PDF fillable form not displaying field data

[T_Hubbard]

Greetings, 

I have an employee who is receiving fillable PDF forms for work via email. When opening file preview on the form within Outlook Desktop the form is displayed and the field data is in the fields designated. When opening the PDF with Reader or Acrobat Pro the forms field data is blank. Clicking on fields to highlight test does not reveal anything, and trying to insert a space and delete the space within the field nothing is revealed. When opening the file with MS Edge, all the forms field data is then viewable. I have another employee that was able to open the same form using their Acrobat XI and was able to view the field data as well. With opening the PDF's via Edge, we are able to print form to MS Print to PDF and upon doing so and opening with Reader or Acrobat Pro the form data is viewable.  I have checked the versions of Reader and Acrobat Pro and both are up to date as well. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Bruno28496957gy7t]

Feb 20, 2023: Problem still exists. Form created and shared in a cloud environment and all users see the form fields, except 1 user.  Did not find any setting to change situation. If this happens within, once the form is published for the public to use we can expect several of such glitches and subsquently, calls to customer service. Not a good experience 😞

[try67]

You should not publish a document with data in form fields. They are likely to be removed or edited, either on purpose or not. Flatten the file before sending it out, to ensure the values remain as they should.

[Bruno28496957gy7t]

Why do you assume there is data in the form fields?

[try67]

The entire thread is about form field data disappearing for users, so I assumed that's what you were talking about... If it's not, please explain your situation.

[Bruno28496957gy7t]

Acrobat does not highlight the fillable field on the form, there is no outline thus the fields are invisible. Unless you use the keybord tab to navigate from one field to the other, there is no way to tell where the fields are.

[try67]

Click on Tools - Forms - More - Highlight Existing Fields. It's also possible to embed a small script in the file to enable this option automatically when it's opened, but that will affect all the files opened by the user, not just yours.

[Bruno28496957gy7t]

Finally found the error was in the general settings. Thanks for the help.

[Thomas Burleigh]

Hello, all.  I had a similar issue due to Restricting Permissions to protect my Adobe Acrobat DC document.  I did not have Changes Allowed for "Filling in form fields and signing existing signature fields".  Worked after setting this option.  Hope this helps!

[Bruno28496957gy7t]

Nope, did that. Thanks for the help.

[Anita286163350mr4]

Same issue here.  I am update to date with latest Adobe version.  My co-workers received the same  PDF attachment as me in the same email.  My form is blank while all their form is populated.  So this is not the way the form is fill out issue, this is isolated to my specific Adobe.

[dXine]

Morning there.

Yes, still having that issue, using Acrobat DC 2023. You can't exactly go and tell a dozen clients or more to only use Adobe products.

Kind regards.

[try67]

Then you'll need to deal with the consequences of them using those sub-par apps.

[dXine]

Hi there

Awesome, thank you for taking the time to respond, even if is not helpful in shape.

Opted to use Word Develper Tooilkit instead. Jotform also works well for my purposes.

Wiping any trace of Adobe off my pc and reinstalling it seem to have resolved the mysterious disappearing text mystery.... until it happens again. No idea why it did that.

Kind regards,

Anthony

[LodiBonito]

June 2023 - The problem still exists. I reported this issue to Adobe support but no luck. Just to compare, I installed Foxit FREE pdf reader and there is no issue at all. A FREE software compared to a $25 MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION! I don't know why Adobe hasn't solved this issue until now. It's been a few years. Creating a vaccine for COVID is easier than Adobe solving this issue. HAHA! ^_^

[Sébastien22053462xshy]

August 2023 - Still not fixed. Works correctly in reader, but as soon as I open it with Acrobat Pro, no more text.

[Liam32822980ax53]

Yep, experiencing the exact same on Adobe Pro. Only work around is view in browser. This is crazy there is no resolution yet

[Stephanie34088932370a]

The problem still exists.  I am having W-9 forms filled out for contractors and i can view it in chrome, but I can't see it in adobe.  I have to print to pdf again to make it usable!  It's so inefficient.  If anyone has a different fix or setting, please post.

[dmontigny]

My quick fix is to add an extra character to the filed with an issue. Tab out of that field and the data stayed visible for me. I then went back to the field and deleted the extra character.

[Miranda33585954crx7]

Changing the "Forms" Preference, unchecking "Show border hover color for fields" under the "Highlight" section fixed it for us.

[Jsilver1951]

I have the  same problem and unchecking the "show border hover color for fields" did not help any other ideas?

[EPW36500487dk9c]

I designed my Form with Acrobat DC. I filled in my form fields using Acrobat DC and saved. I opened the filled in form with Acrobat DC. My filled in fields do not show what I entered unless I click on them. This was all done with the same Adobe DC software on the same computer. I read this entire thread and tested all the "solutions" to only validate that the "experts" still have no solutions for almost four years now! Please... either provide a single step answer or admit that Adobe has no clue how to ressolve this.

[barbc88891985]

This is, by far, the BEST example that Adobe could ask for in order to troubleshoot.  Thanks for sharing.  I think it is safe to say, "there is no resolution", just work-arounds of various sorts.  For us it was using a browser instead of Acrobat Reader OR zooming the document in Acrobat Reader; if we zoomed in or out, the fields would suddenly popluate. 

[EPW36500487dk9c]

Wow! The Zoom approach worked!

(Just another Band-Aid though)

[barbc88891985]

Agreed -- Just a "band-aid", but at least we can move on after a few extra clicks, right!

Glad it helped you out. 

Take care, 

Barb

[Nick25695565jo5a]

How did you zoom? I tapped on the + button and the - button in the center of the screen, then changed the drop down list from 100% to 150% and no change. 
It is April 4/24, I am running Adobe Acrobat 2023 on one PC and 2024 on another and I have exactly the same results.