Acrobat DC 2017 'The document could not be saved. The file may be read-only, or another user may have it open.'

[will97879410]

I've been trying to resolve an issue that two of my end users are experiencing.  They cannot open a pdf file and make changes and save it without getting the error in the title.  The full error message is:

'The document could not be saved.  The file may be read-only, or another user may have it open.  Please save the document with a different name or in a different folder.'

Here are the workstation specs:

Windows 7 32 bit

Adobe Acrobat Standard DC 2017 v2017.001.30079

The issues we are currently having are unusual.  Again, the user receives the error above once they attempt to modify and then save the pdf.  It will work as intended once the user reboots the computer and attempts the same process.  This will work correctly but for only a certain amount of time, ranging from 15 minutes to three hours.  My question is what process in Windows/Adobe could trigger this effect to lock the file after it has been opened?

Here is a little bit of information regarding the pdf file.  The file is on a shared network drive.  If the file is not already locked, other unaffected machines can make changes to it and save the file as intended.  These machines range from Windows 7 32bit to Windows 10 64 bit and Adobe versions range from Adobe Acrobat X Standard to Adobe Acrobat DC Pro.  If the pdf file is moved to the local drive, it works as intended.  The affected machines can modify any other filetype (.xlsx, .docx, .txt, etc.) in the same shared network folder without any issues.  The user has ‘Full Control’ permissions for the pdf file.  Once the file is locked, the user must reboot their computer or a server admin must unlock the file from the server itself.  I have not been authorized to replace the machine or do a reinstall.

These are the troubleshooting steps we've already attempted that have not resolved the issue:

1. 1.     Disable preview pane in Windows Explorer
2. 2.     Disable details view in Windows Explorer
3. 3.     Unselect the pdf and navigate to a different folder
4. 4.     Disable Protected Mode in Adobe Acrobat
5. 5.     Disable Javascript in Adobe Acrobat
6. 6.     Disable the AdobeGCInvokerUtility scheduled task
7. 7.     Disable the Adobe autoupdate utility scheduled task

So to finish my thought process, why would a user receive this particular error after a certain amount of time and how do I go about fixing it?  Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks in advance.

[Maverick812]

I'm also having the issue. So annoying...

GG Adobe.

[willd79222299]

Are you including full points in the file (PDF) name your saving with? I had this problem saving files ending with dates like this:-

Example document 30.11.2018

This worked:-

Example document 30-11-2018

This happened to me saving PDFs for the first time from the web. However, once I had saved them to my computer and opened them to save again, for filing else where, I found I could use 'full points' towards the end of the document name!!

To summarise, If I saved the same document (PDF) from the web for the first time (not tried other sources) without the full points, saves fine. The issue may be due the full points at the end of files/documents being intended to tell the operating system, Windows/Mac etc, that its the end of the user document name and the file extension type follows (this tells the computer what type of file it is and what program will open it). For example:-

.pdf        .jpg       .tiff       .eps       .gif

You may not see the file extension type abbreviation, as you need to change the "document view" settings as an option to see them. Not sure I have explained myself well, but this cured my problem. Hope this helps someone!

[SkinBoi]

Hi, I have the exact same problem on a Win7 PC running very latest Adobe Acrobat ProDC 2019.012.20035

Where is Adobe Support on this incredibly annoying issue??

[willd79222299]

Do not think its an Adobe Acrobat issue, Windows is an annoying OS in the first place, I use an iMac now! (Mac OS) Will never go back to Microsoft Windows, however, I am forced to use it at work! Sorry for moaning! Back to your problem ..... I found that trying to save a PDF (Acrobat) to the same folder (even changing the document name, so not over saving), gave me a similar problem. I had to go to the destination folder, click on a blank part of the folder window, to de-select the document I opened in the first place (intending to save in different name after editing), then go back to complete the save document procedure and then it saved! All good then!! .......... More moaning now! Lol! ..... Windows is not an intelligent OS, continuous patch to patch the last patch of the patch before update patches!!! Mmmmmmm!! Come on Redmond! How long have you been developing Windows OS!!!??? (In case you don't know, Redmond in California is where Microsoft create its misery for all Windows users!). And most importantly, would you send out a sub standard meal in a posh restaurant to your customer!? Well, same principle surely, provide an operating system to the world, not tested properly or fully debugged!!! Then let you, the customer or end user, to be the testers! They only try to fix things if they get feed back to do so. Shocking attitude! Hail to the Mac!!! Hope this helps!

[atterisp23712904]

We are seeing this issue too , across multiple laptops / PC's ... on the very latest build of windows, and latest build of Acrobat

I have an open support case for past week which has been largely ignored.

It occurs on ANY network drive ... whether its a DFS MS file server, an ancient 2008 R2 server, or even Samba shares on a linux box ... it has nought to do with what the back end server is.  We have ruled out AV.  We have gone through every type of 'security settings' within the product... and a large swathe of other fixes listed by the mighty internet, to no avail.  There are no other processes locking the file open, there are no temp files being created - the only process that interacts at all is ACROBAT.exe.  We get it on the 2nd or 3rd signing when using signatures. 

Perhaps this is due to a recent MS patch?  if so - Either way, the only product having a problem with that patch (assuming that's the case) is Acrobat - so to my mind, Adobe would be working with their partner, MS to diagnose.

The only solution / workaround we have at the moment is copying the PDF's to a local disk for signings , or using a different PDF product entirely.

Ajlan Huda​

[AnandSri]

Hi All,

We're sorry for the trouble you had, would you mind collecting the process monitor for the affected machines on which you are not able to open the multiple PDF files so that we can investigate further?

Download the Process Monitor tool Process Monitor - Windows Sysinternals | Microsoft Docs

Open and run it, reproduce the issue at your end, save the log files, and share it with us in private message only.

To send a private message, please take help from the article How Do I Send  Private Message | Adobe Community

Upload the log files in Document Cloud Storage and share the link Adobe Document Cloud

Download and install the latest patch available for Acrobat and Reader and see if you still experience the issue 19.012.20036 Planned update, August 13, 2019 — Release Notes for Acrobat DC Products

Thanks for your time and patience thus far.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

[DCJ777]

I have one user who is having this issue going on. I've tried all the suggestons but nothing has worked.

[BruBaker64]

Any update on this issue? I have a user with Acrobat Pro X with the same issue. I know X is old but it still works except for this new issue which popped up. Is it related to a Windows Update?

[private_forestland]

Any update? We have a couple new dell workstations running windows 10 with adobe acrobat 2017 that have experienced the issue. The file resides on our file server. We open the file to scan more pages into it. We then click to save and acrobat says the file is read only or open somewhere else. Neither of which is true. We haven't had this issue until this month. Windows version 1903. All drivers and bios, etc. are up-to-date. We are not installing Windows 1909 until a known issue with it regarding Access is fixed in December.

[ls_rbls]

Try disabling Data Execution Prevention for all Programs in your windows version.

[ls_rbls]

See here for How-to's:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-atp/enable-ex... 

Here: https://docs.bmc.com/docs/TruesightOrchestration/81/configuring-dep-on-windows-computers-before-upgr... 

Here: https://www.centricsit.com/fixit-changing-data-execution-prevention-dep-settings/ 

[ls_rbls]

Has anyone been able to sort this out yet?

Just checking if there's any update on this.

Thanks.

[Michel Phillips]

I have the same issue. (It's now 2021, Adobe.) Windows 10, Acrobat DC. NOT with network files. I'm having it with files I'm trying to save to my own hard drive. It's usually random, maybe 5% or 10% of the time. Today it's happening with a particular file 100% of the time. I paused both Google Backup & Sync, and Carbonite. Still happening.

As a workaround, I just add a number to the file name and save it in the same location. As in, "Jones memo" becomes "Jones memo 2," then "Jones memo 3," etc. When I'm done working on the Jones matter, I delete all but the latest and just name it "Jones memo."

Aggravating, especially since it's been happening for years.

[Michel Phillips]

Update, bad news, good news.
Bad news: the workaround I described in my previous comment stopped working, with that same document.

Good news: I tried saving the document to my desktop (Windows 10) instead of the folder where it belongs. I've now re-saved updated versions to the desktop, several times, no problems. No name change necessary.

When I finish with the document, I will try dragging it from the desktop to the appropriated folder.

[ls_rbls]

Thank you for sharing that feedback.

[Noushad5FFA]

It is infuriating reading these comments and Adobe still not having the courtesy to reply and solve this issue. We just purchased Acrobat Pro 2020 for all our workstations but this issue is holding us back from automating our processes.