r/Acrobat

Hi, everyone! My issue is pretty much as the title says.

A journal article I am working to publish was peer-reviewed, and I received feedback in the form of comments on a PDF (pretty standard stuff, I've had similar feedback before). The editor sent the same PDF to two of my email addresses (one institutional/Outlook, one Gmail). When opened, you can see the purple comment-highlights in both PDFS. However, I cannot read the comments themselves. Hovering over the highlights does not work, nor does pulling up the comments panel in PDF software. I was wondering if any of you would have solutions.

Here is further info about my situation:

What I’ve tried:

Email: Outlook, Gmail

Web browsers: Chrome, Safari, Edge

PDF software: Acrobat, PDF Gear

Firmware: MacOS

Windows was also briefly tried but nothing there as well

If this gives any clues, I contacted the editor and he recognized the same problem but found a workaround:
"I don't get why, but if I open up the file as an attachment, open it up on a browser window, I can open up and see the reviewer's comments (clicking on the comments tab on the right).  But when I download it and open it up as a PDF on my computer and do the same thing, the comments don't come up."

This software is horrible and now they’re charging me to cancel. Never again with Adobe.

Ever since my system updated this week, every single time I double-click a PDF, Acrobat launches and then immediately freezes with a "Not Responding" message at the top of the window. It just sits there completely locked up for about 20 to 30 seconds before the document finally loads and I can actually click anything.

I process hundreds of invoices and purchase orders a day, so this artificial delay is completely destroying my entire workflow. I have already tried clearing the recent files cache, running the repair installation tool, and even completely uninstalling and reinstalling the app from scratch. Nothing works. The program just hangs every single time it opens a file. Why does Adobe push mandatory updates that completely break the most basic function of a PDF reader? Has anyone found an actual fix for this startup freeze?

Edit: I finally gave up trying to fix the settings and just rolled back to the 2024 version, and that was exactly the solution. As soon as I forced my system to revert to the older 2024 build, the freezing completely stopped and all my files open instantly again. Also, I managed to get a lifetime subscription key for that version. Google adobe keypunch to take a look if you're interested. It is incredibly frustrating that we pay a massive subscription just to be forced to downgrade our software so it actually functions. If you are dealing with this startup freeze, do not waste your time with the repair tools—just find the 2024 rollback instructions and save yourself the headache.

I purchased Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020 (perpetual licence) in 2023 for about €770 from a German reseller.

The software only runs on Apple Silicon Macs through Rosetta. Apple has announced that Rosetta support will be phased out, which means Acrobat Pro 2020 may eventually stop working on current macOS versions.

My concern is not that Adobe ended support in 2025. I understand that.

My question is different:

Should a perpetual licence sold in 2023 become unusable only a few years later because it was never updated for Apple Silicon, even though Apple Silicon Macs had already been on the market for years?

I'm trying to find other users in the same situation.

If you bought Acrobat Pro 2020 (not the subscription) for Mac and are facing the same issue, I'd appreciate hearing:

• when you bought it,
• where you bought it,
• whether you have already contacted Adobe or the reseller,
• and whether you have considered legal action or a consumer complaint.

At this stage I'm simply trying to determine whether this affects only a handful of users or a much larger group.

Thank you.

I click a PDF. I exit Acrobat. I click another PDF and it won't open. In task manager there are several active Acrobat processes. If I end them, Acrobat will start. I close it and click another PDF and Acrobat won't open. Rinse, repeat... Have uninstalled, repaired and cleared cache.