Why does Acrobat Pro DC freeze when highlighting?

[musziQ]

I have the latest (2015.009.20071) version of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. I often use the highlight tool for making notes. However, I've noticed that, in this version, there is a pause after highlighting and the app freezes for about 5-10s until I can do anything again. This can be annoying if I need to scroll immediately after making my highlight. This was never an issue before. Note, the app doesn't crash at all, just freezes for a few seconds.

[AadeshSingh]

Hi musziQ,

Please let me know the version of operating system installed on your computer?

Have you tested this issue on different PDF files?

Regards,
Aadesh

[musziQ]

Win7Premium/64b | Intel i7 Q740 1.73GHz | 14GB RAM | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M.

I hadn't tested in different files until just now. It does seem to be happening in this one particular file. All of the files were created using print>save as pdf in Google Chrome. Only this file has this issue. However, I don't recall making any changes to the print settings that would have caused a difference...

[musziQ]

Additional info: I decided to "print" the doc again and see what would happen. My testing has concluded that the first few highlights are instant. It appears that once I have a lot of highlights it slows down. At a certain point it the pause doesn't get longer but it still pauses for 5-10s each time. Currently, I have 30 highlights in the file.

[AadeshSingh · Accepted solution]

Hi musziQ,

Seems to be a file specific issue, try to recreate the file & then replicate the issue.

Also, open Acrobat, navigate to Help menu & "Repair the installation".

Regards,

Aadesh

[musziQ]

Repairing the installation seems to have corrected the issue. Hopefully it's permanent, hehe. I'll keep this updated.

[AadeshSingh]

Hey musziQ,

That's Great!

I am glad that it worked.

Regards,
Aadesh

[eg36079410]

I have the same issue here: Adobe Acrobat Pro DC (version 2015.006.30097) freezes temporarily immediately after highlighting (Win7 Pro). I did not have this issue when using the highlighting tool in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Repairing the installation did not solve this issue. The issue is also not document specific, I have temporary freezing issues with every document I edit.

A solution would be appreciated.

[ferdinandd21248603]

This problem has not been answered, even though some amateur says it was. I have a new Lenovo ideacentre, running windows 10 as original install. EVERY DAY, ALL THE TIME Adobe DC freezes, crashes, and otherwise FAILS 100% of the time whenever I use it. I know Adobe doesn't like to have a customer service number, even though people pay subscription fees, because they are disgusted with us all, but it would REALLY be nice if I didn't have to stop my production day to look for hours on the internet for a solution to a problem that shouldn't even exist. I have done ALL of the trouble shooting for this problem, and this "product" still fails frequently. What other trouble shooting technique can you make up?

[stephaniel6906018]

I'm having the same issue.  Except that I have many many highlihgts and the reader freezes altogether. 

[stephaniel6906018]

Each time I have had to close the reader, reopen it and I am able to begin highlighting where I left off (providing I remembered to save my work prior to it freezings).  Then, after a number of highlights it freezes again.  

I perhaps should add that this clearly a scanned document because when I use the "highlight" tool I am not able to use the regular highlighter that produces a straigt-edged highlight line but a round curser comes up and I am clearly "free-handing" the line (which, incidentally, up until very recently has proved very difficult since it is not easy to follow a line of text with a free-hand tool using a mouse-just today I found that if one follows the text fairly closely, upon releasing the mouse button the wiggly highlight line "snaps" to a straight edge-which is quite an improvement.) 

However, still, I am unable to use the reader.  I have uninstalled and reinstalled and attempted some other fixes but none of them work.

So very annoying.

[Adorobat]

Hi stephaniel6906018,

Sorry for the delay in response.

Could you please confirm the version of Reader installed on the machine?

To do that, launch Reader>click Help>select About Adobe Acrobat Reader

Have you tried highlighting other scanned pdfs?

[kursku]

I have the exact same issue. And my version is 2015.023.20070 Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.

[Adorobat]

HI kursku,

Could you please try the steps suggested in the link below?

Troubleshoot Windows system errors, freezes | Adobe software

Also, try running Reader as an administrator, locate Reader DC shortcut on the desktop>right click>select Run as administrator.

Have you tried highlighting other pdfs?

[bethc64483438]

I have the same issue too. I am running Windows 7, and I updated Acrobat to the latest version. I have tried making a new copy of the .pdf but still have the same issue. I also tried running as administrator and still had the issue. I looked at the steps suggested on the link you provided but none of them seem to pertain to this particular problem. I can also echo the sentiments of the other posters, this is ridiculously annoying as it's taken me all afternoon to read and annotate an 11-page document because it keeps freezing and I have to stop it from the task manager and restart every time. I looked around on your forums and it doesn't seem there is a consistent fix. I'm super frustrated and unless there is a quick fix, I'm going to just switch to another pdf editor. And probably tell my university that they're throwing their money away on this product.

[Adorobat]

Hi Bethc,

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

As per the description of the issue mentioned, Acrobat is freezing when trying to annotate a pdf, is that correct?

Could you please confirm the version of Acrobat installed on the machine?

You may refer to this link to check the version: Identify the product and its version for Acrobat and Reader DC

Would it be possible if you can share the problematic pdf file with us?

) Please visit this link: https://cloud.acrobat.com/send

(ii)  Click add files >  choose files from my computer

(iii) Select the file > create link.

Awaiting your response.

Shivam

[bethc64483438]

Hi,

Yes, the program freezes after a few minutes of highlighting no matter what

I do. I have Acrobat Pro DC, version 2017.012.20095.

It doesn't appear to be tied to the file in any way since it's happened in

a few different files. All the same, here are two of the files that I was

reading when I had the problem.

Thank you,

[Moolock]

This happens with us as well. It freezes when using freehand marking tool. (yellow marker)

I haven't gotten the error when marking text. So it seems like this happens when marking scanned documents.

The PDF files varies from 240 pages to 900. And it's becoming such a big issue for our customers that we actually need to look for alternative PDF editors.

One user also reports that it's happening without using marker, but haven't managed to reproduce that error myself.

Sometimes we get error messages, but not always.

Typical error we get is:

"An internal error occured"

"Out of memory"

Both workstations and terminal server has enough memory, and everything else Works just fine.

It's only Adobe that freezes. Then we have to kill Adobe from task manager, and users can open it again.

I have tried this on 2 different Workstations - all with different hardware configurations, but Windows 10 OS on both.

It's also tested on Windows 2012R2 (Virtual server) with XenApp 7.13) - same error.

[Adorobat]

Hi Moolock,

Could you please let us know the dot version of Acrobat Pro DC you have on the machines?

You may refer to this link for the same: Identify the product and its version for Acrobat and Reader DC

Thanks,

Shivam

[Moolock]

Hello Shivam.

The Versions in use are:

2017.012.20098 on all 3 test machines.

Program is re-installed and repaired.

It has no effect.

[Adorobat]

Thanks for sharing the information.

Would it be possible if you can share one of the pdf files with us?

I have sent you a private message for the same, please check the inbox.

-Shivam

[narvina45531477]

I have such problem,too.

[Adorobat]

Hi,

Try checking update for Acrobat Pro DC.

Launch Acrobat>navigate to Help menu>select Check for updates.

If that doesn't work, try to follow the steps given in this link: Troubleshoot Windows system errors, freezes | Adobe software

Could you please let me know the operating system installed on the machine- Windows/Mac?

What is the version of Acrobat Pro DC installed on the machine?

To check the version of Acrobat, launch Acrobat>navigate to Help menu>select About Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

Does Acrobat freezes when you highlight a specific pdf or this is happening with all the pdfs?

Try highlighting other pdfs and see if Acrobat still freezes

Thank You,

Shivam

[Guest]

This problem was posted almost 2 years ago - is there still no solution??   Please provide a workaround, as others  have stated, my productivity has ground to a halt because I need highlighting, but using this function causes Acrobat to freeze.

I just started having this problem - today.  I'm using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version 2017.012.20098.

Thank you.

[Adorobat]

Hi Nancyc,

Could you please try following troubleshooting steps:

1-  Re-create Reader's preferences. Follow the steps given in the following link on how to reset preferences for Reader:

How to reset Acrobat Preference settings to default.

2- If that doesn't work, repair Reader installation by navigating to Help > "Repair Installation". Reboot the machine after repair and try again.

Also, let us know the operating system you are using- Mac/Windows?

Does this happen when you highlight a scanned pdf or a normal pdf?

Thanks,

Shivam