Can't select block of text

[lindad34092833]

I have updated to Adobe Acrobat DC and can no longer select blocks of text in pdfs. I have the select tool active, I am trying to select a whole sentence to highlight. I am using a pdf in which I have previously been able to perform this function. I am trying to place the curser at beginning of sentence and drag to the end of the sentence to select whole sentence before I highlight it.  I can no longer do this WHY? It's driving me mad.

Hoping someone can help

[Anubha Goel]

Hey lindad34092833,

We would help you definitely.

I suppose you are using Acrobat Reader DC and not Acrobat software as both are different software.

Also, confirm that you have selected the Select tool and not hand tool for the same.

Right-click anywhere in the PDF document and choose Select Tool, you must be able to select the text again.

Please ensure that you are trying to select the original text and not the images of text which cannot be selected.

Try repairing Reader from the Help menu and check.

If the issue persists, try uninstalling and reinstalling Adobe Reader DC version from the below mentioned link:

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Install for all versions

Let me know how it goes.

Regards,

Anubha

[lindad34092833]

Thank you. I am using adobe acrobat Reader DC. I have uninstalled it and reinstalled it already.  I am using the select tool which looks like an arrow, and not the hand tool. I have tried moving from the select tool to the hand tool and back again to make sure it is definately in the select mode.
I am trying to select the original text and not a picture of the text.  I have double checked this in a number of pdfs and have tried to use select in freshly downloaded pdfs as well as pdfs I have saved on my computer.  The saved pdfs I used were ones where I had already selected and highlighted in my older version of reader, but can no longer

Linda

[RahulTyagi_]

Hi lindad34092833,

Can you share a link to the file so that we can replicate the same at our end?

Moreover, Are you able to select and highlight text in other pdf files or do you face the same issue?

Regards,

Rahul

[lindad34092833]

I have the same issue with every psf file I try to highlight. I study and read/highlight lots of PDFs. Since AR DC I havene't been able to. I can double click on one word at a time and highlight this, but you may appreciate this is far too slow for my purposes.

I have the pdf saved on my computer and can't seem to paste it in to here. How do I do that?

I'm not sure that you will be able to open this link, you may need special permissions

Individual differences in ideological attitudes and prejudice: Evidence fro...: EBSCOhost

Linda

[pwillener]

What is your operating system?  What is your Reader DC version?

[lindad34092833]

Windows home premium 7

2015 Release, Version 2015.008.20082

[Carlos Hori]

Perfect answer. Thanks for sharing (btw it's 2021 and I see someone asked this in 2015, I'm 6 yrs late!)

[try67]

Go to Edit - Preferences - General and make sure that "Touch Mode" is set to "Never".

[lindad34092833]

Tried that, it made no difference

[Peter23323939wi3s]

Worked for me, thank you

[lindad34092833]

Note for old players!  Found out today that the insert key on my laptop had been deselected, selected it and problem solved. (Computers no longer have any indicators that insert is on or off).

Do I feel silly? A small amount.

Thank you to all who tried to solve my problem, much appreciated.

It was this simplest of solutions. Occam's Razor comes to mind.

Linda

[popcorncorvid]

Thank you so much for sharing this!

[Bernard5F9F]

Thank you soooo much !!!

[Muriel22218900lddm]

Thank You

[GKWells_99]

Well heck.  That was also my issue, but I didn't check until I read your response/confession.  And yet - I feel a little silly as well.  LOL

[lindad34092833]

It's stopped again. Maybe it's something wrong with my hardware?

[li-pingy54077799]

The "insert" key worked for me.  Thanks a lot.

[li-pingy54077799]

No, it stopped again.  "insert' key is no longer working.

Solution:  install "Foxit pdf reader" ... unfortunately.

[philippe4]

Hi all
I've got the same issue, I'am using windows 10 64 bit, French version for Adobe reader DC.

We are in June 2016 and it is not solved yet, hey Adobe team ! ?

Regards

[sem28670904]

Yep. Sept 2016 and still no fix. Adobe Reader isn't a super high tech program. There's not a lot of things you can do with it. But there's not a lot of things you NEED to do with it. However, one VERY important thing is to be able to select text from the PDF document! Without this function this software is USELESS to me. I have invested in another reader (that edits as well).

What the heck!?

[ShawnaC]

The tricks of changing the Security (Enhanced) didn't work for me and I think I may have just found a solution. In Acrobat DC, the toolbar along the right side shows a "Scan and OCR" tab. Click on that and a toolbar will come up, then click "Recognize Text"...."In this File" and click the "Recognize Text" button. Give it a second to load and text can now be selected.

I have been unable to solve this problem for years. Didn't have this issue on my laptop, but my desktop wouldn't recognize the text....outside my pay grade as to why that is.

[Amy2451393095w3]

This did the trick - thank you!!!!

[PRC253396962zd4]

in large files, this takes a really long time, but may be worth if you're wanting to use these files over time as we are, and extract/abstract a lot of information from them (and for non-technical reasons, can't provide them forms to fill out which would make extract so much easier).

[DoubleA21]

I too have had to give up on Adobe Acrobat DC after a frustrating session trying to select a block of text. I've switched to foxit.

The weird thing is that sometimes I can select blocks of text, but most times I can't. For example, I opened a pdf just now and was able to select a block of text with my mouse over 2-3 lines no problem after the pdf had been opened 10 minutes.. But I tried again a couple seconds later and suddenly it's gone back to being unable to select any text (by clicking and dragging the mouse cursor). No changes were made to any settings or options. No toobar icons were clicked. It just suddenly stopped working. I can select a word or a whole line by double-clicking, but that's no good for my needs.

I'm using a WIndows 10 PC. Never had this problem on WIndows 8 with earlier versions of Acrobat.