If your Acrobat program was working and now suddenly isn't, hopefully you have found this page before getting too frustrated. Acrobat errors are the most common Adobe issues reported by U of I customers. You are not alone!  Acrobat is frequently updated and most issues occur when there is a problem with the update or because your version of Acrobat has not been updated and is out of sync with Adobe management app (Creative Cloud desktop).

Common error messages include but are not limited to:

• Acrobat asking for a serial number you don't have
• "Activation Failed”
• A sign in prompt that keeps looping
• Existing installation asks you to upgrade to Pro to edit PDFs
• “Subscription expired” when your subscription is active
• “Unable to reach Adobe servers”
• “Can’t verify your subscription”
• Error on Mac "Sorry, something went wrong" -- (use this solution)

First go through this short checklist to make sure that your issue is related to the Acrobat app.

•    You have a current subscription order for Adobe at https://webstore.illinois.edu.
•    You are logging in with your complete email address when you are authenticating on your school SSO portal (ex. NetID@your_school_domain.edu)
•    Your account details say "Adobe for Enterprise, University of Illinois" when you go to https://account.adobe.com/plans
•    You do not have any pending App updates when you open the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop app on your computer.
•    After performing any necessary changes, you have signed out, closed Creative Cloud desktop app, reopened it signed back in again and opened Acrobat through the Creative Cloud desktop app. This will resync your Acrobat app's connection with Adobe.

For step-by-step instructions on performing these steps, please use this guide.

What to do afterward:

If Acrobat still has issues afterward, the most effective and efficient way to fix the program is to uninstall it and reinstall it again, using the Adobe management app, Creative Cloud desktop. (If you have already set your preference on the Creative Cloud desktop app to "Always keep Creative Cloud up-to-date", then you should not run into issues in the first place.)

Use this guide to get step-by-step instructions for fixing persistent Acrobat issues.

Managed University Computers:

If you have a managed university computer, you may see a message saying "You don't have access to manage apps". If you see this message then you will not be able to manage your Adobe Apps using the Creative Cloud desktop app and your apps must be updated by your IT desktop support group. First verify the steps above and if they check out, then contact your IT desktop support person for assistance with your Acrobat issue.

The KB article on the Adobe Permissions Message provides detailed information about this message, why it is there and what you can do.

More Resources: