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October 14, 2014
Question

Why won't some pdf-files open on tablet/phone? [Android]

  • October 14, 2014
  • 4 replies
  • 319459 views

I simply get the error saying: The document cannot be opened because it's not a valid pdf-document.

However I have no problems opening the file with my laptop, only my phone and tablet (Jellybean 4.2.2) won't open it.

My friends also have managed to open the file on their tablets (android/windows).

Have reinstalled and checked updates and tried other programs but none has worked for me.

I simply have no clue and would appreciate help.

4 replies

New Participant
March 1, 2017

Have gotten this, " tech support call " , from friends and family and I'm sure that I can now be there for them and give them the advise, guidance to be helpful in the future.  THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP WITH THIS.

February 19, 2017

I'm having the same problem

New Participant
June 3, 2016

Today I faced the same problem with a pdf file that has 14MB. What I did to open was use one web site to compress the file to 3MB and then I sent the email with the file attached. Now my android opened the file with adobe reader properly. The website that I use was Comprimir PDF – Comprimir arquivos PDF online

But you can search another site or app to do the job for you. So the advice is to ask to the person who sent the file always use files with a size limit when you have some fast work that needs to be checked by phone or some other device. Otherwise you can use your laptop or desktop to check the file.

Romil Mittal
Adobe Employee
Adobe Employee
October 14, 2014

PDF files created by some non-Adobe products aren't structurally correct. Adobe Reader and Acrobat products try their best to open even such PDF files but they do differ in terms of the kind of such pdf files they are able to open.

You mentioned that your friends are able to open up the same PDF file on their Android devices. Did they also use Adobe Reader? If so, would it be possible for you share that PDF file with us (romil@adobe.com)? That will allow us to do some investigations.

Thanks.

October 14, 2014

Hey,

spent some time discussing this with some friends of mine and found out

that the document can be opened by downloading it to the computer and

transferring then to the tablet or phone. The difference is that when

downloading with tablet/phone I get a .pdf file, which only has some html

code. So I guess the problem has something to do with the encryption of the

file. Here are the 2 different files I get as attachments. After all this

might not have anything to do with adobe, but some other stuff I don't

really understand.

Tuomo

2014-10-14 22:26 GMT+03:00 Romil Mittal <forums_noreply@adobe.com>:

Why won't some pdf-files open on tablet/phone? created by Romil

Mittal <https://forums.adobe.com/people/Romil+Mittal> in *Adobe Reader

for Android* - View the full discussion

<https://forums.adobe.com/message/6825723#6825723>

New Participant
September 28, 2018

excellent solution