How to Fix Microsoft Outlook and Adobe Acrobat To Work Easily

Dorothy Gagnon 20 Reputation points
2026-09-02T19:50:27.79+00:00

Microsoft Outlook hasn't worked correctly with Adobe Acrobat for so long it's very annoying. Day in and day out sometimes it will PDF an e-mail or attachment, and sometimes it won't. Every day I deal with it. What happened to change an easy way of having a document PDF'd.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home
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Answer accepted by question author
Vikki-T 9,850 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-09-03T08:14:16.05+00:00

Hi Dorothy Gagnon,

I can see how disruptive it would be when converting Outlook emails or attachments to PDF works only intermittently.

At this point, I recommend that you review and try the steps provided in the AI generated answer on your thread. That reply typically includes the most relevant checks for this scenario. 

To make sure we are looking at the correct feature, could you clarify how you normally create the PDF? For example, are you using an Adobe Acrobat button on the Outlook ribbon, choosing Print > Adobe PDF, or opening the attachment first and converting it from Acrobat?

It would also help if you could provide the following details:

  • Are you using classic Outlook or new Outlook for Windows?
  • Which versions of Outlook, Windows, and Adobe Acrobat are installed?
  • Does the issue affect the email itself, its attachments, or both?
  • What type of attachment fails most often?
  • Do you receive an error message when the conversion fails?

In the meantime, please update both Microsoft 365 and Adobe Acrobat, then restart Windows. If you are using classic Outlook and normally see an Adobe Acrobat option on the ribbon, please also check File > Options > Add-ins and confirm that the Adobe PDFMaker add-in has not been disabled.

As a temporary workaround, try opening the email or attachment and using Print > Microsoft Print to PDF. If that works consistently, it suggests that the problem is more likely connected to the Adobe integration rather than Outlook’s general ability to create a PDF.

Please share the exact steps and any error message shown when it fails, and I can narrow this down further. Thank you so much for your understanding.   

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  1. AI answer

    2026-09-02T19:50:44.3433333+00:00

    For classic Outlook on Windows, the most common causes of Outlook and Adobe Acrobat not working together for PDF attachments are:

    1. Outlook and Adobe Acrobat Reader bitness do not match
      • In Outlook, go to File > Office Account > About Outlook.
      • Check whether Outlook is 32-bit or 64-bit.
      • In Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader.
      • Check whether Adobe is 32-bit or 64-bit.
      • If they do not match, uninstall the current Adobe Acrobat Reader and install the version with the same bitness as Outlook.
    2. Microsoft PowerToys has overridden PDF preview
      • Open PowerToys from the Start menu.
      • Select File Explorer Add-ons.
      • Turn off Enable PDF (.pdf) preview.
    3. Attachment preview may be disabled in Outlook
      • In classic Outlook, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Attachment Handling.
      • Make sure Turn off Attachment Preview is not enabled.
      • To disable only specific previewers, select Attachment and Document Previewers and review the PDF previewer setting.
    4. If the problem is with opening or previewing PDFs, Outlook uses the default Windows PDF app
      • If Microsoft Edge is the default browser, PDF attachments should open in Edge.
      • To open them in Adobe Acrobat Reader instead, change the default app for PDF files in Windows.

    If the issue is specifically Quick Print failing for PDF attachments in Outlook Desktop, there is a known workaround using a registry change so Outlook waits longer before deleting the temporary PDF file.

    Important: editing the registry can cause serious problems if done incorrectly.

    Registry path and value: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\Attachments "FileTrackIdle"=dword:00015000

    Steps:

    1. Right-click Start and select Run.
    2. Type Regedit and select OK.
    3. Paste this path into the address bar and press Enter: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options
    4. Right-click Options and create a new key named Attachments.
    5. Right-click Attachments > New > DWORD32 (32-Bit) Value.
    6. Name it FileTrackIdle.
    7. Modify it and set Value Data to 15000.
    8. If the error There was an error opening this document. This file cannot be found. still appears, increase the value to 30000, then 60000 if needed.

    These are the supported fixes and workarounds in the available Microsoft guidance for Outlook PDF attachment problems in classic Outlook.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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