Acrobat pdf maker: The path of document being processed is too long.

[gabbi-db]

When we want to save a Word or Excel document in PDF maker, we get the following message:

Acrobat pdf maker the path of document being processed is too long. Please save the file to a path shorter than 255 characters and retry

Please advise.

[AkanchhaS]

Hey Gabbi,

Hope you are doing well.

This is a known issue or say feature limitation which has already been reported and in the discussion. 
The feature will be available soon as the dependencies were on Microsoft. Together, we were able to get this feature approved and will be available in near future release/update. 

Will keep you posted as soon as we'll get to hear anything from engineering.  

Thanks,

Akanchha 

[Just_Jacob]

The same issue as above, is there any resolution coming soon for this?

[Gordon5C59]

Mid-July now and still no fix. Just got the same error on my end. 

File name is short but if it's in a OneDrive location that's a few folders deep it can't handle it. Frustrating to say the least. My only fix was to SaveAs the file into my laptop Documents folder so the path was shortened and then save as PDF in the preferred OneDrive folder.

Not a convenient fix but it works.

[Shawn22534009aw4t]

Thanks for the information.  Your fix worked, seems Adobe could care less of the problem.

[Yolanda24205397wl6d]

I'm having this issue still.  any information on how to resolve this issue.

[tomo86748148]

Still a problem - glad I found this chat since my document is on a OneDrive location so I guess that's the issue. I will save it to my desktop.

[Ricky25291949fkkf]

Hello team!

Any resolution for this problem? From my side, I still moving the file on my desktop but not able to make it work on a network folder. 

[Liz26145258d04f]

Still an issue.  Any updates please?

[Mohannad26400119okm3]

This needs to be updated and fixed!

Very annoying I have to go work around this when I spent money on the software!

Please fix!

[rosemarystone]

Adboe, please fix this ASAP - a very long-standing request as we see from this thread. Many people use OneDrive and this issue will be affecting lots of people. I cannot be saving to other locations all the time as a work-around to address this major bug.

[Mohannad26400119okm3]

This needs to get fixed! Adobe this post is from 2021!

[AkanchhaS]

Hi All,

We sincerely apologize for not being able to follow up on this issue. 

To further investigate this issue, please try the following 

1- For the file word or excel you have been working with, save it on the desktop first and then try the conversion. 

2- Make sure you have got the most recent patch installed. 

Go to Acrobat> Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once (you must save all the work before restarting)

To download the patch manually, more information about this release is here: Release Notes | Adobe Acrobat, Reader

Let us know if it still doesn't work with the latest patch.

Thanks,

Akanchha 

[gorchase]

You'll notice above I already provided that as a workaround back in July 2021, what we're hoping for is a solution without needing to work around it by saving in multiple locations.

[rosemarystone]

Yes I agree with @gorchase, we need a proper solution, not a temporary workaround.  I need my files to stay in  OneDrive and PDF to that location. Lots of my documents have linked graphics and other objects so it doesn't suit me to move files around as a temporary measure because all the links get broken. Also I share them with others in my team so moving them out of the shared location has risks and doesn't suit a collaborative workplace.

[AkanchhaS]

@gorchase @gabbi-db 

We'll reach out to our product team to get more clarity on this issue. To further investigate and deep down the issue, would you mind sharing the following details, please?

1- Your current version of Acrobat and OS installed on the system.

2- Screenshot of the error.

3- A sample file that's giving this error upon conversion. 

4- Exact version of MS Office and One Drive.

Thanks,

Akanchha 

[gorchase]

Hi Akanchha,

This is the same issue as from Feb 10, 2021 when you said "This is a known issue or say feature limitation which has already been reported and in the discussion". If it's a known issue and was in discussion, I'm unsure why you need me to provide exact steps already noted above which was enough for it to be a known issue.

All software versions are the newest versions, this error has existed with every version as I keep them  up to date with auto-update and continue to have the issue along with the many others who have followed up.

Are you saying the issue has been fixed and it might be a version issue now?

[AkanchhaS]

Hi @gorchase 

Thank you for getting back.

When this issue was initially reported in Feb 2021 or earlier, Adobe was in discussion with Microsoft. Later the issue was resolved. 

Then we again heard it back in 2022. So, we suspect that it was to be fixed with a specific version, and every time an update was rolled out, the issue reappeared. 

Hence, we need to confirm the current problematic version and then escalate to engineering again. 

Thanks,

Akanchha 

[rosemarystone]

Hi Akanchha,

1. Acrobat V2022.003.20265 64 bit, Windows 10

2. Screenshot attached.

3. File attached.

4. Office 365, MS Word Version 2210 (build 15726.20174), One Drive Build 22.225.1026.0001 64 Bit

[ls_rbls]

++ Adding to the topic,

I am thinking if you would have the same problem if Protected Mode is disabled in Acrobat (just for troubleshooting purposes).

Conversely, if you have Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge web browser, what happens if you switch off  Protected View for the Internet Zones?

If you were not aware about this faulty integration between Internet Explorer and Acrobat Pro,  let us know and I will post back with the appropriate Microsoft Support and Adobe Help Center references.

In addition, not following proper file naming conventions is not necessarily a lack of support from Adobe Acrobat, and much less a fix that Adobe owes.

The standards in file naming conventions, such as "8.3" best practice has been established and followed for decades now.

It is a standard in any computer systems. Specifically if you'll be saving and sharing files accross a multitude of networks and cloud space folders.

8.3 file naming convention (eight charachters for the file name and three for the program's extension).

Moreover, the error that you may be getting consistently doesn't necessarily is associated with a long file name.

It also has to do with relative paths names to a file or a share in any given directory structure where computers with restrictive policies are trying get access to, or, long folder names as well with improper syntax.

Anyway, the name of your shared file not only contains many white spaces but it also have special characters such as brackets [ ], for example (which is an illegal character according to this Microsoft Learn Document:

• Naming and referencing shares, directories, files, and metadata 

This is not a best practice.

See more about Office365 and Sharepoint file naming standards here:

• https://www.umaryland.edu/office365/sharepoint/file-naming-standards/

And also see about restrictions and limitations in Sharepoint and OneDrive here:

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/restrictions-and-limitations-in-onedrive-and-sharepoint-6...

[rosemarystone]

Thanks for those suggestions. 

I disabled protection mode in Acrobat and changed the file name, removing all blank spaces and special characters. Still having the same problem.  

The workaround I'm currently using is  to rename the word file with a short name e.g. 1.doc, PDF it, then rename the resulting PDF and word file back to the original name. Painful, but do-able.

[ls_rbls]

Ok great... for now (of course)  🙂

I forgot to mention that you have Office365.

Microsoft Word365 documents are by default appended with a .docx

.doc file extension is the old extension that is associated with Microsoft Word since 1986-2007.

Although, Office365 will automatically offer the user the option to update a .doc document to .docx when it is opened for the first time, it is worth noting that,  .docx  files are an XML-based compressed file type (it includes the main document plus all the XML metadata of all documents that are associated with the main file altogether).

Just more food for thought as we continue to explore the issue.

This may explain why some programs could have difficulty understanding the XML metadata portions of any given Microsoft Word file.

It is not surprising to find out how easily these XML portions get corrupted when exporting documents to a PDF, making it difficult for the PDFMaker COM Add-in to keep up with the intended integrity of the original file.

In other words, a compatibility issue triggers, and the causes could be many.

In which case, is better to open the original Micrososft Word document and run the Accessibility Checker before exporting to PDF.

The Accessibility Checker will spot for you issues with the file itself and offer remedial actions.

Enforcing the remedial actions of the Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Word before exporting any given document to a PDF  gives you a higher success rate in avoiding unforseen issues.

[rosemarystone]

The error occurs whether I am trying to PDF an old .doc or a freshly made .docx.  I've attached a new docx with the correct file name conventions, no accessibility issues and no linked images. The error still occurs. The only time it doesn't occur is if I change the length of the  file name to a single character.

[Tuan27336602jytm]

1- Your current version of Acrobat and OS installed on the system. Adobe Acrobat 22.00.20263

2- Screenshot of the error.

3- A sample file that's giving this error upon conversion. Unable to provide due to security reasons. 

4- Exact version of MS Office and One Drive.

One drive version 22.225.1026.0001

MS Office 16.0.15726.20174

[ls_rbls]

++ Adding to the lack of feedback since I posted the last thread,

If you're on Microsoft Windows, try clearing the cache in the  Credential Manager.

Go to Control Panel =>   Credential Manager

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/accessing-credential-manager-1b5c916a-6a16-889f-8https:/...

There are two options:

• Windows Credentials 

• Web Serrvices Credentials. 

You must clear both.

If on macOS, you must do it through the Keychain manager.

Acrobat must be closed when you do this and every other program.

The reason for this particular error message is  due to the file sync services that integrates with cloud services any or other online services.

After using these services for a prolonged period, the file syncing seems to break.

Clearing the caches in the Credential Manager restores the file synchronization services and that error should disappear.

Give it a try.