Turn on sandbox protection

Last updated on Jun 7, 2026

Learn how to turn on sandbox protection in Adobe Acrobat to help isolate PDFs from your system.

Sandbox protection runs PDFs in a restricted environment that limits their ability to access your files, registry, and other system resources. This security feature helps protect against malicious code embedded in PDF documents. Adobe recommends turning it on if it isn't already turned on.

Note

On macOS, this capability is being rolled out in phases and may not be available to all users yet.

Select Menu   (Windows) or File (macOS), and then select Preferences.

Select Security (Enhanced) from the Categories list.

Select Enable Protected Mode at startup.

Select OK, and then select Yes in the confirmation dialog box.

Restart Acrobat for the changes to take effect.

Caution

Turn off the sandbox protection only when required for specific workflows, as it provides essential security.