How to permanently delete Acrobat Track and Send from Outlook?

[Michael Linder]

Adobe never asked for permission to load Document Cloud PDF Services into Outlook, of course. It's a privacy issue. I don't care for Adobe helping itself to my email and attachments, thank you. 

I've been removing Document Cloud from Outlook's COM Add-ins for years. Fine — until the next Outlook update when it reinstalls. Lately, Document Cloud reinstalls each time I open Outlook.

Will no one rid me of this turbulent pest?

[Tariq Dar]

Hi MLinder,

Sadly, there is no option to uninstall the Add-in. However, you may use these steps to disable this add-in: https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/delete-the-adobe-acrobat-track-and-send-add-in-from-outlook/t... from the MS outlook. 

Let us know if that helps you out. 

Regards,

Tariq 

[Michael Linder]

I wish this could help. The fix lasts only until the next time Outlook is launched, something an Adobe employee would  likely know. The same is true after uninstalling Adobe PDF maker and Adobe Document Cloud from Outlook. This smacks of spying. I've granted Adobe no permission to invade my Outlook installation. This is what data-scraping malware and viruses do.

Through the California Consumer Privacy Act, I've acquired a small list of healthcare data Adobe now gathers. This image is one of a 45-page list of individuals' health issues being gathered and sold by Adobe. Access to Outlook will only enrich Adobe's data. 

The full PDF is online here.

Adobe Data

[Tariq Dar]

1. Outlook "Acrobat Send and Track" plugin does not read email contents/attachments. The only thing it does is, it detects adding/removal of attachments to an e-mail to show the upload option.
2. The plugin does not auto-upload any attachments to DocumentCloud. It is a user has to click “Yes” on the upload option for the attachment to be uploaded.

If  you want to disable this functionality, you can use the registry key – bAdobeSendPluginToggle – key documented at: https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/PrefRef/Windows/Workflows.html . This way, the plugin will still be loaded in Outlook but completely disabled. Also, it won’t get re-enabled post Acrobat/Outlook update.

~Tariq 

[Michael Linder]

Your second "fix" is also invalid. The Windows registry key toggling Adobe Send and Track plug in for Outlook does not exist. There are no keys beyond what is shown in boldface...

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\FeatureLockdown\cCloud

In fact, Windows 10 x64 registry search turns up nothing for FeatureLockdown\cCloud or cCloud. Will you please provide the correct registry listing, if one exists? Will you also confirm efficacy before offering further solutions? Goes to Adobe credibility.  

[Tariq Dar]

The fix is not invalid, the guide i refered earlier is meant for IT people, for the application customization. 

I assumed you knew about windows registry customization, my bad. 

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\FeatureLockdown\cCloud

When you navigate through this hierarchy and reach to the point where it says "Adobe", go to >Acrobat> version of Acrobat, in your case, I assume you are using the latest version then it is, DC. When you expand this DC key, you may see "FeatureLockDown" and you may not see "cCloud", because this is by default allowed feature and can be customized per user requirement using this cCloud key and Dword. 

To create cCloud key (Close Acrobat and Outlook):

• Right click on FeatureLockDown > choose New> Key
• A new Key will be created name it "cCloud", not these keys are case sensitive choose according to the guide mentioned above. 
• left-click on this key cCloud and on the right-hand side, right-click in the white area and choose New > "DWORD (32- bit) Value".
• Name it "bAdobeSendPluginToggle" again this is case sensitive. And set its value as per the guide.
  

I would suggest restart your machine once(not necessary) and try again. 

~Tariq

[Michael Linder]

Thanks for the registry hack, though it's only a cosmetic change that removes from email blanks the question of whether to allow Document Cloud to trace your content. 

You've solved an annoyance, but not the problem. Document Cloud add-in still reloads in Outlook on each launch, regardless of how many times it's removed. And, it is always active. To what end? Is there a fix that prevents its loading? 

Like a nasty PC virus, or lingering hepatitis in humans, Adobe Document Cloud has apparently invaded Microsoft Outlook. Permanently. Does it send tracking data to Adobe and/or Microsoft? What's its default behavior? A cascading mountain of ever-changing Adobe and Microsoft privacy policies obscure the truth. I'd rather live without it. Can this be done? 

[defaultgqjh3myhoisj]

Hey man. Not sure if you tried this but, i too have this issue for a lawfirm I rolled DC Pro out for. Send to document cloud add-in, is the most useless freaking add-in I have ever come across and like COVID, it keeps coming back and re-enabling itself. It causes Outlook to crash. Whatever idiot working at Adobe thought this was a great feature, clearly hasn't worked in a real office environment. Rant over. ANYWAYS, try this. Look at the com addins section in Outlook and search for the path the addon is pointing to. Navigate to that path in Windows explorer. Close Outlook and either do 1 of 2 things:

1.) Completely delete the sendaslink.dll plugin OR

2.) Right-click the file, and delete all permissions on that file. When Outlook runs, it won't be able to trigger the add-in and prevents re-installation.
Fix your junk program Adobe.

[Dmitry36132388lafh]

Tariq, unfortunately, the parameter bAdobeSendPluginToggle does not work in latest version Adobe Acrobat DC 24.1.20604.

Could you advise how this plugin can be disabled? I tried some decisions described in my thread and all of them are not working.