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SAM199426
New Participant
February 11, 2020
Answered

Need to stop word docs automatically opening in acrobat app on iPad

  • February 11, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 22111 views

Hi there 

 

I accidentally opened a word doc from an email in the acrobat app on my iPad  and now any word doc on my iPad will only open in acrobat and not in word so i cannot edit them!!! It's really infuriating and i need to edit documents for class. Can you please let me know how i can fix this i cannot find anything in settings. 

 

I would really appreciate if you could let me know 

 

Thanks 

Correct answer cko.himawan

Long press on any docx file, klik share, and pick Word app. The file will be opened in Word. After that, all docx will be opened on Word.

4 replies

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amanda_3312
New Participant
September 9, 2025

On my iPad I don't understand how to change my word doc out of adobe. I double clicked but not option to change anything. Please help

S_S
Community Manager
S_SCommunity Manager
Community Manager
September 10, 2025

Hi @amanda_3312,

 

Hope you are doing well. Thanks for writing in!

 

It would be nice to know how you are opening the file. Are you opening it directly from the Acrobat application?

As per design, iOS should open most compatible document files on the Preview App, from where you take it further to the app of your preference.

 

Also, if you have a Word document compatible application on your iPad, you should be able to open the file by either directly opening the app and then locating the document, or by selecting the document, using the share option, and selecting the app you want to open it to.

 

All in all, it all comes down to how you open the file. Can you share a screen recording of the time you try to open the file and it opens in Acrobat?

That would give us a good understanding, and help us provide proper troubleshooting steps.


Regards,
Souvik.

E
EMMANUEL33828192h61r
New Participant
November 24, 2023

I had similar issue on my phone. Not the best experience when you need to get something done. It keep returning to Adobe free trial. It's definitely adobe was selected as default (open always) to open or convert the word document at some point. How to solve this?... Long press the word document and click share. Check the Microsoft app if it shows create pdf. If this happens, temporarily Uninstaller the adobe app on your phone or device. Go back to the document you were trying to open, long press and click share, you should be able to select open with word or Microsoft. This should restore your settings. You can now reinstall adobe reader on your phone. Hope this helps.

S_S
Community Manager
S_SCommunity Manager
Community Manager
November 28, 2023

Hi @EMMANUEL33828192h61r,

 

Thanks for sharing the elaborative description on how to prevent this from happening.

 

The workflow of the default app in iOS is controlled on how you open the file the last instance. 

If you used Acrobat Reader Mobile to open the file, it will switch to default for all future instances. However, if you use the share option to open the file in the correct application again, uninstalling would not be necessary in that case.

 

-Souvik

C
cko.himawanCorrect answer
New Participant
May 25, 2021

Long press on any docx file, klik share, and pick Word app. The file will be opened in Word. After that, all docx will be opened on Word.

    W
    W20140918
    New Participant
    November 22, 2021

    You made my day. It was so frustrating that all word documents opened in Adobe by default. Now it works. Thanks again.

      ls_rbls
      Community Expert
      ls_rblsCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 18, 2020

      Readjust the file association for the word documents.

       

      Long press on a word document icon and select which app to open it with. 

       

      By default Safar is the PDF owner  and viewer as well as for many other file types. And there is no way to change the default handler in iOS devices.

       

      It seems that somehow you've selected the wrong file association to handle .docx files if you were using Pages, for example.

       

      Were you also using Google Drive by any chance?

       

      Some bugs have been reported in this regard since 2017 in the Apple support forums.

       

      So again, have you try to open the same  MS Word documents in Pages?

       

      Re-check in Export Your Document, if when you  selected  the Word tab, that the format is associated with .docx extension and not .pdf

       

       

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