How to Uninstall Adobe Acrobat 9 from Mac OS X
Question details
The user needs to completely remove Adobe Acrobat 9 from their Mac OS X system after upgrading to Mavericks and installing Acrobat XI.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat 9 and XI
- Device & OS
- Mac OS X
- Scenario
- Attempting to remove an older software version after installing a newer version.
- Observed behavior
- The Acrobat 9 uninstaller incorrectly opens the Acrobat XI uninstaller instead, preventing standard removal of the older software.
Ensure you have your Acrobat XI installation media or Adobe account credentials available, as the safest removal method involves temporarily uninstalling the newer version to prevent file corruption.
Manually Uninstall Acrobat 9 After Removing Acrobat XI
Temporarily uninstalling Acrobat XI prevents the accidental deletion of shared preferences and core application files, ensuring a clean and safe removal of Acrobat 9.
Because Adobe Acrobat 9 and Acrobat XI share many system folders and preference files on Mac OS X, manually deleting Acrobat 9 files while XI is installed can inadvertently break the newer application. The safest approach is to remove the newer version first, clear out the old version manually, and then perform a clean installation of the new version.
Navigate to the Applications > Adobe Acrobat XI Pro folder on your Mac and run the official Acrobat XI uninstaller to safely remove it from the system.
Open Finder, go to your Applications folder, locate the Adobe Acrobat 9 folder, and drag it directly to the Trash.
In Finder, click 'Go' in the top menu bar, hold the Option key to reveal the hidden 'Library' option, and click it. Navigate to the Preferences folder and delete all files starting with 'com.adobe.Acrobat'.
While still in the Library folder, navigate to Application Support > Adobe and delete the Acrobat 9 folder.
Empty your Mac's Trash to permanently delete the files, restart your computer, and run the Acrobat XI installer to restore your updated PDF software.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Acrobat 9 uninstaller open the Acrobat XI uninstaller on Mac?
When you install a newer version of Adobe Acrobat, system file associations and uninstaller scripts are often updated or redirected to the newer version to protect shared application files and registries.
Can I keep both Acrobat 9 and Acrobat XI installed on the same Mac?
Running multiple versions of Acrobat on the same system is not recommended. They share common library files, plugins, and preferences, which frequently leads to software crashes and conflicts like uninstaller redirects.
What should I do if I accidentally deleted Acrobat XI files while manually removing Acrobat 9?
If Acrobat XI stops functioning correctly after you manually delete shared Adobe files, you should run the Acrobat XI uninstaller, restart your Mac, and perform a fresh installation to restore the missing files.
Does emptying the Trash completely remove Adobe Acrobat from Mac?
No. Simply dragging the application folder to the Trash leaves behind hidden library files, caches, preferences, and application support documents. To completely remove the software, you must manually delete these associated system files.
