Acrobat reader becomes unresponsive when opening a protected file.

[bev_n12]

Hi there

I have an issue where by users are experiencing Adobe becoming non-responsive when opening a protected a file. 

All other files work fine and initially protected files open fine as well. However when testing the issue i found that some protected files open the Acrobat window first and then pop-up for the password appears however with a specific file it opens the pop-up immediately, when selecting cancel the application then becomes non-responsive and has to be force closed from the task manager window. 

I have already uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat, i disabled the protected mode and disabled the enhanced security for testing purposes. This is affecting multiple users at the moment and accessing protected pdf files is a core function of the clients business. 

I have also tested several "Fixes" from previous threads on here which have not resolved the issue. All functionality was working last week without any issues.

The users are all on Windows 11 24h2 with the latest updates installed on the devices.

[bev_n12]

Thank you for the response. I have reviewed and confirmed there are none present currently. I performed a clean boot and the symptoms are still present.

[AnandSri]

Hello @bev_n12

I hope you are doing well. Thank you for sharing the details.

• Please Go to Menu> Preferences > Security (Enhanced).

• Uncheck:

  • “Enable Protected Mode at startup”

  • “Enable Enhanced Security”

• Restart Acrobat.

• Try opening the same protected file again, and check.

• Please enable the security settings after the test.

Please ensure that all mandatory and optional updates for the operating system are installed. Then, perform a clean installation again using the Acrobat Cleaner tool. Restart the machine, and install Acrobat Reader. For testing purposes, please create a test user profile with full admin rights, install Reader, and test.

If the issue continues, please provide the following information: the current version of the operating system on your device, a sample PDF file, 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.

[bev_n12]

Thank you AnandSri for the recommendations.

I have gone through the requested steps and actioned the items where applicable however the issue persists. 

After performing a reinstallation, Adobe works for a few minutes before the issue occurs again and the users will need to force quit via task manager. This happened accross several devices. It happens intermittently with any pdf file (password protected and non password protected files as well.) It is a bit tricky to capture the logs as when i attempted to capture it the application was functioning without any issues. 

The devices are on Windows 11 24H2,  version 10.0.26100.

[AnandSri]

Hello @bev_n12

We have reported this issue to the product team, and they are working on the fix as the root cause has been identified. We will share an update here once the fix is available.

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

[bev_n12]

Hi @AnandSri 

Thank you kindly for the update. Please may you share the root cause of the issue?

[bev_n12]

Hi @AnandSri 

Can you advise if there has been any progress on the issue?

Kind regards,

[PravalJain · Accepted solution]

Hi @bev_n12  - Thank you for your patience. This issue has been fixed in the latest release - https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotesDC/continuous/dccontinuousoct2025.htm.... Please do a "Help -> Check for updates" to update to the latest version and let us know if you are still experiencing this issue. 

[JR Boulay]

[MOVED TO THE ACROBAT READER DISCUSSIONS]

[hk_9158]

Same issue. Hope quickly update.

[Amal.]

Hi there 

Hope you are doing well. 

Our engineering team is working on this issue. It will be fixed in the future updates. 

Thanks for your understanding.

~Amal