The standard install for Adobe Acrobat DC (the cloud licensed version managed through Adobe Teams) comes installed with the standard cloud storage capabilities. These features work great unless you work for an organization that doesn't support cloud storage. Or, you just don't want to store your data with Adobe's cloud services. However, the standard install for Adobe Acrobat DC not only prevents the ability to disable cloud storage but also makes storing PDFs files to a users cloud storage overly easy. We've had a number of users do this on accident. This guide will walk you through the process of creating a custom Adobe Acrobat DC installer with disabled cloud features.
Step one: Creating a Custom Adobe Install Package
Log into your Adobe Admin Console, go to packages.
Click create a package. Choose managed package. Then select your platform and language.
Add Acrobat DC to the selected applications. Note: you will only see the products you already own on this page. If you don't own a licensed copy of Acrobat DC, it will not appear. Additionally, the Creative Cloud Desktop Application will also show in the list of selected application. However, once the installer is modified, it will remove the Creative Cloud Desktop Application (this will not be installed with Adobe Acrobat DC).
In options, click “Disable File Syncing”. Then, add or remove any additional settings you might want. Click next.
Give the package a name and then click next. The process of building the package will run and automatically download once complete. Extract the files to a new folder once downloaded.
Step two: Modifying the Adobe Custom Install Package
Now go back to the Adobe Admin Console, still on the Packages page. Click on "Tools", on the left.
You should see the "DC Customization Wizard" tool, download the version for your OS. Once downloaded, run the installer.
Now open the Acrobat Customization Wizard DC Software. Click file, open package. This will bring up a file browser.
Browse to your extracted Custom Adobe Install Package folder. Open the file "AcroPro.msi" within that directory. The path should like like this: \your package name_en_US_WIN_64\your package name\Build\Setup\APRO19.0\Adobe Acrobat\AcroPro.msi
The interface in the Acrobat Customization Wizard DC should change for you. Click “Online Services and Features” on the left sidebar.
Disable these features. Note: Disable the three features under "Disable all services" BEFORE clicking disable all services.
Once completed, file, save the package.
Now click file, copy package. This will open a new window. The location of your existing source package should auto fill (this is the msi you’re editing). Now, add a new name for your package and select a new folder to copy the new package to. This will become the folder for your custom installer. Click OK.
You can now close out of Acrobat Customization Wizard DC. Your new folder should now have the correct installer for Adobe Acrobat DC without any cloud features enabled. Simply run the Setup.exe to install. You will need to sign into a licensed account once installed.
Step three: Verify Settings
With the application open, on the Home tab, your left sidebar should look as follows,
Correct:
Incorrect:
With a PDF file open, the top left-hand corner of the application should look as follows,
Correct:
Incorrect:
AdChoices