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We all are familiar with the PDF format of documents. These formats are mainly used to dispense read-only documents, to conserve the layout of a page. The file type developed by Adobe allows text formatting as well. The rising demand of this file format has led to the development of numerous applications in the market which primarily deal with PDFs.
Despite a wide range of applications available for the PDF format of our files, most of us are sure to have used one common application- Adobe Acrobat Reader. The software allows you to :
- Create PDFs
- Manipulate PDFs
- Print and manage PDFs
Adobe Acrobat has been the major software for managing secure digital documents (in PDF format) for more than 22 years now. Great editing features, digital signatures, customizable security settings, and a lot more reasons back the fact of this software being the most reverberating one for the PDFs in the market. Check out our cool article on How to electronically sign a PDF using Preview on Mac.
Imagine that you’ve been working all day on an important document in the PDF format using the Adobe software and suddenly the work is interrupted because of a mischievous pop-up.
Well, Surely You’re At Your Wits End!
Annoying, isn’t it?
This error message is just the tip of the Iceberg, because there’s a lot more behind this entire event. Before diving deep into the solutions to this problem, let’s get a brief idea as to why this error message occurs.
Most of the Acrobat users across the Globe must be familiar with a pop-up message which says – Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE Server.
Possible reasons for Adobe DDE Server Error:
- Combining multiple files into a single PDF can result in this error message.
- The Acrobat program might not be running properly.
- A glitch in the Security Settings could be a reason for the occurrence of this pop-up.
Let’s check out a few methods which could easily resolve the above problem.
1.Restart your Acrobat Software
As discussed earlier, the improper running of this program can result in the generation of the error message which states- Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE Server. Following steps would resolve this error:
- Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
- End all the Acrobat related processes by clicking End Task as shown Below.
- Reopen the Acrobat software to check if the error is resolved or not.
In case the pop up still occurs, try the steps discussed below.
2.Update the Acrobat Software
This error is quite probable to transpire in the older version of this software, therefore updating the Acrobat software to the latest version is very important in order to avoid such errors.
- Choose the Run program from the Start Menu. You can even type Run in the search bar of the Start menu or click Windows+X+R.
- Type appwiz.cpl in the following window and click OK.
- Select Adobe Acrobat and click Uninstall. Click Yes to confirm the uninstallation process.
- Restart Windows once did.
- Download Adobe from the official website.
There you are! The pop up will no longer intervene during your work and you can continue with the latest version of this software having a lot more updates to enhance and boost up your documents.
3.Repair Acrobat
This process will repair the software by removing all the corrupt files that might have been installed during the software installation.
- Choose the Run program from the Start Menu. You can even type Run in the search bar of the Start menu or click Windows+X+R.
- Type appwiz.cpl in the following window and click OK
- Select Adobe Acrobat and click Change.
- Select the first radio button and click Next as shown below.
- The installation process will take place, removing all the corrupt files.
- Press Finish ,once the installation is done.
4.Disable/ Turn-off Antivirus software temporarily.
As discussed above, the consolidation of various PDF files could result in the “Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE Server” error.
Some third-party antivirus utilities can interfere or summon the Acrobat software resulting in the above error message.
You can even check if the antivirus is affecting the Acrobat Software.
Well in that case you can temporarily disable your system’s antivirus by referring to the following video.
Note- In case you don’t find any disable option, open Utility primary window. In the Settings tab search for the Turn off Option.
5.Edit the Registry
Following are the steps to edit the software Registry:
- Go to the Run window by pressing Window+X+R keys.
- Type regedit in the text box and press OK. The Registry editor will open up.
- Enter ComputerHKEY_CLASSES_ROOTacrobatshellopenddeexecapplication in the Address Bar.
- Select the application key as shown below.
- Open the Edit String window by double clicking the Default.
- Delete current Acroview 18 or AcroviewA19 (if already written) in the value data box.< NOTE- here value is not set so follow the next step.>
- Enter Acroview 18 or AcroviewA19 depending on the version installed in the value data box.
- Click Ok and then Restart Windows.
This Registry Edit resolution is one of the official ones suggested for the Acrobat DDE error.
6. Turn off Protected Mode at Start-up
- Click Edit> Preferences in Acrobat.
- Click Security(enhanced ) to find the options as shown below.
- Enable Protected Mode at Startup should be deselected.
- Enable Enhanced Security should be deselected
- Close the Preferences windows and Adobe Acrobat.
- Check whether or not the error is resolved by reopening the Adobe software.
So ,there are a few easy approaches which can help you resolve the “Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server” error.
There you Go!!
You can now enjoy working with your pdf documents without any Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE Server error pop up or interventions by following the above methods to easily resolve in case it occurs.
