Adobe Acrobat Reader FAQs

Acrobat Reader desktop software runs on both Windows and Mac operating systems.Download Reader desktop software now, or read system requirements.

Learn about language support on the system requirements page.

Just like Reader on the desktop, Acrobat Reader for mobile is free and continues to offer the industry’s most reliable mobile experience for viewing and interacting with PDFs. And now, with the addition of Adobe Document Cloud services, you can unlock premium features within the app to do more with PDFs when you purchase a subscription to Adobe Acrobat PDF Pack or Adobe Acrobat Export PDF– as well as Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Visit the Google Play or the iTunes App Store to get Android and iOS versions, respectively. You can also download the latest version of the mobile app for  Windows Phone device.

Reader makes it easy to annotate PDF documents. With Reader on your desktop, you can: annotate PDFs using sticky notes; type text directly onto the page; highlight, underline, or use strikethrough tools; and draw on the screen with the freehand drawing tool. The same commenting tools are also available in Acrobat Reader for mobile.

Yes. The Fill & Sign tool automatically recognizes whether your PDF has fillable form fields or not and takes you to an intuitive filling experience, powered by Adobe Sensei, to get the job done quickly and easily. With a fillable form, it’s easy to type your answers or select from drop-down lists, then save your completed form. When working with simple PDFs that haven’t been optimized with form fields, you can click anywhere and type answers right onto the form – or you can accept suggestions from your personal autofill collection. When you’re done, you can save your changes and send the completed form to others.

Using the Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, you can do the same tasks on your iOS or Android devices too. To download the Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, visit Google Play or the iTunes App Store.

Yes. The Fill & Sign tool, powered by Adobe Acrobat Sign, makes it easy to sign documents and forms. Just open any PDF file, sign by typing or drawing your signature, or using an image.

Using the Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, you can do the same tasks on your iOS or Android devices too. To download the Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, visit Google Play or the iTunes App Store. You can also fill and sign forms using your web browser.

Yes. Acrobat Reader provides a limited number of signatures you can request using the Fill & Sign tool, without purchasing a subscription to Acrobat Pro, Adobe Acrobat PDF Pack, or Adobe Acrobat Sign. If you exceed the allowance of free signature transactions, you can subscribe to one of the various Document Cloud solutions to request even more signatures.

Existing customers of Acrobat Sign can use Acrobat Sign mobile app to do the same on Android or iOS. To download the app for free, visit Google Play or the iTunes App Store. You can also send files for signature using your web browser.

Yes. When you subscribe to Adobe Acrobat PDF Pack, you can convert files to PDF by choosing the Create PDF tool from the Tools Center in Reader. You can also create PDFs from the Acrobat Reader mobile app or your web browser.

You can also use Adobe Scan to create high-quality PDFs from papers and whiteboards with automatic text recognition. Powered by artificial intelligence in Adobe Sensei, Adobe Scan automatically enhances your scans, corrects perspective errors, detects boundaries, and automates workflows to help you get more done on the go.

Yes. When you subscribe to Adobe Acrobat Export PDF you can convert PDF files to Microsoft Word, Excel, or RTF files by choosing Export PDF from the Tools Center in Reader. When you subscribe to Adobe Acrobat PDF Pack, you can also convert PDFs to PowerPoint. In addition, you can also export PDFs from the Acrobat Reader mobile app or your web browser.

Yes. When you subscribe to Adobe Acrobat PDF Pack, you can send and track documents electronically by choosing Share from the Tools Center in Reader. When you use Adobe’s file sharing tools, you don’t need to worry about email clients rejecting large files. And, you can track what you've sent, rather than relying on overnight delivery tracking – or your email system – as a storage system. You can also send and track files in Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, and get real-time notifications when your document is opened, shared, or downloaded.

No. You cannot make permanent changes to text or images inside PDF files using Acrobat Reader. To edit PDF files, purchase Adobe Acrobat software. If you have a subscription to Adobe Acrobat, you can also edit PDFs from the Adobe Acrobat Reader tablet app.

Yes. With the release of Adobe Document Cloud services, powerful new functionality has been added to Adobe Acrobat PDF Pack at the same affordable price.

• Use the new Fill & Sign tool to complete any PDF form fast with smart autofill.
• Use the new Send for Signature tool to send, track, manage, and store signed documents with a complete e-signature service.
• Use the new Share tool to send, track, and confirm delivery of documents electronically instead of using fax or overnight services.

Acrobat Reader makes it possible for people with disabilities – such as blindness, low vision, or mobility impairments – to interact with PDF documents and forms. Accommodations include built-in capabilities as well as support for users of assistive technologies. In addition, Adobe Acrobat Pro provides authors with a complete set of tools to create and optimize accessible PDF files.

Using Acrobat Reader on Windows, users can:

• Customize accessibility preferences with an easy-to-use wizard
• Work with magnifiers
• Read PDFs out loud using built-in functions or working with professional screen-reading software
• Set high-contrast colors for better visibility
• NEW Read text easier in high contrast mode with dynamic background adjustment
• Enable large-type display by setting text to reflow through pages

Using Acrobat Reader on Mac, users can:

• NEW Work with the VoiceOver screen reader on Mac OS X computers
• Work with magnifiers
• Set high-contrast colors for better visibility
• NEW Read text easier in high contrast mode with dynamic background adjustment
• Enable large-type display by setting text to reflow through pages

Learn more at the Adobe Accessibility Resource Center.

To protect you and your organization from malicious code that attempts to use the PDF format to write to - or read from - a computer’s file system, Adobe delivers an implementation of "sandboxing" technology called Protected Mode. Enabled by default in Acrobat Reader, Protected Mode protects against attackers who attempt to install malware on your computer system and blocks malicious individuals from accessing – and extracting – sensitive data and intellectual property from your computer or corporate network.

Security settings and access privileges for a PDF file cannot be set in Reader; however, they can be set using Adobe Acrobat software. With security settings, authors can define who can open, view, print, copy, or modify a document. These capabilities help organizations protect the confidentiality of sensitive information. With access privileges, authors can define a password that users will need to open the document, or they can use a certificate ID to encrypt the document so select recipients can open it by entering their own, unique certificate IDs.

Yes. At Adobe, security practices are deeply ingrained into our internal culture, software development, as well as service operations processes. Whether related to identity management, data confidentiality, or document integrity, Adobe Document Cloud services employ leading-edge security practices to protect your documents, data, and personal identifiable information to the highest degree possible. For additional information about our company security practices, the Adobe Secure Product Lifecycle, or Adobe Document Cloud solution security, see the Adobe Security pages on adobe.com.

Adobe is committed to accessibility and strives to address it in its products and services. U.S. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage the development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. Adobe Acrobat Reader features that support accessibility for people with disabilities are summarized in the Adobe Acrobat Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPAT).

Yes. Adobe is committed to helping enterprise customers meet demand for mobile business productivity solutions while safeguarding enterprise security and compliance. The Acrobat Reader mobile app supports the Android for Work EMM platform, and Adobe Acrobat Reader for Microsoft Intune is available for iOS and Android..

Yes. You can easily apply for a license to distribute Reader in volume.

It's easy to deploy, customize, and update Acrobat Reader in your organization. You can control enterprise-wide deployment — and help reduce IT costs — using various tools and methods, including the Adobe Customization wizard or Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). For more information about enterprise deployment, visit the IT resources page.

Acrobat Reader desktop software is available for deployment using either “continuous” or “classic” tracks.

All versions of Reader downloaded from http://get.adobe.com/reader use the continuous track, which updates silently and frequently to stay current with new features, security and platform enhancements, and bug fixes. If desired, IT administrators can turn off automatic updates to test a new version before rolling it out to employees. Only the latest version is available for download. IT administrators can also tune out free Adobe Document Cloud services so employees don’t see the options presented in their user experience.

Adobe Acrobat Reader MUI is Adobe's Multilingual User Interface version of Reader, which lets you roll out the same worldwide image of Reader with a single installation. Local users can then select a user interface language, or it can be set by group policy for organizational units.