Unable to use Adobe Acrobat anymore

[florence_8112]

Hello,

Prior to early July, I was using adobe with my free account on desktop. In earlg July, I signed up for a paid plan with a new business account. Everything seemed pretty straightforward in terms of set up, but I have been having issues with my Acrobat ever since. 

I think the issue originated when I logged in with my business account on desktop. From what I've read, it seems like i probably had the version of Acrobat that fully converts to Pro once a paid plan is used to sign in. The issue here though is that I still need to access my free account, and I no longer can. 

Whenever it is signed in, i am asked to sign up for a free trial. Even without any account signed in at all, the applicaiton closes out and can not be used in the basic way to open, read, and if needed, fill PDFs.

This has become super frustrating because even after following tons of different guidance in previous posts here with uninstalling, downloading different versions, etc., Acrobat just doesn't work in its standard version on my computer anymore. 

Ideally, i could've been able to switch betwen Adobe IDs especially as it pertains to cloud storage, but now I know that is not possible for me for some reason. However, I just want to be able to reverse all this so I can still use the free account on desktop. I can use other options for the paid one (web, mobile, etc.).

 My computer is a Lenovo PC with windows 11 if that helps. Creative cloud isn't downloaded anymore either. Right now it's just "Adobe Acrobat." But as I have mentioned, I would like to return to the regular/standard version so it can be functional again across the board (there's other ways i can access the paid features I need for business use).

Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated! Also, I'm unable to submit tickets or anything through the desktop app because it doesn't work right now. I don't want things to get any more confusing between the two Adobe accounts i have which is why im not requesting help under the business one.

(Man do i miss the days of a separate reader app).

Thank you!  

[Randy Hagan]

For what it's worth, you can still get the free Adobe Reader app. But when you install Adobe Acrobat, it effectively assimilates Adobe Reader into the borg and isolates Reader on your system.

You've correctly identified the problem as conflict between two Adobe IDs, and not conflict between two versions of the software. If you have the version of Acrobat Pro installed through Adobe Creative Cloud (e.g. - your Acrobat was installed with programs like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, etc.) you can use Adobe CC Cleaner tool to remove the Acrobat Pro you installed over the top of your existing Acrobat install. 

However, that won't fix your previous Acrobat install. Your best way to get to that would be to buy/borrow a system without an Acrobat install and try to sign in with your previous Adobe ID. Perhaps that would get you back to your previous install's cloud files. But without knowing what you had for a "free install" of Adobe Acrobat, it's hard to advise you how to get back to your previous state. 

If we can get more information about your previous "free install", maybe we can help. We'd need to know what version of "Acrobat" we're talking about for your free install and could perhaps get you back where you were before.

Randy

[Tariq Ahmad · Accepted solution]

Hi @florence_8112, 

Thank you for your patience.  

As you already know, Adobe has introduced a unified installer for Windows that now includes both Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Reader in a single package. This means:

• You no longer need separate installers for Reader and Pro.

• The installer automatically activates Acrobat Pro if you have a valid subscription; otherwise, it defaults to Reader mode.

• It simplifies deployment for IT admins and ensures seamless switching between Reader and Pro functionality without needing reinstallation.

For more details and FAQs, check the full article here: :link: Acrobat Unified Installer – Windows Overview

Let us know if you have further questions.

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

[Tariq Ahmad]

Hi @florence_8112, 

Thank you for reaching out. 
Adobe is a company, not a product. I assume you were talking about Adobe Acrobat all along in your question.

@Randy Hagan , has summarized very well and given you the next steps while we get the information from you that the Expert has asked for. 
I will internally check with the product team to see if that is the app's use case. Theoretically, it should work as you have explained. 

Thank you for summarizing it, and for your patience. 

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team