Adobe Acrobat Reader crash

[edp_5771]

Hello,

Adobe Acrobat Reader on Windows 10 (22H2) keeps crashing when I try to open a document.

I've already tried:
- reinstalling Adobe Acrobat Reader
- updating to the latest version
- installing all Microsoft updates

Here the error in Events Viewer:

Faulting application name: Acrobat.exe, version: 25.1.20643.0, timestamp: 0x68a8b392
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.19041.6093, timestamp: 0xd1cd3808
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x00000000000a2860
Faulting process ID: 0x2af4
Faulting application start time: 0x01dc1beab93e2df6
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report ID: 095c4bab-d868-4b44-ae18-d9e25277ee32
Full name of the faulting package:
Application ID for the faulting package:

Is it possible to find a way to solve this problem?

Thank you.

Best regards,

Luca Samiolo

[Tariq Ahmad]

@edp_5771

Hi Luca, 

Thanks for reaching out, and sorry for the troubled experience. 

Thank you for sharing the detailed error logs — that’s very helpful. The crash you’re seeing (ntdll.dll with exception code 0xc0000409) usually indicates a conflict at the system level rather than just Acrobat itself. Let’s try a few steps to isolate the cause:

1. Check the document source

• Does this happen with all PDFs or only specific ones?

• Try opening a simple/local PDF (not from email/cloud/network drive) to see if the behavior is consistent.

2. Run Reader in Protected Mode OFF (for testing only)

• Go to Edit > Preferences > Security (Enhanced).

• Temporarily disable Protected Mode at startup.

• Restart Reader and check if the crash still occurs.

• If it works, the issue may be due to conflicts with other software or drivers.

3. Repair or Reset Acrobat Installation

• From the Help > Repair Installation option in Reader.

• If that doesn’t help, run a clean uninstall using the Adobe Acrobat Cleaner Tool and then reinstall fresh.

4. Try preference reset: 

• Sometimes, ntdll.dll crashes happen due to graphics drivers.

• Try preference reset: https://adobe.ly/3JJ3ab1.

5. Create a new Windows user profile

• Corrupt user profiles can trigger ntdll.dll crashes. Testing with a new profile will rule this out.

6. Advanced: Collect Crash Dumps

• If Reader is crashing (and not just freezing), we also need crash logs:

  • Instructions: https://adobe.ly/44afCIz
  • Once collected, upload the logs to any cloud drive (e.g., OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox) and share the link with us.

 Let us know how it works. 

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team | Meet Acrobat Studio