"There was an error opening this document. Access denied" error workaround?

[Bnertt12312]

We've had several users in our environment notify us about this error message when they're trying to open specific PDF documents from a specific website. Other PDF documents open just fine, it's only when they try opening these PDF hyperlinks from this site that they receive this error.

I assisted the one user this morning and I followed these steps, which did resolve this error, but I'm wondering if anyone knows of another workaround so that we don't have to disable "Protected Mode" within our environment? I've been reading into this "Protected Mode" feature and it seems very important so I wouldn't feel comfortable disabling this for every user who has this error.

1. Open Adobe Acrobat

2. Click Edit and then click Preferences​

3. Click Security (Enhanced) in the left-hand navigation bar and then uncheck the option called Enable Protected Mode at startup​

4. Accept the warning that appears by clicking Yes​

5. Click OK to confirm these changes

6. Close Adobe Acrobat and then relaunch it

Thanks!

[Serene_nature15C3]

Hi @Bnertt12312 

Thanks for reaching out. Please try to add the file and the folder path to the privileged location of Acrobat and see if that helps.

Go to Edit > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Under privileged locations, Add file, Add folder and Add host > Click OK and reboot the application and check.

Regards

Amal

[Bnertt12312]

Hi @Serene_nature15C3

I tried these steps this morning but they didn't work. I tried adding the entire site as a trusted host and I also tried adding their Downloads folder as a trusted Folder Path but neither worked. I also tried uninstalling her Adobe Acrobat DC and reinstalled it but that didn't help either.

The strange thing is, she said her colleague is accessing these exact same PDF's from the same site but she doesn't receive this "access denied" error message, so I'm thinking this might be an issue with her Adobe software but I'm not sure what else to do at this point.

Thanks!

[Bnertt12312]

Hi @Serene_nature15C3

I also tried deleting all her cached data from C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Adobe\Acrobat\DC and then restarted her Adobe program with Protected Mode enabled but that didn't work either

She's using Chrome and is clicking PDF links on a secured site (https://surrogate.alberta.ca) after signing in with her credentials and her Chrome settings are set to download all PDF's to her Downloads folder but I've noticed when she clicks each link it doesn't actually download the PDF to her Downloads folder, it just tries opening the PDF right away in Adobe Arobat DC so I'm not sure if this has something to do with her Chrome settings as well.

[Serene_nature15C3 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Bnertt12312 

Sorry to keep you waiting. As you mentioned its may be something related to chrome setting. Please open the chrome browser > click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner > Settings > Go to Downloads (left side) >Toggle on the option 'Ask where to save each file before downloading' and see if that makes any difference. 

Hope this will work

Regards

Amal

[Bnertt12312 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Serene_nature15C3

Thanks for your assistance. I tried changing that setting in Chrome but it's disabled by our Administration so I'll need to talk with my manager to see what we can do there. I also tried reinstalling Chrome on her computer and deleted all her browsing data but that didn't work either.

That being said, I tried enabling Protected Mode again and then opened the same site in Edge and tried clicking on those same PDF links and it asked where I wanted to save the files and then they opened properly in Adobe, so this appears to be a Chrome issue.

[Serene_nature15C3]

Hi there,

We are glad to hear that the issue got fixed.

Feel free to contact us for any assistance required in the future.

Marking a reply or response “Correct” will help future users with the same issue quickly identify the correct answer.

~Amal

[Mizar26615543dsa3]

god bless u! this is work. thankfully

[hollyruss]

This worked or me. Thank you!

[Isaac29976304xc34]

Thanks for this

[jeff_4104]

Worked like a champ. Thanks for the information! 

[steve_4798]

Was having the same error, documents that I needed to open were denying me access. This workaround solved it, the next step would have been to uninstall the client and install a competitor's client.

[friedemann_9535]

We use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader version, not Chrome or Google for . The access denied problem started after WIN11 showed a message on screen to allow Adobe access to the PDF file which I wanted to open. Considering it risky, I denied. From there on the Reader would only open files on the desktop, nowhere else further down in the folder pyramid. I even deleted and re-installed, to no availa. My problem now is: where is the Edit-Preferences-Security function in the menu?