Adobe Acrobat Pro DC - Text Properties Bar Greyed Out

[Guest]

I have seen this question many times when searching for an answer, but none of the solutions have worked for me. I've been using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC (15.4) for months to edit & comment on PDFs which I have printed and then saved as PDFs from an online mapping system. Up until today I have been able to use the CTRL+E shortcut to bring up the properties tool bar and change the properties of text boxes, call outs etc., including font properties. This is when in 'Comment' mode.

I am now only able to edit the text box properties - if I select the text itself all of the properties in the toolbar are greyed out.

I have tried:

• Closing and reopening the program
• Only having one document open at a time
• Ensuring the document isn't read only or PDF/A
• Ending the 'acrotray' process (I think that's what it was called)
• Opening a previous document when I was able to change font properties - can't do so on any document, old or new, now
• Checking the properties aren't 'locked'
• Checking I have user rights on MS Edge (The mapping system used will only work on here, not IE)
• Checking for program updates

One point which does seem coincidental is that when I first started this work several months ago I set all of the defaults as I needed them to be, and haven't changed them at all, up until last week. Doubtful that this is causing the issue but worth a mention all the same.

Please help! I need to resolve this issue ASAP in order to do my work!

Thanks!

[T-Bone0520]

I'm having the same issue, all of a sudden. I like to color-code my fonts so team members know which comments are intended for them. Today, suddenly I'm having issues. I highlight the text properties box, which used to pop up automatically whenever I started a text commend no longer does, clicking on the Aa button works about 10% of the time, and when it does pop up, clicking on the color box makes it goes away and the Aa then greys out on me. Using the Ctrl + E method works, but that is time-consuming for something that used to happen automatically!

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi T-Bone,

Thank you for reporting this issue.

We are aware of this issue and it has been reported to the team. They are working on to get this fixed.

Could you please confirm the application and OS version installed on your machine?

Regards,

Meenakshi

[T-Bone0520]

I'm using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC on a Windows 10 machine

[T.Mercer]

You're not alone! Same issue here, same OS and version.

[T.Mercer]

Just chiming in to report the exact same issue, Acrobat Pro DC on Windows 10.

Not sure what you guys did to fix this error previously but it's been broken (again).

[gramirez]

Same issue here.  Same OS and version.

[veggiemonster67]

Another user with the same issue. 

I've done a repair install, uninstall and reinstall completely, rebooting, etc. 

This was not a problem until recently, extrememyl frustrating! 

Windows 10, no updates available. I use the Pro version. 

[zfnbsrs]

I'm having the same issue on Windows 10 (1079) using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC version 2019.021.20048

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi All,

Adobe Acrobat and Reader official update (19.021.20049) containing the fix for this issue is now available. This update will be automatically pushed to all existing installations of Acrobat and Reader. You may also manually trigger the update early by opening the application and going to Help > Check for Updates.

For more information about this release, please refer to the following link: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/release-note/release-notes-acrobat-reader.html

Please try it out and let us know your feedback!

Thanks for your patience and support!

Regards,

Meenakshi

[Jaebot]

Sorry to have to be the one to bring up an old trend but I installed Acrobat pro DC today 10/01/2020 and am having the issue of Recognise text being greyed out. No updates are available so any help will be very much appreciated. 

[Guest]

I am having the same issue.  No updates available. 

[Richard S]

I was able to use this on Thursday, no problem, but today (it is Monday) this feature is gone.  I can hit CTRL+E when highlighting a field text box and can modify the WHOLE box's text, but cannot highlight individual texts, hit CTRL+E and use any of its functions.  It is GRAYED out.  The Aa button is also grayed out.  

I am on version:   2019.010.20098

Thank you.

[Richard S]

I restarted the program and re-opened the PDF and now when I highlight the text i want to format and hit CTRL+E the properties box comes up and it reads: "NO CURRENT SELECTION".

Just trying to update to see if that helps figure out what the problem is.

Thank you.

[Richard S]

 If you click on PREPARE FORM, then select the field box you want to configure.  Right click on it, then pull up PROPERTIES.   Go to the OPTIONS tab, then make sure the "ALLOW RICH TEXT FORMATTING" box is CHECKED.  Hit Close.  Hit Close again out of the PREPARE FORM tool.  Then you can highlight the word you want to change the FORMAT of and CTRL+E there.  Then it will no longer be GRAYED out and you can modify the word/text you want to format.  Thank you!

[gamuthealth]

THANK YOU RICHARD!!!! I have read through numerous threads where many others have had the same issues and Adobe has offered various fixes and updates, none of which solved the problem for me, but finally THIS WORKED! I can now edit my text with no problem! For future updates, it might be important to have the "Allow Rich Text Formatting" box checked as the default setting so the millions of us out here trying to edit our PDFs using the paid verson of Acrobat can refrain from pulling out every last strand of hair on our heads. 

Gratefully,

Jessica