Why will PDF not open from email?

Report · Sep 01, 2009

I recently modified my Adobe Reader 9.1 (with instructions from the bank) to be able to electronically sign documents.

Since then I can not open any PDF documents from email. I went back and reversed the changes I made. I uninstalled Adobe and reinstalled it. No luck.

I have to save the documents and open them from Windows Explorer.

Any Ideas?

Report · Nov 24, 2009

I know this is a user blog and YES I have reported it but the reply I get is it is Microsoft, like the person a few posts above mine. It is ONLY PDF and not any other attachments including .doc. I have spent hours and hours for 3 weeks looking for a fix. I find user blogs the most helpful and hopefully someone has solved the problem and it was important that I list everything I have tried as not to get a repeat on what I have tried.

So in all my point in posting for help is to get help from users which is the purpose of this blog and also on the Microsoft user blogs.

Report · Dec 02, 2009

I am also having problems opening PDF's, but I am trying to open them from the browser (e.g. ie, I haven't tried any others). Is anyone else experiencing this problem too?

I can save the PDF from the email (e.g. outlook) and it works fine, but I need to be able to open up a PDF without it gving me the error message "file type not recognized". Has anyone had this problem too?

Thx for your help in advance! :~)

Report · Dec 02, 2009

I think I have figured it out. I went my documents and right clicked on a

pdf document. Rather than just open with Adobe I selected "open with" and

had choices. Then I selected adobe and there was a box that said "open all

similiar files with this program" . I said "yes sir" and then opened the the

file. I then went to my "Outlook express" and was able to open all the pdf

files like I should have.

Report · Dec 03, 2009

Hum... well that may work for you, but not in my case. Mine is a little bit different situation. Actually it's not even my computer I am talking about, it is someone else's. But I am trying to help her get it fixed.

She isn't having trouble opening PDF's in an email like others in this thread, she is having trouble opening them in a browser window. If she gets a PDF sent to her she can open it, preview it in the inboxes window, save it and then open it, but when she tries to open the PDF from a webpage it will not open, it tries to search for the appropriate program on the web to use to open the file.

We have also tried to look at other PDF's stored on her hard drive, they open fine too. Adobe Reader is set to be the default for PDF's. Does anyone know what is going on?

Report · Apr 22, 2014

I am also having the same issue such as yours. Wish someone could help. This issue started recently like a month ago.

Report · Apr 22, 2014

This topic is almost 5 years old!

Please provide some details; there are so many different issues in this long topic.

Report · Apr 23, 2014

I am having trouble trying to open a website. It is giving me a PDF error message "file type not recognized". The website will not open instead it search for the appropriate program on the web to use to open the file . I tried every program but to no avail. Can anyone help me ? I really appreciate any help.

Thanks so much in advance.

Report · Apr 23, 2014

What is your operating system? Browser? Reader version?

Does that happen with any PDF, e.g. http://helpx.adobe.com/pdf/adobe_reader_reference.pdf

Report · Apr 25, 2014

There seems to be a common problem with a myriad of different fundamentals so here is another...

I use Outlook and a week ago found that when I tried to open a pdf attachment it opened Adobe Reader but came up with the error message 'There was an error opening this document. This file can not be found'

I am using Windows 7, Outlook 2013 and Adobe Reader XI.

As with other users above I can save it to my hard drive and open it from there without a problem but apart for clogging up a folder it is also a slow work round. I can preview it in Outlook.

Any ideas and many thanks for reading this far.

Report · Nov 10, 2014

Hi All

If you right click on the PDF in the email and save it to your files. Then right click on the file and go open with eg: windows photo viewer or choose a default program for viewing files.

Once you do that you should be able to go back to the email and open any PDFs that are attached.

Hope this works for others

Report · Feb 11, 2015

How to fix it

Intuit recommends more than one solution for this problem. The first solution may solve your problem, or you may need to try all of them to resolve the issue. For best results, perform the solutions in the order shown.

Solution 1: Create or change the file association in the Control Panel.

Click Start>Control Panel>Default Program>Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
Locate .PDF and change the current default to Internet Explorer.

Solution 2: Check the default PDF Handler in the Adobe Reader Preferences.

Open Adobe Reader X.
Click the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
Click the General tab on the left.
Click the Select Default PDF Handler button.
In the screen that pops up make sure the Select Adobe Product shows the current version Of Adobe Reader X.

Solution 3: Install a new PDF reader.

Download and install a free PDF reader such as Foxit, and set it as the default program to open PDF files.
Attempt to open a PDF from within QuickBooks.
Verify that the PDF displays.
Now, using the steps in Solution 1, change the default program back to Adobe Reader (if desired).
Verify that PDF files still open without error.

Solution 4: Create a new Windows user

Attempting to open the attachment using a different Windows user will give us a premise to confirm any damage to the user account that is receiving the error.
If the attached PDF file opens under a new Windows user, you can continue to use QuickBooks under that new user or consult your computer tech

Report · Mar 21, 2015

I have the same problem with Acrobat Reader 11.0.10 in OS 10.10.1. It happens almost 100% of the time! Happening for months. I uninstalled my previous Acrobat version with the uninstaller re downloaded it from Adobe site and it still doesn't work. These pdf's are from a government or other official sites.

Have never had a reply from Adobe or from anyone else.

Mitzlet

Report · Mar 21, 2015

It would be more useful if you started a new topic with some details, instead of appending "I have the same problem" on a six year old topic.

Report · Nov 18, 2015

Are Acrobat and Outlook both open on your system when this happens? For us, the issue appeared to be that clicking on the attachment through Outlook wasn't launching Acrobat; as long as Acrobat was already running, the files could be opened directly from the e-mail.

MKD