There was an error opening this document. Access denied.

Report · Jan 04, 2018

Guys,

Adobe reader cannot open any document on mounted drive on my PC.

The mounted drive is on same computer, it doesn’t have drive letter, but mounted to a folder.

Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard

Adobe reader 11.0.23

Error: There was an error opening this document. Access denied.

Adobe reader can browse directory structure just fine.

Adobe reader can open and show same file if the file copied to system drive.

Notepad can open same pdf file (and show garbage, obviously)

Any other program can open same file just fine too.

There are no any messages in Application and System logs from Adobe reader.

To open a pdf file, I have to copy it always which is quite inconvenient.

I wonder if there is a way to troubleshot problems opening PDFs?

I cannot find any instructions, except one below, completely useless in my case...

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/troubleshoot-problems-opening-pdfs.html

Can somebody point to proper troubleshooting instructions, please?

Thank you

Report · Jan 19, 2018

Hi HumptyD,

Sorry for the delay in response.

Please try disabling mode and check if that helps. Click Edit > Preferences > Security ( Enhanced ) > uncheck the box next to Enable protected mode at startup. For more info on Protected Mode troubleshooting | Adobe Reader

Note: Disabling protected mode is for troubleshooting purpose only, enable protected mode when troubleshooting is complete.

If that doesn't work, try running Reader in compatibility mode as the following link discuss and check if that helps:

Cannot open files on the network server.

Adobe ReaderX can not open sharing files on Server

Thanks,

Shivam

Report · Jan 19, 2018

Shivam,

It does work when protected mode at startup is NOT enabled.

Don’t understand why it kick-in on local drive still...

I’ve added 2nd local drive mount point to trusted locations in Edit > Preferences > Security ( Enhanced ) > Add folder path and re-enabled protected mode at startup.

But it didn’t help I’m not able to open files there still.

Even if I added a file, not folder - it didn’t work either.

It shows the same message

Error: There was an error opening this document. Access denied.

Again, these are files and folders on the 2nd local drive, not network server shared files.

Report · Feb 06, 2018

Hi HumptyD,

Could you please confirm if the mounted drive has any drive letter? Also, what is the file path you are using to access the files?

Is it via Windows Explorer or via the RUN line?

Thanks,

Shivam

Report · Feb 06, 2018

>Could you please confirm if the mounted drive has any drive letter?

No. Only root drive has a letter - C:\

2nd drive is mounted to C:\mnt\D

It’s written it in very 1st post:

>>The mounted drive is on same computer, it doesn’t have drive letter, but mounted to a folder.

>Could you please let us know how these drives are connected physically?

>Is it via LAN or via Network, USB?

1st drive is SATA

2nd - USB.

>Also, if there is any documentation you can provide us which can help us in understanding the issue better?

I don’t really know. Any other program works fine (notepad, Windows Explorer, etc.)

Only Adobe reader doesn’t trust 2nd drive for some reason.

A PDF document cannot not be open via any program:

Windows Explorer, "start book.pdf" or Adobe reader itself.

All above work just fine when "protected mode" is NOT enabled in Adobe reader at startup.

Funny thing, the post title says now:

This question is Assumed Answered.

How do I change it to Not Answered?

Report · Jul 11, 2019

We've hit the same problem recently. It's basically when a drive/volume is mounted to folder pdf files cannot be opened.

Unfortunately this happens in the default security mode of Acrobat Reader.

I don't think this is a real security issue, it's more likely a bug in Acrobat Reader.

I've even filed a bug with a clear repro case. Obviously this issue has not been prioritized by Adobe.

Report · Feb 26, 2020

I had this issue and it turned out to be Offline Sync settings. If you look for the little green ying/yang symbol this is what it was. The little x over the documents and the fact that old files were there and new files were not. Look for "Sync Center" make sure it is not enabled.

Report · Oct 12, 2020

I had this same error (There was an error opening this document. Access denied.) in the Acrobar Reader DC desktop app and just spent half a day trying various potential fixes and Adobe security settings, even though I had not changed these from the defaults. Eventually I just uninstalled then reinstalled the desktop app and that did the trick. And all my securuty settings are back to the defaults because of this. So I don't know if changing those settings is always the solution. FWIW, my acces to my Adobe Cloud PDFs had always worked through a browser, it was just the desktop app I had the trouble with.

Report · Jan 04, 2022

Here's what i did to resolve the issue

I disabled the setting Uncheck box blah blah blah but that really didn't change anything so i went to the prompt below in the security enhanced section.

Edit > Preferences > Security (Enhanced)

2. Scroll Down to Privilegdged Location:

3. Add Folder Path
Navigate to selected folder that holds the file which is giving the error

4. You should be able to access all your documents (Forcefully) 🙂

Report · Apr 08, 2022

Hi everyone,

A user was having this issue recently while trying to access the file via OneDrive. It turns out that files with shorter names in the same directory were capable of being opened, but the length of the name of this particular file was pushing up against the windows file path character limitation and was causing Adobe to throw this error. While I'm sure this isn't the only cause for this error, I can confirm that this was the issue for us.

Thanks!

Ash

Report · Apr 14, 2022

We have this issue quite often with long filenames of pdf documents. And it just happened to me and I forgot to rename it. Renamed the file with a short name and it opened right up. Thanks for the reminder!

Report · Jan 11, 2024

This solved my issue also.

Thank you

Report · Aug 10, 2022

Thanks! This solved my problem. 🙂

Report · Apr 13, 2023

This also solved my problem. Gold star for you thanks! Shame that Adobe can't work to solve this issue themselves.......

Report · Sep 10, 2023

This solved my problem. Thank you.

Report · Feb 26, 2024

I had this issue and it was with income tax forms (not a good thing). Tried suggestions found here and nothing. Finally moved the file from the drive location out to the desktop and Acrobat then opened it. Thank goodness.

Report · Apr 19, 2022

I had a similiar issue but now I can view the pdf document. However, I am unable to delete the pdf file from my desktop. Any ideas?

Report · Apr 20, 2022

What happens exactly when you try to delete the file?

Report · Oct 31, 2023

This worked for me. Thanks.

Report · Jan 06, 2024

I experienced the same problem by adding my drive as a folder path in "Privelged Locations." I didn't have to change any security preferences either.

From the "Menu":
Preferences -> Security (Enhanced)
Then, go to the "Privileged Locations" window
- Click the "Add Folder Path" Button
- Click on your drive (or whatever folder)
- Click "Select Folder"
- Click "OK"
- Restart Adobe Acrobat (Or Adobe Reader App)

Then retry opening your file and it should work.

Report · Jan 25, 2024

I just tried this exact same thing. I closed out of Adobe Acrobat and now I cannot open Adobe Acrobate...any ideas on how to resolve this?