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When I open Adobe Acrobat Reader on my Mac after about 2 seconds I just get the swirling circle of death. I tried to install the patch issued in December by Adobe but when the installer asks me to select the copy of Adobe Acrobat to update. Unfortunately, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is greyed out and not an option to select therefore I cannot even install the update. I have no idea what to do at this point. Even documents that I create in other apps but are saved as PDF's will not open. I need access to these documents for my business. If I delete the app and reinstall will I lose these documents? I cannot take the chance of losing them so if someone can reassure me that I won't lose them I would appreciate it. But I do need this app. Please help!!!
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Are you using macOS or iOS?
And which version update number do you have for the Acrobat Reader installed in your Apple device?
You shouldn't loose any files if you back them up first to a separate mass storage device.
You can click on Help, and choose to Repair Installation.
You cam also use the Adobe Acrobat/Reader Cleanup and Repair tool and then reinstall.
But most importantly, have you considered using Time Machine?
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I have a macOS 10.13.6. I have no idea what version of Acrobat I have and I can’t tell as I cannot look into it. When I get the swirling circle it is for everything, even where I would find the version of reader, so that is not helpful. However, when I went onto the Adobe site to look into trying to see if I had cloud access to see if I could use my iPad (Adobe works on the iPad but I don’t have the docs from the MacBook on my iPad) I tried to download Reader and it told me that I had a newer version installed so it failed.
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No, a backup is not the same as moving files out of a computer. It is just a standard rule of thumb to copy your original content to a different mass storage device in case the problem is something else that the user is not aware of and breaks even more during a repair.
But here are a few suggestions:
And yes you can go to the document cloud.
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OK, obviously I am not as computer savvy as you are! I tried your first two options. First, I do not have any paid subscriptions, I only have Adobe Acrobat Reader DC so no worries of have multiple subscriptions everywhere! Secondly, when I try your second bullet suggestion(s), I cannot find several of the folders mentioned in the steps that I need to drag & drop onto the desktop, so that option is a bust and it only took me about an hour to read and understand what it wanted me to do and where the files were located! LOL! I am a simple user so some of this technical stuff is a bit difficult for me. I did try the updates again, starting with an earlier update but again, when it asked to select which folder to select, Adobe Acrobat was greyed out and not an option so the update failed. Is there anyway to get onto the document cloud without having to go into Reader (once again showing my limited knowledge!)? If not, again, not an option. But ultimately I still have to get this fixed on my laptop as this is my main computer for work and can't print off my iPad. So I guess my only option at this point is to copy all the files from Reader to a different storage device, uninstall Reader then reinstall. Hopefully this will fix the issue and I can get some much needed work done!! Thanks for your help, I'll be back at you if this doesn't work.
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I forgot to add another work around from another user.
Before you download and install Acrobat/Reader, empty the contents of the trash can bin.
This seems to take care of this issue. See if it works for you.
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OK, followed all your instructions, deleted Reader, then when I used the cleaner it stated that it was not installed. Cool. I emptied the trash bin as well just to make sure. So I reinstalled Adobe Acrobat Reader from your link above, wonderful. Opened it up and looked good.....for about 2 seconds then again, the swirling circle of death requiring a forced quit. I have no idea what to do now. At a total loss. Next????
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Seems like you're going to need to review additional troubleshooting steps in the following guidance:
https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/troubleshoot-system-errors-freezes-mac.html
If none of those troubleshooting steps resolve the issue, contact Adobe Customer Care directly.
A rep maybe able to troubleshoot your machine remotely.
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Hi Donnam,
We are sorry for the trouble and the delayed response. As described the Acrobat Reader is crashing on startup after 2 sec and the problem still persists after following all the steps provided in this thread. please try the following suggestion and see if that works for you.
Please create a new test user profile with full admin rights or enable the root account in Mac (https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT204012) and try to install the application there and check.
Let us know how it goes.
Regards
Amal