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

[Noodles_OnTop]

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.

[Amal .]

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:

• Go to Acrobat Reader>Preferences>Signatures>Identities & Trusted Certificates click More.
• Select Digital ID on the left and click on Remove ID
  
• To remove the digital id from Mac Keychain you may follow the links-
  how to delete keychain on all devices so … - Apple Community
  reset keychain on mac - Apple Community
  
  

Let us know if this works for you.

Regards,

Amal

[Beth157F]

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.

[Scipio]

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.  

[St_G_ · Accepted solution]

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]

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.

[Beth157F]

Did it  repopulate for you. I delete and it comes back.

[ls_rbls]

This website provides a wealth of information with many detailed setp-by-step instructions:

https://militarycac.com/keychain.htm

See if you're missing any of the steps.

[Ranjit jena]

Ranjit jena

[E5FE1]

Thanks so much. This was hugely helpful.

[Adam30863110zyf5]

Thanks so much - saved lots of unnecessary stress when it really wasn't needed. Thanks.

Adobe - you can stick that feature where the sun don't shine, along with AI.

[Marcuscarman]

This worked perfectly! Thank you so much! I totally agree that a "delete all" approach is not a reasonable solution.

[ORIENT MiddleEast]

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..

[toms46287569]

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? 

[JR Boulay]

MOVED TO THE ACROBAT READER FORUM

[Ranjit jena]

yes