Fix Adobe Acrobat PDF Printer Freezing Microsoft Word and Excel
Question details
Microsoft Office applications pause or become completely unresponsive when attempting to print or create a PDF using the Adobe PDF Printer.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Standard DC, Microsoft Office
- Device & OS
- Windows 10, macOS
- Scenario
- Users are attempting to convert Word or Excel documents into PDFs via the Adobe Acrobat PDF Printer function.
- Observed behavior
- Microsoft Word and Excel freeze, crash, or get stuck indefinitely on loading messages such as "Connecting to printer" or "Accessing printer."
Ensure that your Microsoft Office applications and Adobe Acrobat DC are fully closed before performing troubleshooting steps, and save any active work to prevent data loss.
Use Alternative PDF Creation Methods
Bypassing the traditional 'Print' function and using Acrobat's native conversion features often circumvents the printer spooler freeze.
Sometimes network drives or the Windows print spooler can cause the Adobe PDF printer to hang. Bypassing the print dialog and utilizing native Acrobat conversion hooks can resolve this issue quickly.
Move your Word or Excel file from any shared network drive to your local computer's desktop or documents folder before attempting to convert.
Close the document, right-click the Microsoft Office file in your file explorer, and select "Convert to Adobe PDF".
Open the file in Microsoft Word or Excel, navigate to the Acrobat tab on the top ribbon, and click "Create PDF".
Open Adobe Acrobat Standard DC, navigate to "File" > "Create" > "PDF from File," and select your Microsoft Office document.
Update System BIOS and Windows Printer Features
Certain Windows 10 updates and outdated BIOS versions are known to cause Microsoft Print to PDF and Adobe PDF Printer failures.
Repair Adobe Acrobat Installation
Corrupted installation files within Adobe Acrobat DC can prevent the application from successfully connecting to Microsoft Office components.
Switch to WPS Office for Seamless PDF Exporting
If Microsoft Office continues to freeze when creating PDFs, try WPS Office. It is a free, lightweight suite with a robust, built-in PDF converter that instantly exports your documents without relying on external virtual printers or external plugins.
- 1. Open your document: Launch WPS Office and open your existing Word or Excel document.
- 2. Click Export to PDF: Navigate to the "Tools" tab on the ribbon menu and select the "Export to PDF" button.
- 3. Save your PDF: Choose your desired export settings and click "Export" to save the file instantly without hanging or freezing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Microsoft Word say 'Connecting to printer' and freeze indefinitely?
This happens when the Windows print spooler fails to communicate with the virtual Adobe PDF printer. It is frequently caused by corrupted printer drivers, outdated system BIOS, or latency when trying to process files stored on network drives.
Will updating my computer's BIOS really fix the Adobe PDF printer issue?
Yes. Hardware manufacturers frequently release BIOS/UEFI updates to resolve low-level system communication bugs that affect virtual hardware operations, including the print spooler services in Windows 10.
Do I need Adobe Acrobat to create PDFs from Excel or Word?
No. Most modern office suites, including Microsoft Office and free alternatives like WPS Office, have built-in 'Save As PDF' or 'Export to PDF' features that do not require an Adobe Acrobat license or external virtual printer.
