Disable Protected Mode

Disable Protected Mode 

Protected Mode is a security feature introduced in Reader 10.0 that protects users from viruses and attacks. This is a good thing for your security, but it sometimes misinterprets files as malicious and doesn't open them correctly. 

As such, you can try temporarily turning off this mode to see if it's preventing the software from opening PDFs. Here's how to do it: 

1. Press Win + R to open the Run command. 

2. Type Regedit and tap Enter to open Registry Editor. 

3. Paste the following address into the Registry Editor. 

1. Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureLockDown 

4. Right-click and navigate to New > DWORD Value. 

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5. Rename the file to "bProtectedMode." 

6. Right-click the file and tap on Modify. 

7. Change data value to 0 to disable Protected Mode. 

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Run the PDF file again with Protected Mode off. Keep Protected Mode off if everything works well this time instead of having to turn it on/off many times throughout the day.