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New Participant
February 21, 2024
Answered

Acrobat crashes when trying to edit a fillable-form PDF

  • February 21, 2024
  • 11 replies
  • 16331 views

I have a user that had been using Adobe Acrobat Reader on a new PC for about a year without issue. A month ago, this user's Adobe Acrobat would crash when attempting to fill in a fillable field in a given PDF. If you leave the PDF alone, it will stay open, but the moment you try to edit it, or fill in a fillable form, Adobe Acrobat crashes.

 

The user is on Windows 11 Pro and on Adobe Reader Version 2023.008.20533. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing Adobe Acrobat, removed all anti-virus, and run the Adobe cleaner/uninstall tool and the issue still persists. If anyone has any insight or advice it is greatly appreciated. I have protected view set to 'OFF' as well, as I noticed that suggestion in a lot of articles that dealt with Adobe Acrobat crashing. If there are log files available, let me know how to provide them or where they are typically stored on a PC. 

 

[moderator changed the subject for clarity: was Adobe crashes...; corrected Adobe to Acrobat in the text; sanitized the topics]

[Moderator moved the thread from Acrobat to the Acrobat Reader forum]

Correct answer Thorben38241278hz8t

I have the same issue but discovered something just now, that works at least as a semi-optimal fix.

If I open a file directly from the Windows Explorer, the issue occurs, Acrobat crashes as soon as I click a fillable field. If I however first open Acrobat manually and then open a document (either through the Acrobat UI or the Windows Explorer), I am able to fill the fields without problem.

Acrobat just always has to be open first for some reason

 

I hope this helps someone, at least until theres a fix for it

11 replies

New Participant
November 19, 2025

I also have the exact same issue, this is November 2025, my Adobe is up to date, I'm on a mac, its not the PDF thats the issue either because I create a blank PDF through Adobe and then add a fillable field and the moment i double click it or right click and View Properties, immediately crashes.....what am i paying so much money per month for?? 

AnandSri
Community Manager
Community Manager
November 19, 2025

Hello @torontomanz

 

I hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out. We're sorry for the trouble you had.

 

The issue has been addressed with the latest build of Acrobat and Reader DC, Please ensure you have the latest version of Acrobat installed on the machine: 25.001.20918 Planned update, Nov 13, 2025. Check for any pending updates by navigating to Menu > Help> Check for Updates. Install the updates, restart the app and the machine, and try again.

 

If you prefer, you can perform a clean installation using the Acrobat Cleaner tool to remove the installed app, restart the machine, reinstall Acrobat, and check if the app still crashes when double-clicking the form field. 

For testing purposes, please create a test user profile with full administrative rights, install Acrobat, and attempt to complete the workflow. If the issue still continues in the new user profile with the latest version of Acrobat, please collect the logs from the machine and share them with us for further investigation. Please provide the following information: the current version of the operating system on your device and the logs from the affected machine. To collect the logs, download and run the Log Collector tool. Ensure that you select all log options and attempt to reproduce the issue. After that, close the Log Collector tool; it will generate the logs along with a log ID. Please share this log ID with us for further investigation.

 

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

New Participant
December 3, 2024

I am having the same issues.  I used to be able to edit a fillable PDF and save and then re-edit and save as.  Now it keeps crashing if it is on our server.  I have had IT uninstall and re-install but to a 32 bit instead of 64.  Issues still persist.  IT has whiped out my computer as well and also changed computers.  Issues still persist.  

New Participant
February 21, 2025

Yes, the same issue here we need fix for this as soon as possible

New Participant
August 27, 2024

I have been able to resolve this issue for multiple users where I work by doing a complete uninstall of Adobe and re-installing the latest one. 

wsbl3682503
New Participant
August 7, 2024

Is there a resolution yet? I have had many users with issues. They open the document from File explorer, they click on any editing tool and then try to make the change on the document. That is when Adobe freezes and then closes. I want to say they all have the standard version, which we downloaded from the website to install. 

I have been doing the following

1)  uninstalling adobe

2) deleting the adobe folders from the user files

       C:\Users\<user folder>\AppData\Local

       C:\Users\<user folder>\AppData\LocalLow

       C:\Users\<user folder>\AppData\Roaming

3) then reinstall with a new download from website. 

 

For most of them that has resolved the issue but I had a few that it happened again.. 

I ended up showing them this work around..

 

New Participant
August 13, 2024

  The above answer, wiping the Adobe files from all 3 of the Users Profile -> App Data folders is the best fast fix for now. If you have the time, a full Profile wipe and Rebuild may need to be done in extreme cases. I have used both.

  This reflects a corruption of the Adobe file folders after the User has worked on a corrupted PDF file(s) due to Long file names, email sending, ect..

New Participant
July 9, 2024

having the same issue with one of the users in our office.. she can see the file when she tries to edit it , she gets a message to view in one drive. when she clicks the one drive icon it takes her to her folder with a blank screen for the pfd. if she opens the pdf in acrobat via one drive she can view it but only has erase and highlight options and then it does nothing 

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
July 10, 2024

Hi there

 

What is the version of the OS and the Acrobat DC you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Acrobat and make sure you have the recent version 24.02.2089x installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once.

 

Also, would you mind collecting the Adobe CC logs https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-log-collector.html , Procmon logs (Win Only) https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/acromonitor.html and Crash/freeze logs https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/collect-logs-crash-freeze.html share them via any cloud storage. Just upload the log file to the cloud and generate the link and share that link with us for further investigation.

Regards
Amal

New Participant
July 10, 2024

we're running the latest on the our users systems, we run windows on hp devices 

New Participant
July 9, 2024

Same thing happens to me today July 2024. When i try to edit the fill the document closes down automatically. No crash report. Absoultly nothing i can do. This is super annoying.

Thorben38241278hz8tCorrect answer
New Participant
June 25, 2024

I have the same issue but discovered something just now, that works at least as a semi-optimal fix.

If I open a file directly from the Windows Explorer, the issue occurs, Acrobat crashes as soon as I click a fillable field. If I however first open Acrobat manually and then open a document (either through the Acrobat UI or the Windows Explorer), I am able to fill the fields without problem.

Acrobat just always has to be open first for some reason

 

I hope this helps someone, at least until theres a fix for it

New Participant
June 25, 2024

I just inistalled adobe reader and started using edge. Atleast edge will let me use the fillable pdf without crahsing.

New Participant
April 15, 2024

do we know yet when this is going to be repaired? Everytime I try to edit a form - the program shuts down 

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
April 16, 2024

Hi there

 

We are sorry to hear that.

 

We do not have any fixed timeline as the issue is still under review. Please try the steps shared below and see if that works:

 

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 24.02.20687 installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once.

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-default/td-p/4792082

 

Hope it will help

 

~Amal

New Participant
March 15, 2024

I have a user with the Exact same issue. Accessing files through a shared drive, but same issue. Shared drive works for other users with nearly identical setup.

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
March 19, 2024

Hi there, 

 

Our engineering team is actively working on it. The fix will be available in the future updates.

 

Thanks for understanding.

 

~Amal

New Participant
February 23, 2024

Having this exact same issue! Started about a month ago. No solutions, just chiming in as another user with this happening. Often will work for a bit, then will start happening where the pdf shuts down as soon as you click a field to try and edit. After closing and reopening the files, reboots, etc, then sometimes it works again, but doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.