Acrobat opens on its own

Report · Jun 29, 2017

I have Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 2017 Release Version 2017.009.20044 on a Windows 7 computer. Every day or every other day I notice that Acrobat starts to open all by itself usually while I'm entering data into an Excel spreadsheet or something. This does not happen on start up but what appears to me to be at random times throughout the day. And twice it tried to open with a window that asked if it was OK for Adobe to make changes to my computer. This was strange as I was doing nothing with PDFs, Adobe, Acrobat, or any other thing that is even remotely connected to Adobe in any way. Is there any way I can stop this from happening?

Report · Jun 29, 2017

Hi diannas66516361,

The application generally does not open on its own.

Please try once to use the cleaner tool Download Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool - Adobe Labs on your system.

Then restart your system and re-install the application from here Adobe - Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Distribution

Check if this helps.

Let us know if you need help.

Regards,

Meenakshi

Report · Oct 18, 2018

Acrobat opens on its own

Architecture: x86_64

Build: 19.8.20071.303822

AGM: 4.30.80

CoolType: 5.14.5

JP2K: 1.2.2.41572

Report · Nov 21, 2018

Yeah it does. I have the same issue. Acrobat Pro version 2019.008.20080, mac os 10.13.6, same issue as andrewc32635219

Report · Dec 04, 2018

Adobe Acrobat DC Version 19.008.20080 supported by Creative Cloud and my monthly PAID subscription launches randomly on it's own on my mac. This has ben happening for the past month. I am unable to find a solution - please help?

Report · Dec 05, 2018

Hi there,

Could you please check if the application is not selected as the login item on your Mac.

Please refer to the steps mentioned below:

- Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences.

- Select Users & Groups in the system preference window.

- Then select the user account at the extreme left of the USer& Groups window.

- On right, click on the Login items tab and check if the Acrobat application is listed there.

If the application is listed there, select the application and remove it using the "-" icon tab provided at the bottom of that window.

Check if the help.

Let us know if that is not the case.

Regards,

Meenakshi

Report · Dec 07, 2018

Same problem here - and no, it is not a startup item. Mac OS 10.13.6, Acrobat Pro DC 2019.008.20080.

(Update: There is an "Adobe Acrobat Synchronizer" as a login item, however. Maybe that is launching Acrobat?)

Report · Dec 18, 2018

Hi Fbitterlich,

Sorry for the delay in response.

Did you check the issue occurs when you remove "Adobe Acrobat synchronizer" from the list?

If not, please check and let us know how it goes.

Please try to update the application to the latest version and check if that makes any difference.

You may refer to this link Release Notes | Adobe Acrobat, Reader for more details on new updates.

If the issue is already resolved, please update the thread.

Let us know if you need any help.

Regards,

Meenakshi

Report · Dec 19, 2018

Did you check the issue occurs when you remove "Adobe Acrobat synchronizer" from the list?

No, I didn't, because the issue occurs sporadically, and I won't, because I'm not willing to do a trial-and-error bughunt because your Adobe isn't willing to do a proper issue analysis.

What is the background of that instruction to remove Adobe Acrobat synchronizer from the startup items? What does it do? Does it belong there, or not? If so, why should I remove it? If not, how did it get installed there in the first place?

I think it's clear from the posts here that multiple people have this issue, yet you're trying to explain this away as misconfiguration of the users machines and keep people busy with "did you try to switch it off and on again?"-style instructions. I wonder whether such reports are ever recognized as real issues – I suspect not, which would explain the metric ton of bugs in Adobe's products.

A good QA includes a meaningful way to report bugs (and no, a forum doesn't count as one) and actually listening to your users, and not trying to get rid of as many "support" cases on the first level.

Report · Mar 08, 2019

Well said. That is my biggest concern with Adobe support as well. It drives me nuts when they say to remove a file or rename it to .old with no explanation at all as to what the file does and why it's located where it is. It's lazy support and awful development practices. I'm all about iterative design, but the point of that approach is that you work out ALL the bugs in an update BEFORE you release it.

Report · Dec 25, 2018

Same problem here with Acrobat Reader DC 19.10.20064.311007 on macOS 10.12.6. No login item is in the list.

Happens lately and is very annoying. I just discovered this thread here and I’m not surprised that Adobe knows this issue for about half a year and didn’t serve an update so far.

For me, paying a monthly fee (that is incredible high compared to similar software solutions used by software engineers, by the way) means fast and quick updates and hasslefree software. Please keep in mind that most of us use your products to earn money for a living.

Report · Jan 12, 2019

Yes - same issue. Not in login items. Mac with latest CC installed. Adobe sort it and don't ask us to log it for you. This is an issue you need to resolve off your own back. That's why we have to keep paying the money every month.

Report · Jan 15, 2019

I appreciate everybody's frustration (it's happening to me, too), but Adobe asking you troubleshooting questions to see if it resolves the problem is how they begin to resolve the problem and track down a common cause. Software in the wild behaves differently than in the developer's lab - that's just the nature of the beast.

You're paying for them to run this forum and to try to help you. If you don't answer their questions, that's just cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I had a different, mysterious login item with an Adobe Acrobat icon and also called "synchronizer" (I forgot the full name because I removed it before making a note, my bad. "Adobe Service"? "Adobe Item"?

Incidentally, Adobe Acrobat DC is a stinking pile of garbage on many levels. Being forced to use it is bad enough. Being forced to close it because it feels like launching itself is just adding insult to injury.

Report · Jan 16, 2019

As I work closely with software engineers I am completely aware of how developing and troubleshooting works. How really frustrating it can be. So, basically I agree with what you are writing. But there is no need to protect the staff here or Adobe, at least. It’s not only about their products but how they take care of the problems people have using their software. That’s something completely different. You will notice that their last answer to this topic was about a month ago! All questions have been answered and do not point to the core of the problem. And no solutions have been suggested (for the record: the topic was opened in summer 2017).

As a professional graphic designer I have to use Adobe software due lacks of good alternatives, and I use it for ten years now. I already paid for it during my time studying design when most others used cracked software. But what I see over the last years of how Adobe developed Indesign, Illustrator or Photoshop was more and more focused on newer, better functions — not better functionality and usability. Just one example here: the inconsistent hotkeys within the applications.

I really am willing to help them as I know this is the best and easiest way to solve the problem. But for that I’d like to see that somebody cares about my issue. And that Adobe finally start to see their software from a user’s point of view.

Report · Jan 16, 2019

midnightbrewer schrieb
I appreciate everybody's frustration (it's happening to me, too), but Adobe asking you troubleshooting questions to see if it resolves the problem is how they begin to resolve the problem and track down a common cause. Software in the wild behaves differently than in the developer's lab - that's just the nature of the beast.

I get that, and being a professional software developer for more than 20 years I understand that you sometimes need help from the user to track down a problem. However there is a difference between doing meaningful tests that give you insight into the problem, or keeping the user busy with snake oil-style suggestions. I remember enough "support" contacts where they would just suggest that "something must be wrong with your operating system, try a complete system reinstall."

Additionally, the one who is not answering questions is Adobe, not me.

What is the background of that instruction to remove Adobe Acrobat synchronizer from the startup items? What does it do? Does it belong there, or not? If so, why should I remove it? If not, how did it get installed there in the first place?

No answer on that so far. Which is what I expected.

Report · Jul 22, 2022

booooo

Report · Jan 28, 2019

Glad I finally found a thread describing the issue. This problem has started recently. When ever I wake my Mac, Adobe Acrobat opens, loads and immediately closes. I didn't pay any mind at first, but it started happening ever day. It made me think it was some type of virus. (I used to have a PC and have had viruses that acted the same way)

I would appreciate it if Adobe would reply to the issue at hand. Removing from login is not a solution. I already have it removed, it still happens.

Report · Feb 04, 2019

This has been happening to me too. Just randomly. When I checked my user login items, there was an item named adoberesourcesynchronizer. After a bit of research, I determined I didn't need this, removed it from the list, and also quit the task in task manager. After quitting the task in task manager, Acrobat quit itself. Hopefully this has solved the problem, and if not I'll follow up here.

Report · Feb 04, 2019

I just quit the task. I'll hopefully this works for me. Thank you!

Report · Mar 08, 2019

Same in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 2019.010.20098 in Mac OS 10.14.3 (and earlier). "Open at login" disabled. Opens every single time!

Report · Mar 14, 2019

Hi All,

Would you please try once to enable to the root user on your Mac?

Check if you experience a similar behavior with the root user account.

You may refer to the steps provided in the following help document to enable the root user. How to enable the root user on your Mac or change your root password - Apple Support

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Meenakshi

Report · Mar 14, 2019

Sorry. I do not have the skills to do do, nor do I wish to, since I can accidentally cause damage by being where I do not belong.

Sent from my iPhone

Report · Mar 15, 2019

Yeah, right, I'm going to run Acrobat as root, with its stellar security record. Especially to try to find out what some unexplained, self-launching program will do which nobody at Adobe seems to be able to explain. What could go wrong?

Since the self-launching happens on some days, and not on other days days, what knowledge will you gain from it when I tell you "I logged in as root once and it didn't launch"?

This request make me think that this issue is still stuck in first-level support and has not yet been seen by any developer. Another typical case of "Have you tried to switch it off and on again?"

Report · Mar 20, 2019

I've been having this issue for the past couple days as well, very annoying. It will open randomly throughout the day.

Report · Mar 27, 2019

I am having the same problem, mainly on restart on Mac running OS X 10.14.3. It seams to have started after the last big update.