Cannot Open Excel Doc Attached Inside PDF

[DannyCatGE]

A year ago I started attaching supplementary information (excel doc) inside of a pdf by way of the "comment > add new attachment" feature. I never had problems opening the pdf or attached excel doc, and neither did the recipients. However, this has changed. More and more people are having issues opening these excel documents (.xlsm).

Is it because of the file type? Is there a way I can change the trusted documents to include these types? The Edit > Preferences > Trust Manager >PDF File Attachments "Restore" button is greyed out and no longer an option. This fixed the problems on occasion, but I am still in search of a full fix so my recipients can view the attached document.

[Adorobat · Accepted solution]

Hi DannyCatGE,

Please refer to the steps suggested in the links given below discussing the similar issue:

Acrobat bookmarks and links to office documents no longer allowed after update 2017.012.20093

Can't open a xlsm file in a pdf after last patch of Adobe Reader DC

Thanks,

Shivam

[Imaginative_Mercury2481]

Those links to not work. Can you send updated one? I am having a similar issue in my organization. The attached Excel file will show for some people, but not others. 

[RadoSki]

Did you find how to fix it?

[S. S]

Hi @RadoSki,

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble with opening office file links through Acrobat.

In case you are still looking for a solution, you might want to try the below steps:

On both your machine and your recipients', do the following in Reader or Acrobat:

1. Go to Menu > Preferences.

2. Select Trust Manager.

3. Click "Change Settings" next to “PDF File Attachments and External Links.”

4. Enable "Allow opening of non-PDF file attachments with external applications"

Also, in Preferences:

1. Go to Security (Enhanced).

2. Uncheck "Enable Protected Mode at startup" and "Enable Enhanced Security"

   • Note: Only do this if the PDF and attachments are from trusted sources. Otherwise, it opens security risks.

You can refer to the steps here for illustrations and better clarity: https://adobe.ly/3S411HK.

Let us know if this works.

Regards,
Souvik.