Lost all my comments and highlighting on file from Dropbox

[alexn28]

I was using Dropbox and Adobe Acrobat on Android. Yes, both are up to date.

I opened the file in Acrobat via the editing icon in Dropbox on my tablet.

I spent THREE HOURS highlighting and making comments on an academic article.

I have a learning disability - this work isn't easy for me.

After finishing with that article I opened the next one. I think I went to my downloads folder and opened it accidentally before I could move the file to my dropbox. Once that file was open in Acrobat, I could not go back to the edited version of my first PDF. It didn't not sync to Dropbox. It is not in "recent" and I cannot find it in any temporary folders anywhere.

Did the shoddy "save" "functionality" which apparently requires one hit the "back" button and return to dropbox - rather than syncing automatically, warning me, or, you know, having a SAVE button just cause me to lose an entire afternoon's work???

Is all of my highlighting and writing on the PDF really nowhere? I have scoured the tablet for the document and cannot find it. I have opened the file in multiple programs hoping to find it. I've gone through my version history on the dropbox website and there are no versions because Adobe didn't sync to Dropbox even once during three hours of work. I've opened the file on my desktop in Adobe Acrobat Pro and the comments and highlighting aren't there.

This design is just terrible. Please help me recover my work.

Again - I have a learning disability and this work is so, so hard for me. Losing hours of work, especially while on a tight deadline, is a major setback.

This Dropbox/Adobe partnership either needs a major overhaul or just needs to be scrapped.

[Document Geek]

I haven't used the dropbox/Acrobat workspace in the same way that you have, but I am very leery of using dropbox commenting. I personally recommend using Dropbox only as file storage and backup. I rarely use the Dropbox interface for anything other than file requests or recovering deleted versions.

Dropbox has a commenting feature, but it's more like a social media type of commenting, where you can add stickers and reactions. It does also have highlighting functionality, but it's important to know that dropbox commenting doesn't live anywhere else outside of the Dropbox ecosystem. If you used Dropbox to comment on a PDF and then open that PDF in Acrobat, there will be no comments. It's a mess!

You said you were using Acrobat to comment on the document, correct? Well, I haven't personally used the Android version of Acrobat, but I understand that's its very similar to the desktop version. In the desktop version, there is a way to export out your comments as a separate data file. I use that function from time to time when my PDF is acting up and won't save. I'll export all the comments as an FDF, close the PDF without saving, and then import the comments that I made. I realize that won't help you in your present situation, but perhaps it will be useful for you down the line. I wrote an article about that here: https://creativepro.com/working-with-fdfs-forms-data-files/

[villedepomme]

Hi Alexn28,

I'm very sorry to hear that you lost three hours of your work. I've run into a similar issue: One of my files got corrupted while syncing to Document Cloud . How does a multi-billion company that employs the likes of Stepanov NOT get the basics right is just beyond me. I'd recommend to check out other pdf readers such as foxit or xodo on android. I'd also steer clear of Adobe's Document Cloud as it does not provide any versioning comparing to Dropbox, Box, or OneDrive.

[deanr2265650]

Similar issue here. I spent hours working on a pdf assuming it would save SOMEWHERE, if not sync with dropbox. I tried everything to get it to sync the changes with dropbox. In the end, because there's no other save option, I altered the name of the file in dropbox (on my desktop) to try and force it to sync.

It didn't sync. Instead, the local file on my tablet just entirely disappeared along with all my work.

The utterly horrendous design beggars belief. A terrible, terrible product from a terrible company.

[AnandSri]

Hello Deanr,

We're really sorry for the frustrating experience you had, we will try our best to make it right.

The issue occurs when Adobe Reader fails to refresh metadata for Dropbox files due to network connectivity issues.

The files from the original sources (e.g. Dropbox, Local, Document Cloud) are not permanently lost. This appears to be a temporary display glitch in Acrobat Reader.

Would you please try the following steps and check:

• Make sure that your tablet has a stable network connection (preferably, Wi-Fi, not Cellular).
• Restart your tablet.
• Launch Acrobat Reader.
• Go to Recent and check for the file.
• You can also look for the file from a browser through the URL https://cloud.actobat.com

Note: Acrobat Reader mobile users on Android can download the file to their device using the Creative Cloud Mobile application, and then open the file from the “Local” location within Adobe Acrobat for Android. However, this option will not result in any changes being saved back to Creative Cloud.

Is it an iPad or an Android tablet and what is the version of the iOS/Android version installed?

Let us know how it goes and share your observation.

Thanks for your time and patience thus far.

- Anand Sri.

[deanr2265650]

Thank you for your reply, Anand -- I appreciate it.

None of this worked so let me try and restate the problem. I have lost the file.

1. A file on dropbox, call it A.pdf, is created.

2. I open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader on Android (7.1.1) through the dropbox tab on the Acrobat app.

3. I work on A.pdf, annotating, highlighting, and so on. I put about 5 hours of work into this.

4. It refuses to save and sync to dropbox.

5. On a different computer, I change the file name of the old A.pdf to B.pdf.

6. Immediately (within 2 seconds) the annotated A.pdf on the tablet/app DISAPPEARS from the dropbox and "Recent" tabs and is not in "local" either.

7. I have lost all my hours work. There appears to be no temp file or similar -- it has been deleted.

Note that when I changed the filename on a different computer, the app recognized that immediately so there was an immediate sync -- so the sync function was working (not an internet problem or dropbox problem). The app is just ludicrous. If it isn't going to sync, why doesn't it keep a local, temp, file with all the changes just in case? Why can't I save it locally in case there are sync problems? This is what EVERY OTHER APP does.

[AnandSri]

Hello Deanr,

Thank you for sharing all the details. A file does not disappear or get deleted from the device if there is a sync issue and ideally the file should show under the recent tab. However, in your case, the file does not show in the recent tab and this should not happen.

We will try our best to find out the root cause and to ensure that this does not happen again, I need more information from your end so that we can get a resolution/workaround on this. However, recovering the file may or may not be possible, but we will give our best shot.

What is the dot version of the Adobe Reader mobile app installed? Please check the same from PlayStore, locate Adobe Reader and check the dot version.

What is the make and model of the tablet?

Is the file which disappeared was shared with other users?

Are you able to see a file with old name present in the recent list or in the dropbox?

The email address used to sign-in(Dropbox and Adobe Reader). Please share the detail of the email address by private message only. How Do I Send Private Message

Will wait for your response and the details. Thanks for your time and patience thus far.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

[deanr2265650]

Hi Anand,

18.2

Lenovo TB-8504F

The file was not shared with other users.

There is no file with old name present in the recent list or in the dropbox.

I'll send you the email now.

[AnandSri]

Thank you for sharing all the details. I have shared the details with the Engineering team so that they can investigate and look for a resolution or workaround on high priority.

Will share an update as soon as I get any information on this.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

[Alejandro Rueda Gómez]

Hi, I just had the same issue.

I have all my academic articles on Adobe Cloud and I've been reading, highliting and commenting from my Amazon Fire 7 tablet. However, apparently there was a sync problem and I couldn't access my comments from the cloud on other devices (Pc or phone). I did as you suggested (restarted the tablet) but it still didn't sync'd. I sign out on the tablet and logged back in and now I've lost all my highlits and comments from the tablet!
Is there any way you could help me recover them? I've lost almost three months of work and had many important info for my thesis.

Hope there's a solution.

Regards,

Alejandro

[Joey5E9E]

Same problem. Clearing Adobe does not care.
Considering I do not like the new Lightroom, it may be time for me to get rid of my subscription and go to a PDF manager that doesn't trash hours of work.

[alligatorbabe]

Hello!

Have you found a solution yet?

I have spent 8 hours annotating and commenting on a pdf today. The pdf is saved to my dropbox and shared with no one. I opened it via the adobe app for ipad and saved my progress throughout my day.

I saved my progress and went to the toilet in the evening and when I got back the ipads screen had locked. After I unlocked it the adobe app still displayed my text but all the anotations were gone. I then closed and reopened the app only to see that it had anotations again but only for the first 3 pages. The rest is gone. I seems that only the first save, when I took a lunchbreak, was synced and the others never were!

There is no file in recents on adobe or anywhere else on my ipad and recents dropbox shows me the 3 pages version. I have tried restarting my tablet, signing in and out of adobe and dropbox but nothing has worked so far.

Is there a way to recover the rest of the annotations?

[fanipa__]

I had the same issue on Lenovo Yoga tablet in Onedrive. Seems to be syncing when both my tablet and pc are online but I already lost annotations on tablet. It was connected to a stable Wifi and yet it didn't sync the file.

[Tara5DCC]

Hello, I was reading and highlighting and commenting on adobe reader. I closed down my computer. When to open my file it was gone. How can I recover it? I need it urgent.

[Greg5C3F]

After having tried so many different ways of saving my PDFs, I am now going to give up on Adobe, because the connection withdraw box simply is unreliable. Perhaps a third of all the Adobe PDFs that I read and highlight, often for more than 45 minutes, go and saved, because Adobe simply does not save the changes on to Dropbox. Both are at fault, not just Adobe. One thing is for sure, however, Adobe will lose more clients than Dropbox for this mistake.

[try67]

Why not save the files locally, then, and upload them when you're done working on them?

[Erica5EE3]

I have the same issue and have tried checking the box after commenting, saving a copy, document available on and offline, even tried google drive but the issue persists. Connection between reference manager between android and windows is already a lot of work, not fun adding more trouble to the equation. So far Ive lost two papers' annotations, disappointed.