Incompatibilities between Office programs and Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in

Summary

If you have the Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM add-in installed on your computer and your Office programs are crashing or not responding, this might mean that the version of PDFMaker you have installed is incompatible with your version of Office.

More information

To verify that the PDFMaker add-in is installed on your computer, do the following:

  • Office 2010: Open any Office application, and then select File > Add-Ins.
  • Office 2013 and later versions, select File > Options > Add-Ins. Next to Manage COM Add-ins select Go. You will see a dialog box that resembles the following screenshot:

Screenshot to check the add-ins in the Outlook Options window.

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Upgrade your Adobe product

Note

Fees may apply when you upgrade your Adobe product.

See Compatible web browsers and PDFMaker applications to determine which version of the Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM add-in is compatible with your Office version. If your version isn't compatible, try to upgrade your Adobe product to a later version that's compatible with your Office version.

If you're an advanced user and want to check the PDFMOfficeAddin.dll version compatibility, see the following table.

Office version Supported PDFMaker add-in versions (check PDFMOfficeAddin.dll version)
2010 (32-bit) 10.x and later
2010 (64-bit) 10.1 and later
2013 (32-bit) 11.0.1 and later
2013 (64-bit) 11.0.1 and later
2016 (32-bit) 11.0.16 and later
2016 (64-bit) 11.0.16 and later

Method 2: Manually disable Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in

If you have administrative permissions, you can also disable the add-in by following these steps in each Office program:

  1. Open the Office program, and then selectFile > Options > Add-ins.
  2. In the Manage drop-down list, select COM Add-Ins, and then select Go.
  3. Clear the Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Addin check box, as follows (Office 2010 screen shot), and then select OK.

Screenshot to clear the Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in check box.

If you cannot disable the add-in by following these steps, use one of the following methods.

Important

Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it, back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.

First, exit the Office program that you're having issues with when the PDFMaker add-in is loaded, and then use one of the following methods to start Registry Editor.

Windows 8

From the Start screen, type CMD. In the results pane, swipe down on Command Prompt to reveal the charm bar, then select Run as administrator on the charm bar. If you are using a mouse, right-click the Command Prompt to reveal the charm bar.

Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP

  1. Select Start > All Programs > Accessories.
  2. Right-click the Command Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

Select the Office program that you're having problems with, and then use the appropriate method, as follows, to manually disable the PDFMaker add-in.

Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, or Publisher

Note

The <Office program> placeholder represents the name of the Office program that you're having issues with when the PDFMaker add-in was installed.

  1. Locate and select the following registry key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\microsoft\office\<Office program>\addins\Pdfmaker.OfficeAddin

    1. If the PDFmaker.<Office program>Addin key exists, modify the Load Behavior value under the key to 0, and then go to step 2.
    2. If the PDFmaker.<Office program>Addin key does not exist, go to step 2.
  2. Repeat step 1 with each of the following registry keys:

    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\<Office program>\Addins\PDFMaker.OfficeAddin
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\<Office program>\Addins\PDFMaker.OfficeAddin
  3. Exit Registry Editor, and then start the Office program.

Outlook

  1. Locate and select the following registry key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\microsoft\office\Outlook\addins\PdfmOutlook.PDFMOutlook

    1. If the PdfmOutlook.PDFMOutlook key exists, modify the Load Behavior value under the key to 0, and then go to step 2.
    2. If the PdfmOutlook.PDFMOutlook key does not exist, go to step 2.
  2. Repeat step 1 with each of the following registry keys:

    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\office\Outlook\addins\PdfmOutlook.PDFMOutlook
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\PdfmOutlook.PDFMOutlook
  3. Exit Registry Editor, and then start Outlook.

Visio

  1. Find and select the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\microsoft\Visio\addins\PDFMVisio.PDFMVisioCOMAddin

    1. If the PDFMVisio.PDFMVisioCOMAddin exists, modify the Load Behavior value under the key to 0, and then go to step 2.
    2. If the PDFMVisio.PDFMVisioCOMAddin key does not exist, go to step 2.

    Note

    This registry path does not include the \Office subkey as do the registry paths used by other Office programs.

  2. Repeat step 1 with each of the following registry keys:

    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\Visio\addins\PDFMVisio.PDFMVisioCOMAddin
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Visio\addins\PDFMVisio.PDFMVisioCOMAddin
  3. Exit the Registry Editor and open Visio.

Third-party information disclaimer

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

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