Acrobat Reader slow opening PDF documents

[Mark_Richards]

Adobe Acrobat "DC" (detail below) takes a very long time to open each PDF file.  After double-click on a PDF almost 30 seconds elapses before it opens.  That's not right.   The old reader worked fine.  This "DC" version has trouble.

In addition, it provides an inferior way to save the document (a list of previously-used folders, or always "Documents" if I select "Choose a different folder".  Why not remember the *last* different folder I chose?  Annoying.

Can this be removed and replaced with the old reader?

Installed Acrobat: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe

    Version: 9.0.0.2008061200

    Creation Date: 2008/06/12

    Creation Time: 02:25:18

Installed Acrobat: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe

    Version: 15.9.20077.160923

    Creation Date: 2015/10/23

    Creation Time: 16:27:02

Locale: English (United States)

OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7

OS Version: 6.1.7601  Service Pack 1

Total Physical Memory: 3537396 KB

Total Virtual Memory: 2097024 KB

[geoffrey_2358]

This fixed the same problem for me as well (crazy slow loading of PDFs).  Amazing that your answer is from over five years ago and that this is still a problem.  Anyone know what security risks I may now have (if any)?  Similar to others, I can't believe I actually pay for software that works so poorly.

Geoff

[CrazyAzzMofo]

Milan, thank you so much. This seems to have fixed my problem. Now pdf files open right away as they should.

[Lisa38662184lr0v]

Thanks! It's still happening in 2024 but I fixed it with your fix!

[nonamenonamenonamenoname1]

Why is thia answer makred as the correct answer. I have the same issue and this option in preferences was unchecked already. It doesn't do a tiny bit of difference so why is it marked as the correct answer. Adobe, you should stop doing this marking answer as the correct answer when you can see many people saying that did not work for them.

[Len Raphael]

many many tech calls, AA reinstalls, registry tweaks etc, even overclocked PC, switched to third part file explorer. The delays I get are only when opening from any file explorer, MS or 3rd party. Awful.

[LawUser]

This is NOT the fix - I agree! Option was not checked when I went into Security Enhanced either. I even disabled "Enable Enhanced Security" - which I know isn't a good thing - to see if that helped.  Nope. Nuance PDF is a competing product that doesn't have this bug. I'm gonna switch back, after paying the $140 annual cost of Adobe Pro. What a waste.

[JB44586]

Try "repair installatoin"

if that deosn't solve the issue, go to preferences , documents, and lower the "documents in recently used list to 5 or lower.

[LawUser]

This did not work. Reduced the # of documents in Recently Used to 5 and let it go for 3 weeks like this. No difference. Still SUPER SLOW opening .pdfs from Outlook email. Also, now the program is buggy - a new problem in the last month - and we get "Not Responding" and it greys out for a time while waiting to open .pdfs. We hardly use Adobe Pro now; changed our office defaults to NUANCE PDF (Kofax).

[Jeffrey265278522dq0]

Me too, canceled Pro subscription, using nuance.

[SSeverns]

Mine was also unchecked and was still working slow.  I figured out the fix, Add a Privileged Location. go to Edit > Preferences > Security (Enhanced) > Add Folder Path button at the bottom.  Then add the folder you commonly open pdfs from, such as C:/Users/[user]/Documents, this will blast past the slow opening.  Be aware that this probably bypasses some security scan or something but they open blazing fast, see the warning below.  Hope this helps.

[janellew60447698]

None of the previous suggestions worked for me.

What I am doing now is have the acrobat software open, and drag the pdf files directly into the opened software.  They open immediately!

[LawUser]

Don't you have to same the document first to drag it into Adobe? I just tried to drag a .pdf from an Outlook email into Adobt and you can't do it. If I have to save it first, then I might was well keep doing what we've been doing, Right Click and open with Nuance PDF (Kofax). Adobe lost us as a customer months ago over this Bug, which they've failed to address for at least the past year.

[nitin1549]

It's so bad! I spend good money on my hardware and use reputable software so that I don't have to deal with these frustrations! I can't believe Adobe can't deal with PDFs properly... I honestly thought they're the ones who invented PDFs!

I tried deselecting protected view. I tried adding folders to priveliged locations. I tried dragging files directly into an opened Acrobat window. Nothing works... Adobe is not on form! the software is just rubbish! time to switch to a different brand.

[DHSA-llp]

None of these "fixes" work. Lag time opening files is intolerably long, and disruptive. 

[defaultucgcziyijgor]

Has anyone been able to resolve this issue for good?  The latest update from Acrobat DC did not resolve anything.  We are waiting 30 seconds to open a document.  Also when attempting to do a save as...  the file explorer window pops up empty completely blank I guess if you wait upwards of 1-2 minutes it will finally open.  

[janellew60447698]

the only solution I've found is first have the adobe program opened, then drag the pdf file directly to the opened adobe, and it will open immediately. 

[defaultucgcziyijgor]

thank you, but I dont consider that a fix.  So frustrating that Tech Support can't resolve the issue.  I have an open ticket, the only think they recommended was to uncheck Show online storage when opening file / saving file.  Which did not resolve the issue. 

I appreciate your response. 🙂

[FrameGrabber]

Since the latest update earlier this week, this is now an issue for me.  Windows 10,  AA Standard DC, Continuous release Version 2022.001.20169 64-bit

[~ Gil]

This solution from Judezilla worked best for me (also W10 64B Pro)

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-reader-discussions/long-delay-opening-pdf-documents/m-p/12969...

[~ Gil]

so many band-aids here,
adding to the possibles what I have found works best for me, rather than clearing recent files on occasion, I set my recent list to zero. my files behave much better now !!

[FrameGrabber]

However, what's the point in having a recent folder if the cache is causing it to fail to open on a timely basis.  I am on this thread, but I have moved some of my team ot other pdf viewer/editor programs in the interim as Adobe is simply not reliable.  Until this is resolved for everyone, the title "correct answer" should be deleted.  It can be called "Suggested Answer that works for some folk, especially Adobe employees" but not "correct" as it isn't correct. 

[stanford sign 91375934]

The problem that it has is the bad system of the Adobe authentication.

When you open a file for the first time, ADOBE opens the software (Acrobat, Photoshop Illustrator, etc.) at the same time it opens communication with the ADOBE servers to see the status of the license that is why it takes so long to let you use/see the file.

In my opinion, this is so silly because ADOBE has these files running when the computer starts (Adobe Collaboration Synchronizer 22.3, Adobe Updater Startup Utility, Adobe GC Invoker Utility) when these files open they should go to the cloud and synchronize the license to make their software faster to start and let ADOBE Acrobat open their files immediately.

[tmdb@SES]

Hello, I had this issue on a support call. The user's PC had both Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader. 

Once we removed Adobe Reader the PDF's were able to open fine. 

Recommendation: Remove previous Adobe versions. 

[jvalal]

The issue isn't Acrobat for me. The PDF is slow to load in ANY pdf viewed. Preview, acrobat, web. The pdf is only 20mb. What is the fix? My clients are furious that ALL of my PDF's, though small, take up so much of their resources. C'mon guys!!! This is a paid product.

[Jeffrey265278522dq0]

Actually I found these ways work best:

1. Open using Nitro 

2. Right click open using Chrome

3. Cancel Adobe Acrobat Pro subscription.