Acrobat Reader wants to save a form that wasn't modified (Windows 10)

[christopherf89006267]

Hello all,

I'm using Adobe Reader DC in Windows 10 to open a fillable-form (that I've generated using other software) to verify the layout and the look of the form fields, fonts, etc.

I have made no changes to the file, yet when I click the "X" to close it, I get a dialog

"Do you want to save changes to 'X' before closing?"

This seems like a bug (because the form was not modified in AR DC). This is also making for a longer work flow (more clicks) in my development process. Is there some way to turn off this behavior?

Is there a way to open a PDF file "Read Only" in Acrobat Reader? Again, my goal here is to reduce clicks in my development process.

Thanks!

[Bernd Alheit]

This is not a bug.

[try67]

It could be one of a couple of things happening:

1. The form is corrupt and Reader fixes it when you open it, which means you have to save the file after it was fixed, as it was edited by the application.

2. There's a script embedded in the file that's changing something in it when it is opened, again forcing you to save it when closing it.

If it's #1 there's nothing you can do about it. Save the file once and it should not happen again (as it should be fixed after that).

You can check if it's #2 by disabling JavaScript (via Edit - Preferences - JavaScript) before opening the file. If it doesn't ask you to save it when you close it then you know it's a script. There's nothing you can do about that, either (unless you want to keep JS disabled for good), as Reader doesn't let you change things like embedded scripts.

[christopherf89006267]

Thanks for the pointers.

• I verified that it wasn't #2 (turning off JavaScript).
• As for explanation #1, I did Save As... to a separate file, and then compared the two files using Notepad++. Acrobat Reader DC adds more than 200 lines of stuff after my file's %%EOF - everything prior is not changed. If anything, the file is incomplete by AR DC's expectations (not sure it's corrupt, at least according to pdf-online.com and its tools). I'm certainly not qualified to say if it's a bug, but it's 10 new objects, one of which is a lot of XML info. I won't judge it as a bug, since "these aren't the droids I'm looking for."

[try67]

After saving the file for the first time, does it happen again when you re-open it?

[christopherf89006267]

try67  wrote

After saving the file for the first time, does it happen again when you re-open it?

No, since the added XML and other objects seem to be what is required to make AR DC happy when it's opened.

[Cody5E24]

I have this problem with pdf's I haven't edited as well. Click the link, it downloads to the download folder, I open it, then I close it, "Do you want to save changes", pops up. How do I stop it?

I have tried disabling all the functions listed in other chat threads. I have seen you write this is usually due to corrupt/faulty pdf. Is there a way to look at the error that is casuing AR DC to ask the question "Do you want to save changes"? Is there a way to disable adobe checking the file? These are all probably old pdf's created by my company, and something is conflicting with a newer version of Acrobat Reader.

[christopherf89006267]

I found some work-arounds for the same question on StackOverflow in case it's helpful.