Adobe Acrobat CC: Not starting up on a Mac

Tags Incident

Issue: Adobe Acrobat Creative Cloud does not start up or crashes when I try to launch it.

Environment: Mac, Adobe Acrobat CC, Creative Cloud

Resolution 1:

  1. Quit Acrobat, Creative Cloud Desktop, and any other Adobe apps.
  2. Open Macintosh HD:Library:Preferences:
    • Note: not the user or system version.
  3. Delete com.adobe.acrobat.pro.DC.plist.
  4. Replace it with the version attached to this KB.
  5. Open Activity Monitor. Choose View | All Processes
  6. Search for cfprefsd and Force quit all instances found.
    • cfprefsd may reappear as it automatically restarts. This is fine.
  7. Run Acrobat again.

Resolution 2 (slower):

  1. Uninstall Acrobat through the Creative Cloud application
    • Select the three dots next to the launch button in the Acrobat section of Creative Cloud
    • Click uninstall
  2. Reinstall Acrobat through Creative Cloud.