"One or more pages are in use and could not be deleted" - AGAIN.

[Dirk van Boxtel]

1. Open a PDF file.
2. Save it under a different name
3. Try to delete a page

You'll get this error:

"One or more pages are in use and could not be deleted"

I've had this billions of times now and the only solution that works 100% of the time is closing and re-opening the file. This leads me to believe it's something with "locking" the file while saving, but not unlocking it after done saving.

GET THIS FIXED PLEASE because it's annoying LOADS and LOADS of people.

As evident by the 7000+ search results for the exact phrase "One or more pages are in use and could not be deleted".

And that's just the part of the userbase that actually reports the problem.

There are several topics about this issue, some marked as "solved" erroneously.

Note, I'm a paying customer, use Photoshop/Illustrator/Dreamweaver/Fireworks and Bridge during my daily work, and have had this issue for months and months across several different computers (two different workplaces, and at home) and have ran into this time and again, when all I want to do is cut a PDF into several smaller PDFs.

Closing and re-opening your program because you're unable to fix this issue is NOT ACCEPTABLE. It's THE WORST kind of user experience, as this issue is the ONLY reason I use Acrobat at all, and it can't even do that.

Cheers,

- Dirk

Ps.: Sorry, I'm very frustrated running into this time and again, and then having to wade through thick mud (your site is a UX nightmare) to report this issue, which has been report oodles of times on this board before.

[Armadillo77]

I give up on Acrobat X. I do everything in Acrobat 9! The sad thing is that they haven't fix AX, and now they want me to pay for an Acrobat 11! What a joke.

[wetland]

I would just like the second the frustrations of this user. Maybe I'm naively optimistic about this, but I'm still hoping that this long-outstanding problem could be effectively addressed in the near future

Thanks

[annettemarieprice]

And it’s still happening, eight years later. 🤯

[Gary5EAD]

It really is and it's so unfortunate. I have noticed that if you place the PDF on the Desktop, open it in Acrobat and try deleting the page it will most likely work. I find that sometimes when deleting pages from PDF that is sitting in DropBox won't work. Such an odd bug.

[brooklynp95622726]

Yo! That actually worked for me. Thank you! 🙏🏻

[johnl6517226]

Thanks Gary, this worked for me also. I was using Acrobat Pro DC as a free trial, needless to say I won't be taking them up on their offer long term! Never had any bother with Nitro.

[CamiloU]

Yes, in MaOSxx... placing the PDF in the desktop is perfect BUT if you ha Dropbox it must be unlinked.
Dropbox is the culprit here.

[annettemarieprice]

Thanks, I will give that a try. Right now I do have files on my desktop being backed up using Dropbox. I will turn that off and see if it helps. 

[Matthew247879881i7o]

This worked! Crazy. 

Fix it ADOBE!!

[Natasha24819684wbp1]

Bless you! That worked for me!

[Timmy Larson]

Yup, happening to me as well... 8 freakin years smh

[Timmy Larson]

btw, wanted to say dropping it on the desktop on my Mac did work! Still a hassle.

[mbamst]

Yup.  I get this problem too.  And I'm posting in April of 2015, so I see this problem has existed a long time.  Acrobat "Pro" (ha ha) is full of stupid, annoying problems.  And the interface is clunky.  I'm going use PDF Split and Merge to remove the page I'm struggling with.  Ridiculous that Adobe Acrobat Pro cannot remove one page from a PDF file.  I am NEVER upgrading this product.  I am done with Adobe.

[apangasa]

HI,

The issue is not reproducible at my end. Could you please specify the version of Acrobat you are using and your operating system?

Thanks!

[mbamst]

Version 11.0.10 on Windows 8.1 x64.

The problem is intermittent.

[apangasa]

I tried on the configuration that you have mentioned but I am not able to see the issue. Is there any other operation that you perform in that session of Acrobat when you see this problem?

[mbamst]

I loaded a two page document, optimized it, redacted part of the first page, attempted to delete page 2 of 2, was not able to. Saved it and used PDF Split and Merge Basic to remove the unwanted page.

[Paul_T_III]

Just going to add my name to this list.  Pro 10.1.13, Windows 7. 

I print this document from a web browser, open the file (from a network drive) and I get the error.

[ds82]

I've managed to reproduce the issue. It happens when you try to delete pages after applying a redaction to the document. I'm using Acrobat Pro DC. I've attached pictures of the version for both my OS and for Acrobat. 

[ds82]

I found a fix on the Mac. I open up the file in Preview, and export as PDF. Then, I can open the exported PDF back into Acrobat, and delete pages like normal. 

[mitchh95605776]

That worked but, let's face it, this is not a solution...it's a work-around.

[a_C_student · Accepted solution]

For me - using Acrobat Pro X on Windows 7 - this problem went away when I updated Acrobat Pro to the latest release (Help > Check for Updates).

[apangasa]

It's great that you are not seeing the problem anymore.

[jlw1178]

I am still seeing the problem and when i click on check for updates, it says no updates available.. is this a bug or is this fixable? I'm confused.