Acrobat reader not responding

[OhEmGeeLizC]

Can someone help me troubleshoot why Adobe Acrobat Reader isn’t responding? When I open a PDF, I get an error message that tells me the program is unable to respond and needs to quit and to click okay to close, I then click okay and nothing happens, having to click multiple times. I have uninstalled and reinstalled and the same issue occurs. Before this, I attempted to repair it and scanned for issues. I’m running windows 10 on a PC.

[Adorobat]

Hi OhEmGeeLizC,

Sorry for taking so long to respond.

Are you still experiencing this issue? If yes, please try updating Reader to the latest patch available by clicking check for updates under Help menu. You may also visit this link - Adobe - Adobe Reader : For Windows to download updates manually. Once installed, reboot the machine and check.

Also, have you tried launching Reader without opening any pdf, does that work?

To do that, locate Reader's icon on the desktop > right-click > Open

Keep us posted with the results.

Shivam

[OhEmGeeLizC]

Yes—still experiencing the issue and yes I checked for updates—None were available.

The issue didn’t occur when I opened adobe reader without a PDF.

Any guesses as to what the problem could be and how to fix it?

Sent from my iPhone. Please forgive any typos.

[Adorobat]

It could be a file specific issue. Does Reader crash when you open a specific pdf file or with all the files?

Try opening several pdf files in Reader and see if this behavior still continues.

[OhEmGeeLizC]

All files.

Sent from my iPhone. Please forgive any typos.

[Adorobat]

Could you please try following steps:

1- Set Reader to run as an administrator - Run an Adobe program as administrator | Windows 7, Vista and check.

2- If that doesn't work, launch Reader in compatibility mode for Windows 7 -  select Reader's icon on the desktop >right click > properties > compatibility > compatibility mode > check the box which says Run this program in compatibility mode for, and select 7 from the drop-down options > Apply > OK and try again.

3- If step 2 doesn't work, disable protected mode - launch Reader > click Edit > Preferences > uncheck the box next to Enable protected mode at startup > click OK.

Please note: Disabling protected mode is for troubleshooting purpose only, and not recommended. Please turn the feature back on after troubleshooting is complete.

[OhEmGeeLizC]

I have windows 10; can you tell me how to do it for that?

Sent from my iPhone. Please forgive any typos.

[Adorobat · Accepted solution]

Navigate to C:\Program Files(x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader, locate AcroRd32.exe

Right-click AcroRd32.exe > Properties > Compatibility tab

[OhEmGeeLizC]

I did this and it seemed to work; does this mean that the issue is resolved

or do I need to do something else?

[Clay5CD1]

I have tried all these things.  I have even tried uninstalling and then reinstalling several times but that doesn't work either.  I experience the problem with all PDF files.  What can I do to fix this?

[rivermark]

Hi there just did that and it froze again 'not responding'.

I have since downloaded a free pdf reader and have started using that as it is more stable.

I have left my subscription going to see if I need the paid version that much - otherwise will need to delete and find something that works.

[Andri Saputra]

Hi, I have the same problem when opening a specific pdf file. Then while trying another reader, it can solve.

[Guest]

I cannot check for updates because Adobe Reader is not responding. There is no access to the menu. 

However, setting to compatibility mode for Windows 7 works though after several tries opening Adobe reader.

[kennethg82708317]

The complaint about this was first made on February 16, 2018.  It's now December 30, 2020 and the issue has still not been resolved.  I have called Adobe for help, only to be told that the problem lies with the document and not the program.  However, I do not and have not experienced these problems with other pdf programs.  This problem has become so intolerable that I have resorted to using Google Chrome for opening up and reviewing pdf documents.  This is really pathetic and confirms that Adobe either (1) could care less about the quality of its program or (2) that the people responsible for maintaining and running Adobe are incompetent.  

[kaare1234567890]

I have had a similar problem for a long time. When I would open any pdf doc (with rare, occasional exceptions) Acrobat Reader would be unresponsive for a minute or so, and then work perfectly. I tried re-installing, repair installation, duck-duck-go'ing for answers, but nothing helped. Lately it got much worse, so that even starting Reader by itself without an open file would lead to it being non-responsive, mostly, forever. So I tried steps 1, 2, and 3 of the suggestions here, and what helped, like a charm, was to uncheck "Protected Mode" (in the Security(Enhanced) preference page). But the advice is to turn Protected Mode back on once troubleshooting is complete. I looked here https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/protected-mode-troubleshooting-reader.html and nothing seemed to apply. How do I do complete troubleshooting?

[Computer generally works fine, tho it is older; OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Version 10.0.19044; Build 19044; Installed Acrobat: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe; Version: 22.1.20169.0; Creation Date: 2022/07/05; Creation Time: 12:34:20 AM ]

[John31287919ud6p]

The may be caused by too many documents in the history.  Start by clearing the history and then setting "Documents in recently used list" to something less than the default (100).  I have mine set to 20.

[colin_9496]

I found that just leave it for a few minutes and it will respond.