PDFMaker issue in Office 2010, 2013, or 2016 with Acrobat or Acrobat 2017

PDFMaker toolbar unavailable

The Acrobat PDFMaker toolbar is unavailable in an Office 2010, 2013, or 2016 application after you install Acrobat or Acrobat 2017 on Windows.

Try one or more of the following solutions.

Solution 1: Enable the PDFMaker add-in in the Office application's Disabled Items list

A Microsoft Office application sometimes automatically disables add-ins as a fail-safe if the application closes unexpectedly. To determine if the PDFMaker add-in has been disabled, do the following:

Office 2010, 2013, or 2016

  1. Open the Microsoft Office application.

  2. Click the blue File menu (in the upper-left corner). Click the [Application Name] Options button. Choose Add-ins in the list on the left side of the Options window. Choose Disabled Items in the Manage pop-up menu at the bottom of the Options window. Click Go.

  3. Look in the Disabled Items list for Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in.

    • If Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in is in the list, then select it, click Enable, and click Close. Then close and reopen the Office application.
    • If Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in is not in the list, then use Windows Explorer to look for PDFMOfficeAddin.dll in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat [DC, 2015, or 2017]\PDFMaker\Office. If the file is not present, then go to Solution 5 for instructions on how to repair your Acrobat installation.

      Note:
       If you installed Acrobat to a location other than the default of C:\Program Files\Adobe, then modify the folder path above for your installation location.

Solution 2: Modify the registry entry for the PDFMaker OfficeAddin key or the PDFMOutlook key

  1. Close all Office applications.

  2. Press Windows + R keys to open the Run command window.

  3. Enter regedit in the Open field, and then click OK.

  4. In the Registry Editor, go to the following location:

    For Outlook: "\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\PDFMOutlook.PDFMOutlook"

    For Word: "\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\PDFMaker.OfficeAddin"

    For Excel: "\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\PDFMaker.OfficeAddin"

    For PowerPoint: "\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint\Addins\PDFMaker.OfficeAddin"

  5. Right-click Loadbehavior and choose Modify. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, change the value data from 0 to 3, and then click OK.

    Change the LoadBehavior value from 0 to 3

  6. Close the Registry Editor and restart the Office application.

If the PDFMaker add-in is still not available in the Office application, do the following:

  1. Open Registry Editor and go to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\<Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook>\Resiliency".
  2. Create a new key "DoNotDisableAddinList", and then add a new DWORD "PDFMaker.OfficeAddin" and set its value to "1".
  3. Close the Registry Editor and restart the Office application.

Solution 3: Manually register the COM add-in file

Caution:

This procedure involves editing the Windows registry. Adobe doesn't provide support for editing the registry, which contains critical system and application information. Make sure to back up the registry before editing it. For more information about the registry, see the Windows documentation or contact Microsoft.

  1. Close all Office applications.
  2. In Windows Explorer, locate PDFMOfficeAddin.dll and note its exact path, which can include spaces. Its default path is:

    Acrobat: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat\PDFMaker\Office\PDFMOfficeAddin.dll

    Acrobat Classic (2015): C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 2015\PDFMaker\Office\PDFMOfficeAddin.dll

    Acrobat 2017: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 2017\PDFMaker\Office\PDFMOfficeAddin.dll

  3. Do one of the following:

    • On Windows 7: Choose Start > All Programs > Accessories. Right-click Command Prompt, choose Run As Administrator and authenticate.
    • On Windows 8/10: Search for Command Prompt using the search button next to the Start button. Right-click the Command Prompt, choose Run As Administrator and then authenticate.
  4. In the Command Prompt window, type regsvr32 followed by a space and the path that you noted in Step 1. Enclose the path in quotation marks. For example, if PDFMOfficeAddin.dll is in its default location, then you would type the following command:

    For Acrobat: regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat\PDFMaker\Office\PDFMOfficeAddin.dll" 

    For Acrobat Classic (2015): regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 2015\PDFMaker\Office\PDFMOfficeAddin.dll"

    For Acrobat 2017: regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 2017\PDFMaker\Office\PDFMOfficeAddin.dll"

  5. Press Enter.
  6. A dialog box confirms that the registration was successful. Click OK to close this dialog box.
  7. Close the Command Prompt window.
  8. Open the Office application.

Solution 4: Verify that Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in is selected in the Office application's list of available add-ins

Office 2010, 2013, or 2016

  1. Open the Microsoft Office 2010 application.

  2. Click the blue File menu (in the upper-left corner). Click the [Application Name] Options button. Choose Add-ins in the list on the left side of the Options window. 

  3. Choose COM Add-ins in the Manage pop-up menu at the bottom of the Options window or the Trust Center window.
  4. Click Go.
  5. Look for Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in in the list.

    • If Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in appears in the list but the check box beside it is not selected, then click the check box . Click OK. Then close and reopen the Office application. (If you can't place a check mark , and if you have already tried Solution 1, then select Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Add-in. Click Remove, and proceed to the next paragraph.)
    • If Adobe PDFMaker COM Add-in is not in the list of available add-ins, then click Add and navigate to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat [DC, 2015, or 2017]\PDFMaker\Office. Select PDFMOfficeAddin.dll. Click OK. Then close and reopen the Office application.

      Note: If you installed Acrobat to a location other than the default of C:\Program Files\Adobe, then modify the folder path above for your installation location.

Solution 5: Run Repair Acrobat Installation while no other applications are running

  1. Close all open applications.
  2. Restart your computer.
  3. Open Acrobat.
  4. Choose Help > Repair Acrobat Installation and follow the onscreen instructions.
  5. When the repair process is complete, restart your computer.

Solution 6: Remove and reinstall Acrobat with Windows in a simplified mode

Device drivers and programs that start automatically when you start your computer can conflict with the Acrobat installer and cause problems. To prevent an installation conflict, reinstall Acrobat while Windows is in simplified mode. In simplified mode, nonessential programs and drivers are disabled.

  1. Move any personal files out of the Acrobat application folder and its subfolders. The default location for the application folder is C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat [DC, 2015, or 2017].

  2. Do the following:

    • On Windows 7/8/10: Right-click the Start button and then choose Control Panel > Programs And Features.
  3. In the programs list, select Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat 2017.

  4. Click Uninstall/Change.

  5. Follow the onscreen instructions to remove the application.
  1. Close all open applications.
  2. Restart the computer with non-essential services and startup items disabled. For instructions, see the following documents:

  3. Double-click the Acrobat or 2017 installation file. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation.

  4. Open Acrobat and choose Help > Check For Updates. Follow the onscreen instructions to install available updates.
  5. Re-enable startup items and services. For instructions, see the appropriate Help document in Step 2, above.

  6. Restart your computer.
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