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Stephan35878553ffll
New Participant
September 23, 2024
Question

Runtime Error 53 in Word/Powerpoint with Acrobat 20 under MacOS Sequoia - Workaround fails

  • September 23, 2024
  • 5 replies
  • 7037 views

Hi all,

 

the (well-known) runtime-error 53 reappears more stubbornly after installation of MacOS Sequoia 15.

 

This time, the well-practiced routine (deleting linkCreation.dotm or Save AsAdobePDF.ppam respectively from their respective folders Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office365/User Content.localized/Startup/… does not work anymore, as the two files are no longer there and thus can't be deleted… (in fact, I searched the files with the finder search engine and could’t find them anywhere else).

 

Just unchecking the addin inside Word oder PPT does not help either...

 
Any suggestions what to do about this tiresome error?
Thank you very much!
Stephan

    5 replies

    D
    dr._robert_1578
    Participating Frequently
    October 18, 2025

    I had similar issues with a search revealing no further instances of those files. However, when I navigated directly to the following root, voilà!

    Deleted the file there and all was again well. I hope this works for you also.

     

    Best regards,

    Bob

    D
    dr._robert_1578
    Participating Frequently
    October 18, 2025

    Oops, so sorry. I forgot to include the path:

    check Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office365/User Content.localized/Startup/Word 

     

    Best regards,

    Bob

    A
    Adobe Employee
    akagarg17099634
    Adobe Employee
    October 3, 2024

     

    By removing the files from these locations, you will not be able to use Acrobat plugins in office apps. Please refer to the below kb article to resolve this issue.

    https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/runtime-error-acrobat2020-apple-m1.html

    A
    Anonymous
    October 8, 2024

    Running apps in Rosetta mode does not work reliably. We've had multiple people experience the issue again after setting the apps to run in Rosetta mode. That's why we stopped bothering and just scripted the plugin file removal.

     

    Reality is that the Adobe plugin has little use for day-to-day functions, particularly when Word, Excel and PowerPoint all allow you to Save as PDF.  I also wish I knew the rationale behind not making the plugin optional. A simple checkbox to install or not would have been better than just forcing it every time.

      A
      Adobe Employee
      akagarg17099634
      Adobe Employee
      October 16, 2024

      Hi Glist,

       

      Can you please share the configuration or steps to reproduce when you experienced the issue again after setting the apps to run in Rosetta mode? Is it happened after Arobat or Office update?

       

      Regards,

      Akanksha

      A
      Adobe Employee
      akagarg17099634
      Adobe Employee
      September 30, 2024

      Hi Stephan,

       

      Could you kindly provide the versions of Office and Acrobat that are installed on your computer?Furthermore, after upgrading to Sequoia, have you reinstalled any applications, like as Office or Acrobat? If it is feasible, could you provide the workflow?
      Could you please verify whether add-ins are available at any of the following locations:

      •  ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content.localized/Start-up
      •   /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office365/User Content.localized/Startup/

       

      Regards,

      Akanksha

      Adobe Acrobat Team

       

       

        A
        Anonymous
        September 30, 2024

        Hi Akanksha,

         

        The "original" folder  ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content.localized/Start-up is empty but the /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office365/User Content.localized/Startup/ contains the files known to cause this issue.

         

        Do you know if this is a change in the install location of the Adobe SaveAs PDF plugins?

         

         

         

          A
          Adobe Employee
          akagarg17099634
          Adobe Employee
          September 30, 2024

          Yes, this is the recent change done to support plugins on Sequoia platform. In Acrobat 2020 on Mac ARM machines, this is a known issue even with new plugin location. You need to run the office applications in rosetta mode to avoid this error with Acrobat 2020. 

           

          Please let me know if you face this error with some other configuration as well. We will look into it and get back to you with better solutions.

           

          Thanks,

          Akanksha Garg

          Adobe Acrobat Team

          S
          Adobe Employee
          Subrato Namata
          Adobe Employee
          September 27, 2024

          Apologies to hear this. Is the issue happening with Acrobat 2020 alone. Can you try running office apps in rosetta mode?

            A
            Anonymous
            October 8, 2024

            Running Microsoft apps in Rosetta mode works for a bit, then it stops and the error comes up anyway. Not only that, but it considerably slows down Word, Excel and PPT.  I'm not sure if it happens when the apps are updated by Microsoft, or when Adobe Acrobat 2020 receives an update. Either way, it was too much of an interruption either way, so we opted to remove the files instead.

              A
              Anonymous
              September 26, 2024

              We're not on Sequia yet but we're certainly encountering the same issue on 14.7.

               

              The file-delete workaround, so reliable that we scripted it for all users to run as needed, no longer seems to resolve the issue.

               

              My initial suspicion was that Adobe changed something, like perhaps the locations of the plugin files, but it could very well be the OS update, as @Stephan35878553ffll reported. If this is the case, it applies to 14.7 and 15.

               

               

               

               

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