stopped working and other times there is no message the preview is just blank.  The only thing I have found that resolves this is to either stop all the adobe processes or restart the computer.  When we end the processes it occurs again within a few minutes and after a restart it usually takes about an hour or two before the problem reoccurs.  Do you know how to resolve this?  We work on PDF’s all day and this is really slowing us down. 

Thanks,

Rusty

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

amandac13572108
amandac13572108
Participant
January 30, 2019

Hi team,

I'm also experiencing the exact same issue as Rusty and it is very frustrating. Note we have had the computer for 2 years now and never experienced this issue. From nowhere, all PDF files are no longer being previewed on Windows Explorer. This is slowing us down a lot.

Please advise. I have tried all sorts of troubleshooting options and we are using the latest version

Meenakshi Negi
Adobe Employee
Meenakshi Negi
Adobe Employee
December 21, 2018

Hi Rusty,

As you have mentioned above, the PDF's stop displaying on the windows preview after a short period of time.

Could you please confirm if this issue occurs on previewing some particular documents or with all PDFs?

You may try once to repair the application or check if the application is updated to the latest version.

In application, go to Help  >Check of updates or Repair Installation.

Also, reboot the device once and check if it helps.

Please let us know the exact version of the application you are using.

Do you experience the same behavior on both the Windows machine?

Check if the PDFs with which the issue occurs are not the PDF forms.

Let us know your findings.

We will be waiting for your response.

Regards,

Meenakshi

    S
    socialismistheftAuthor
    Participant
    January 2, 2019

    Do you have any other suggestions to help us resolve this?

    Thanks,

    Rusty

    Meenakshi Negi
    Adobe Employee
    Meenakshi Negi
    Adobe Employee
    March 1, 2019

    Hi Socialismistheft,

    Sorry for the delay in response.

    Generally, the secured PDFs appear as blank in the Windows Explorer.

    As you have mentioned above, all the PDFs are appearing as blank.

    We have tried to replicate the issue on our end. The files open on Windows explorer without any issues.

    Please try once to update the application to the latest version. Refer to this link to check the latest version available for the application.

    Once you update the application, please reboot the machine. Check if the issue still persists.

    Try once to reset the application preferences. Use the steps provided here How to reset Acrobat Preference settings to default.

    If that does not resolve the issue, run the cleaner tool on the machine.

    Reboot the machine and install the application from here Download and install Acrobat DC subscription.

    Let us know if you still experience the issue.

    Regards,

    Meenakshi

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