Lost work made with 'Fill and Sign' in Acrobat Reader DC (saved work before exit)

Report · Sep 22, 2015

Hello,

I am in a similar situation. I filled in form fields using "fill and sign". I deliberately saved the work as I did it, after about an hour I closed Acrobat Reader DC. I then opened it up again in a minute - and all my changes were there fine.

I've now come back 3 days later and all the changes have gone, leaving only the empty form. Note: I kept a copy of the original form file and it is 0.5MB, the "edited" file is 3.5MB which suggests that the changes are still there, but somehow hidden.

Could you help?

Thanks,

Peter

Report · Mar 09, 2016

Hi DKing,

Sorry to hear about your troubles, I can obviously empathize. I'm having a bit of trouble understanding your use case, though. You say that you have a file that must contain data because it's larger, but that would only be the problem that this thread deals with if it displays no data when you open it, and your next statement deals with filling in data with Fill and Sign after you open it, which suggests that you're starting the form from scratch.

In any case, if you have filled and saved but haven't closed your form, have you tried viewing it in another app while the form is still open in Acrobat? As I mentioned, I discovered that the act of closing the form is what causes it to "disappear" the data. If you make a copy of the saved form before closing it, you should end up with a properly-filled-out PDF. If that's not the case, then your situation seems to be different than what I've experienced.

If you've filled out a form and then closed it only to find it blank afterward, then I'm afraid that you either have to start over using the above method (testing it with a small bit of input data first!) or attempt to go through the laborious recovery process that I described above.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

I filled out some tax forms with fill & sign, and had them open on my computer for several days while I checked on a couple things before printing them out for my accountant. I was working with some other PDFs and accidentally closed Acrobat, closing the form in question. When I reopened the file, all the data was gone. However, the saved form was bigger than the original I received from the accountant via email, so I'm pretty sure that the data is still there. I was attempting to perform your steps to retrieve the data--opening a new untouched version of the form from the accountant's email and entering dummy text using the fill & sign, but NOW, all versions of the form are not "keeping" the data. I can't save them with data, I can't print them with data, I can't use the send option to send them with data. As soon as I click out of the fill & sign portion of Acrobat, the dummy data I've entered vanished. The file size never changes, and when I open the file (open or otherwise) in another program, there are no indications that fill & sign has been used. So I can't create a new "good" file to copy the code from into the old "bad" file. I have left the file open and opened it in another text-editing program, but unfortunately, the two files don't look anything alike, and the new file doesn't have any instance of "Tj" while the old file has many instances. The only thing I can figure out is that Acrobat is refusing to work with that particular document (any version of it) for fill & sign. I can open any other PDF and use fill & sign and it works. I'm so frustrated and confused at this point and not looking forward to starting over on these tax forms.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

Okay, thanks for clarifying. There may still be a chance that you can make it work, though.

I'm not hearing that after using F&S in the new, empty form that you're saving the document before exiting out of F&S (I don't remember seeing the closing of F&S triggering vanished data, but in your case perhaps you need to keep that open as well). So once you're in that state - F&S still open and the PDF saved - try viewing the PDF with another app (if you're in OS X, just hit the space bar to QuickView it). Is your dummy data there? If so, then make a copy of that PDF and you have your "good/known working" version of the file. You can close the original PDF (which will vanish its data) and destroy that copy.

If you still see nothing in the form after saving then your use case is different than mine, I'm afraid - perhaps Adobe updated the app and this trick will no longer work, or perhaps you're using Windows and it behaves differently than the OS X version.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

Last ditch effort: Send the PDF to me at whitgurley/Gmail and I'll see if I can produce a usable "rubberducky" copy of it for you.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

I have saved the dummy document multiple times. Renaming it, moving it, changing save locations. I've tried everything except another computer, which I might try tonight. It simply will not save the file with fill & sign. It just saves the unfilled file. I AM on a Windows 10 computer. I will try a Windows 7 computer tonight.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

It should be very easy for me to create the version you need if you just email me the empty form, assuming that my apps are still exhibiting the same behavior.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

I will try it on another computer tonight and if I still can't get it to work, I might go ahead and let you try. I'm hesitant to send out the PDF as it contains tax information from last year along with a lot of personal data.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

Just to clarify, I'm referring to the blank version - I wouldn't have time to attempt to correct your PDF with your invisible form data. But maybe even the blank one has sensitive information? That hadn't occurred to me.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

Yes, the blank one is a custom made worksheet for my taxes that contains all my info from the previous tax year. I put in my stuff for this tax year and give it back to the accountant, so it does contain sensitive information even in its blank status. I'm hoping that switching to a different computer with solve my problem. Thanks for the offer to help though.

Report · Mar 10, 2016

Got it, that totally makes sense, I wasn't thinking about that. My accountant does the same thing. In that case, your last resort might be to attempt to create a blank copy of the PDF on a Mac if a family member or friend has one (just make sure you update their copy of Acrobat Reader beforehand). Good luck!

Report · Sep 10, 2016

Whit

Thanks for posting the workaround to this issue.

1) Using your tip as the search key I was able to find the text of my changes to the .pdf and copy it to a

plain text file.

I tried the 13-step recovery process in your post dated Jan 13, 2016 5:06 PM,

https://forums.adobe.com/message/8701000#8701000

(using Wordpad as the editor) but Adobe Reader failed to open it, gave error, "file is damaged".

2) BTW: I did not understand the method you outlined to "avoid the problem

happening in the future".

Could you please explain it again.

3) I believe that as one edits the PDF using Adobe "Fill & Sign" tool, it keeps track of ALL one's changes incrementally.

When the file gets too big ~ 10 MB, Adobe Reader cannot handle it and then the problem happens.

Best regards

Umesh

Report · Sep 12, 2016

Hi Umesh,

It's been awhile since I dealt with this issue, but I think I can at least do this:

2) BTW: I did not understand the method you outlined to "avoid the problem
happening in the future".
Could you please explain it again.

In order to be sure that you don't lose data you've typed into an Acrobat form using the Fill & Sign feature, you need to save your PDF, then make a copy of it *before* closing it. Once you close it, there's a good chance that the content will magically disappear, but it should still be visible in the duplicated version.

Report · Mar 03, 2017

The above solution worked for me. I used Adobe Acrobat Reader DC on Mac OS Sierra 2015 MBP to fill out a form but when I went to send it via Adobe's send feature I noticed that all the text disappeared + all the boxes in the entire document checked themselves... So I tried editing the document in Apple's Purview and has similar issue (everything except the Signature disappeared). In Preview I had not yet closed the document so I exported it to PDF (similar to saving a copy ) and it worked! When I tried opening the exported to PDF version in both Preview and Acrobat all the edits were there..... I have to say. Adobe you wasted bout 2 hour of my time. I was trying to fill out a rather basic form (two pages) ... I should have just printed it out and done it the old fashion way. You guys have so many bells and whistles but are dropping the ball on literally the most basic of all PDF functions... If I was a paying customer (which I am not because $14 a month for a casual users of PDFs is an insane rip off and you offer no other pricing options) then I would ask for a refund. Now all I asked is that you simple fix this issue that has been going on for more than year

Report · Jun 03, 2021

It's been years, and I am unsure if you'll even see this, but it just happened to me and I've lost medical information I can't recover otherwise. I'm trying your fix but I'm stuck at the "Save the (formerly) bad PDF." It will only let me save in text formats (.rtf, .docx, .odt, .txt) and it removes all of the formatting. How can I save and open it as a PDF? I really really hope you see this...

Report · Apr 20, 2016

I, too, am having tthis issue! I work in a medical office and PDFs are sent to me daily for refills, records requests and prior authorizations. I have been filling information in using Fill&SIgn with ZERO issues to date. ZERO!! Suddenly I have been battling with an insurance company who swears I have NOT been sending them requested information when I know I DID!! Fill & SIgn forms, "save as" then fax. Today I noticed right as I "save as" the data I filled in disappeared entirely and only the signature was left! I have tried renaming document, exporting to word (which makes it a pain to fill out) simply doing "Svae" instead of Save As..and nothing is working? I literally rely on these PDF's daily and if I cannot utilize the same option I have for the last 4 years I am up the proverbial creek..sans paddle! HELP!!!!

Report · Apr 20, 2016

For those having the issue....

I finally said the heck with it...Uninstalled, reinstalled..problem solved! It works again!

Report · Jun 28, 2016

Same f-ed up situation. Lost everything except for few random phrases.. Now... how the hell those few phrases were saved ad the rest of the comments are gone??? Did everything that was advised in the comments above and nothing helped. Any help, Adobe Support???

Report · Jul 08, 2016

I've come across a solution. According to some other forums relating to the same issue, it seems as if disabling Javascript in the Adobe Acrobat settings allows you to save and open fillable form documents with your entries. Save your filled form with a NEW FILE NAME than that of the original. The file will preview and open with your forms filled in both Adobe Acrobat and Apple Preview. After you're done with signing your files, remember to enable Javascript again.

Report · Sep 18, 2016

The android app has the same issue.

Anyone with some free time, please call adobe helpcenter to complain.

Report · Sep 23, 2016

Where do we stand for a solution? I'm using Acrobat 8 Pro, on Mac OS 10.9.5 and have the same problem.

What I do now, is import the PDF into Indesign, fill in there and print to new PDF, but it's a pain, and don't want the extra step.

Report · Dec 15, 2016

I have had this issue several times over the past few months. To see that it is an issue of 12 months standing make me want to ditch Adobe completely and ask for my money back. It's a very simple use case (filling in a form in exactly the way they intend it, and then being unable to save it) and frequent enough that we shouldn't have to reproduce it - I get angry every time I "reproduce" it, why would I try again. I am not in the business of being tech support for Adobe on such a high frequency error. It's just lazy on their part.

Report · Jan 21, 2017

Don’t know how much this helps but if anyone just wants to print the file with their included information then Microsoft Edge seems to open the pdf with the add in data complete, allowing you to at least print what you have.

Report · Feb 24, 2017

Has Adobe addressed your frustration on this issue? If not have you found a better program to use. If so, please advise because I do not have time for this in our practice. Thank you.

Report · Dec 09, 2016

What a fiasco, Adobe. Hey wasn't the whole forced down our throats Creative Cloud subscription model so that Adobe could release continuous updates and features? Oh wait, maybe losing all your work IS a feature!

I am glad I'm only losing a few sections of one page of a fillable form.

Here's a workaround if you only have one page: export it as a jpg.

Report · Feb 24, 2017

Has this been resolved? I am having the same problem.