Bug Report: Acrobat Chrome Extension does not respect page-specific PDF links

[Jeff in Boston]

Acrobat’s Google Chrome extension is not respecting page-specific PDF links (My specs: Mac Book Pro 2021,  Monterey 12.6, Chrome 105.0.5195.125). This is really bad for my field, since we often have to link to specific pages of Federal Codes of Regulations, legal and public policy docs, etc. by page number. Normally, I can link to an online PDF by page number by adding the suffix "#page=X" after the .pdf at the end of the url. Without the extension activated, it works just fine. But the activating the extension results in the user being taken to the first page of the PDF, which defeats all our efforts in trying to be accountable and creating an online paper trail. I am begging you devs to fix this glitch, because we can't anticipate whether policy wonks will have the featured turned on or off. Thanks for listening.

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Jeff in Boston,

Sorry about the delay in response.

Would you mind sharing more details about the issue?

Was it working fine before?

It would be helpful if you could share the video of the workflow when you open it on Acrobat’s Google Chrome extension and when you open it without the extension. It will help us to understand the issue better.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Jeff in Boston]

Hi @Meenakshi Negi,

Thanks for responding. I posted a Zoom video illustrating my workflow for replicating the bug in MAC OS Chrome as you suggested. I also asked a relative to reproduce my workflow on a PC to see if it affected Chrome users in Windows, and they said they encountered the exact same problem.

In retrospect, I did not have the proper terminology when I referred to #page=PageNumber as a suffix (Sorry, I'm a graphic designer, not a developer). After reading Wikipedia's article on URI syntax, however, it would seem that Acrobat Chrome Extension preserves the mail URL (behind some encrpyed garble), but is stripping away the fragment component or is failing to pass the fragment component #page=PageNumber as a parameter. I guess the question is does Adobe Chrome Extension hope to support page fragment identifiers in the future? If Adobe cares about accessibility and backward compatibility, I feel that this suppport needs to be built into the extension because if not, it will undo decades of work at the federal and state level in producing page-specific online paper trails intended to demonstrate accountability.

[Catherine.30335667zo8k]

Hi @MeenakshiNegi,

Thank you Jeff in Boston for following up on this issue. I wasn't able to find where has been anything done by Adobe to recify this, and it is certainly an issue for our site. Is it on any agenda to be fixed in the very near future, please?

We have a 300 page international medical guidline PDF to which we need to be able to add direct URL links from multiple pages on our site, and there is no work around for this issue.

Could you please give an indication as to when this may be addressed. Thank you.

[collin-h]

Just adding my voice as well. Also experiencing this issue and with it to be resolved. I need to link to specific pages of a PDF user guide, but it doesn't work if the adobe browser extention is enabled. dumb. please fix. 

[lone_wanderer96]

Hi @Meenakshi Negi Do we have any update on this?

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Pruthvi35073619dak4,

Thank you for reaching out.

We currently have no update. However, we will check with the team again. Could you share a sample PDF so we can replicate the behavior on our end? Please also share the version details. 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Jeff in Boston]

Hi I originated this bug report, and created the demo video showing your developers how to replicate the error in clear and precise language. Your team has no reason to dither and delay on solving a situation that effects anyone and everyone who views an Adobe PDF with the in-browser Acrobat app activated. 

I have attached the (508-compliant) PDF that I use in the demo video upthread, though I refer you to the official landing page for the resource portal of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at this publically facing link (https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/6679/ehv-roadmap-waivers-and-alternative-requirements/), so you understand the scope of audience and urgency of the matter.

It has been a year since I brought up this issue and nothing has been done. You have a great product in Acrobat Pro with all the tools necessary to remediate a document to 508-compliance, but integration with the in-browser app leaves a lot to be desired from an accessibility point of view and this is inexcusable behavior from an industry leader in accessibility products. Thank you for listening.

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Jeff in Boston,

Thank you for sharing the information. We will report it to the team and share this information for further investigation. We appreciate your patience. 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Louis37425146g8wb]

There is still no update on this?   It has been going on for years and there are multiple different complaints.  How can this not be fixed by now?  One thing is for certain I will not be using Adobe Acrobat in my Chrome browser (will disable now) until this is fixed.  Is there any ETA on a fix?  This was originally posted in 2022?!

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Louis37425146g8wb,

Thank you for reaching out. 

We will check with the team and update you with the latest information.

Sorry about the trouble caused.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Kim321248780ebr]

Thank you for reporting this issue.  I am experiencing the same problem with the acrobat extension in both Chrome and Edge.  

When I open a url with #page=10 at the end I want it to open on page 10.

For example if I open 
https://www.resources.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/1602892/stock-route-consultation-report...  I want it to open on page 10 not the first page. 

If I open this url in a browser with the extension installed it does not work.  If does work in MS Edge if I remove the Adobe extension. However if I remove the extension in Chrome I can no longer preview the PDF, it downloads the entire pdf instead. 

Please try this url in Edge with no extension installed and you will see how the url should operate. 

[Kim321248780ebr]

My url did not display properly above so I have attached a screenshot so you can see the full url.  

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Kim321248780ebr,

Thank you for the information. We have shared the information with the team to get this checked.

We appreciate your patience.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Dave.S]

This bugs continues to be an issue even 2+ years after reporting it. This is an essential feature.  It would be nice to get an official explanation of why this is not being addressed. 

We are going to have to force the removal of the Acrobat Chrome extension accross our org and recommend our users uninstall it for best experience because of this bug.

[dominic_24601]

It's now February 2025. All the replies I see above from Adobe is that they have 'shared the information with the team.' That's great, but after 3 years, what does the team say about this issue? We just began using the Chrome PDF extension, and now the hundreds of PDF links I've created for my organization no longer work. Is Adobe going to do anything about this?

[Jeff in Boston]

I filed this bug and made a demo video, as requested, FIVE YEARS AGO, and everyone who has co-signed this thread has shown the utmost patience and forbearance, but after FIVE YEARS and no results and no meaningful updates, we are losing our patience. What is the point of having such a community forum with a direct line to Adobe teams, if the moderator’s function is just to nod their head and then leave us hanging?

To get to the bottom of this, I did some investigating of my own. After searching on LinkedIn for @Meenakshi Negi, and narrowing the search by field and organization, I must share with the community that it is possible that the moderator may still be in school and too young to realize that there are entire organizations whose business revolves around accessible PDF as a principal mode of information delivery.

Would @Meenakshi Negi prefer our collective organizations to spam the like and upvote button before they take action. To reiterate, this issue has been dragging for FIVE YEARS, so if you don't have the proper authority or clearance to address this critical bug, we'd collectively appreciate it if you could elevate the issue to your supervisor who might understand better why this pdf fragment bug hurts Adobe's commitment to accessibility and why it is damanging to businesses that rely on accessible PDF. As the Adobe community continues to wait for a more substantive response from Adobe's teams, I hope this information may be of edification for those who have waited FIVE YEARS for what should be a straightforward fix. Sincerely, Jeff in Boston.

[glennc62169268]

This bug still exists in the Chrome ver 25.4.01 .  The acrobat extension will correctly process #page=1-9 but will not process double digit numbers.l

https://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ri19_strat_yakima_basalt_ellensburg_form.pdf#page=9 goes to the correct page.

https://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ri19_strat_yakima_basalt_ellensburg_form.pdf#page=10 goes to the first page.

this funtion works correctly in the Edge browser.l