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Noodles_OnTop
New Participant
June 15, 2019
Answered

Unable to delete Digital IDs using Acrobat Reader DC and from Keychain on Mac

  • June 15, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 17104 views

Just a few weeks ago, I was asked to create a signature to sign a document, now I can't send any emails without granting access each time and typing in a password. I tried to remove Digital IDs from keychain and got this error 'Removing a digital ID is only permitted if the ID was created by Adobe Reader or Acrobat version 8.0 or later." I'm on a mac and browser is Safari.

I tried to get help from Adobe Tech Support but they said they couldn't help because it is a free program, and that's what the forums are for, and also that I should contact Apple. But the signature was created within Acrobat DC version 19.12 the latest version - not a version from years ago, and I am trying to delete the ID from within that same program.

I want to completely delete my Digital ID, remove it from my keychain, and be able to send emails etc without getting the pop-up window to allow access to the keychain.

I have read through the forum and it seems like so many people have a similar issue but nothing seems to have been resolved. One suggestion is to reset my keychain, but this means I will lose all my passwords for all programs across all apple devices.

Adobe Acrobat tech support should be able to resolve this issue as it was created and is hosted in their own software program. This is very annoying and clearly a bug/fault within the program.

    Correct answer St_G_

    EUREKA! I solved this problem.

     

    Like OP it emerged when I had to create a signature for a PDF and naively saved it to my keychain. Apple Mail then began to insist on digitally signing all outgoing mail via entering my keychain password. Following Adobe's advice below to select the errant digital ID wouldn't let me click 'remove.' Adobe's additional advice to go the nuclear option and totally delete keychain and loose all my passwords and other security settings is frankly an amaturish and stupid buck passing exercise of a known issue that others have reported on the forums.  

    The permanent solution:  Open Keychin on your Mac. Select Login from the upper left menu and select MyCertificates from the lower left menu. On the right, you'll be able to see any certificates saved in your keychain. Find the offending certificate:  I did this by cross referencing with the expiry date of the certificate I couldn't delete from within Adobe. (Note you need to click the arrow to expand the folder content).  Right click to delete it from your Keychain. If you're nervous about deleting it, you could export a copy to your downloads folder first as back up.  Now that I've deleted the Adobe certificate, Mail has returned to normal behaviour. 

     

    There is also a less permanent workaround in Mail. If encription is turned on in Mail via login keychain settings, there will be a blue star icon below the subject line when you compose a new email. Click that star. It will grey out with a x mark. Mails will send normally, however this might inadvertantly disable any other digital mail signing that you actually do want or need attached to outgoing emails. 

     

    I hope this is more helpful than Adobe's boilerplate response!

    4 replies

    JR Boulay
    JR Boulay
    Braniac
    September 29, 2021

    MOVED TO THE ACROBAT READER FORUM

    Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
    R
    Ranjit jena
    New Participant
    March 10, 2023

    yes

    ORIENT MiddleEast
    ORIENT MiddleEast
    New Participant
    September 29, 2021

    Hi

     

    If you are a mac user all what you need to do is:

    1- Go to your mac key chain

    2- Choose the Certificate(s) you need to delete 

    3- Before you delete, ensure that you export it to your desktop for examplem should you require it in the futute for anything

    4- Select the certificate again

    5- hit delet

    and hereyou go, that is all you need to do.

     

    Hope this was of any help..

    T
    toms46287569
    New Participant
    December 1, 2023

    I'm having the same problem. However, I've followed the process to remove the ID from Acrobat preferences and when I select the certificate and click on "Remove ID" nothing happens. I've deleted it from my Apple Keychain but I continue getting error messages whenever I try to send email from Apple Mail (they work when sending from a web browser interface). How can the digital ID from Acrobat? 

    S
    St_G_Correct answer
    New Participant
    June 2, 2020

    EUREKA! I solved this problem.

     

    Like OP it emerged when I had to create a signature for a PDF and naively saved it to my keychain. Apple Mail then began to insist on digitally signing all outgoing mail via entering my keychain password. Following Adobe's advice below to select the errant digital ID wouldn't let me click 'remove.' Adobe's additional advice to go the nuclear option and totally delete keychain and loose all my passwords and other security settings is frankly an amaturish and stupid buck passing exercise of a known issue that others have reported on the forums.  

    The permanent solution:  Open Keychin on your Mac. Select Login from the upper left menu and select MyCertificates from the lower left menu. On the right, you'll be able to see any certificates saved in your keychain. Find the offending certificate:  I did this by cross referencing with the expiry date of the certificate I couldn't delete from within Adobe. (Note you need to click the arrow to expand the folder content).  Right click to delete it from your Keychain. If you're nervous about deleting it, you could export a copy to your downloads folder first as back up.  Now that I've deleted the Adobe certificate, Mail has returned to normal behaviour. 

     

    There is also a less permanent workaround in Mail. If encription is turned on in Mail via login keychain settings, there will be a blue star icon below the subject line when you compose a new email. Click that star. It will grey out with a x mark. Mails will send normally, however this might inadvertantly disable any other digital mail signing that you actually do want or need attached to outgoing emails. 

     

    I hope this is more helpful than Adobe's boilerplate response!

      roderickm47146542
      roderickm47146542
      New Participant
      September 11, 2020

      Thank you for this procedure!  I thought I would be stuck signing email until 2025, which is when the certificate ended.  All worked perfectly and the offending keychain entry was removed.

      A
      Amal .
      Inspiring
      July 19, 2019

      Hi There,

      Apologies for the delay in response, I hope you would be able to fix it by now.

      As you were experiencing issues with Digital ID on Acrobat Reader and wants to delete it. You may try the following steps:

      Let us know if this works for you.

      Regards,

      Amal

        B
        Beth157F
        New Participant
        March 26, 2021

        I can not remove the ID from Adobe or my keychain. I am on a MAC. Please help.  I have tried everything and it repopulates.

          S
          Scipio
          New Participant
          April 9, 2021

          I have the same issue.  I delete it and it comes back.  All of my outbound emails from the associated email address show that the identity of the sender cannot be verified.  

           

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