PDF Editing Issues

Fix Android Acrobat Reader Crashing When Highlighting Large PDFs

Kushani Nimanthika Oct 19, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to resolve an issue where the Adobe Acrobat Reader Mobile app freezes or crashes entirely on their Android device while attempting to highlight text.

How to Fix Android Acrobat Reader Crashing When Highlighting Large PDFs

Product: Adobe Acrobat Reader Mobile
Device & OS: Android
Scenario: Highlighting text and adding annotations in large PDF documents or files that already contain numerous annotations.
Observed behavior: The application becomes unresponsive, freezes, or crashes back to the home screen during the highlighting process, and basic troubleshooting like clearing the cache does not always solve it.

Before you start

Ensure your Android device has sufficient free storage space and available RAM, and check if the crashing issue happens with just one specific large PDF or all documents you try to highlight.

Solution 1Recommended

Update the App and Isolate the File

Updating to the latest version ensures you have recent bug fixes, and testing a different file helps determine if the specific PDF is causing the crash.

Large PDF files or those heavily populated with complex annotations can overwhelm mobile device memory. Outdated versions of a PDF reader might also have known bugs handling specific rendering tasks.

Update the Application

Open the Google Play Store on your Android device, search for 'Adobe Acrobat Reader', and tap the 'Update' button if a new version is available.

Test with a Smaller PDF

Open a different, smaller PDF document with minimal formatting and try highlighting text to see if the app remains stable.

Gather Diagnostic Information

If the app continues to crash, take note of your exact Android OS version and the Acrobat Reader app version from your device settings.

Record the Crash

Use your phone's built-in screen recording feature to capture the exact moment the app freezes while highlighting, which can be sent to support along with the sample file.

Contacting Support: If the problem is limited to a single large file, it may be corrupted. You can submit the screen recording, version details, and the sample PDF to the app's support team for further investigation.

Solution 2

Clear App Data to Reset Configurations

Clearing all application data resets the app to its default state, eliminating any corrupted local configuration files that might be causing freezes.

Highlight Large PDFs Smoothly with WPS Office

If your current PDF reader continues to crash when handling large files, WPS Office is an excellent solution. It features a highly optimized built-in PDF editor that manages large files and heavy annotations on Android seamlessly without draining memory or freezing.

1. Install WPS Office: Download and install the free WPS Office app from the Google Play Store.
2. Open the PDF: Launch WPS Office, tap the 'PDF' tab, and select the large document you need to edit.
3. Access Annotation Tools: Tap the 'Tools' icon at the bottom of the screen, and navigate to the 'Annotation' tab.
4. Highlight Text Smoothly: Select the 'Highlight' tool, choose your preferred color, and drag across the text to highlight without experiencing lag or crashes.

Optimized rendering engine for opening and highlighting large PDF documents smoothly on mobile.Fully compatible with standard PDF formats and standard PDF annotations.Comprehensive PDF toolkit for highlighting, commenting, editing, and converting files.Lightweight architecture saves device memory and prevents app crashes.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my PDF app crash when highlighting text on Android?

Highlighting adds interactive annotation layers to a document. In exceptionally large files or documents that already have hundreds of annotations, processing these layers can exceed the available RAM on mobile devices, leading to app freezes or crashes.

Can a corrupted PDF cause highlighting tools to freeze?

Yes, if a PDF file has broken cross-reference tables or corrupted formatting structure, the PDF rendering engine may fail to process new annotations correctly, resulting in an application crash when you try to highlight.

How can I reduce the PDF file size to prevent crashes on mobile?

You can use a PDF compressor or 'flatten' the PDF by using the 'Print to PDF' feature. Flattening merges all existing annotations into the background layer, which significantly reduces the processing power needed to add new highlights.

Is there a limit to how many highlights I can add to a single PDF?

While the PDF format itself does not strictly limit annotations, the software and device hardware do. Adding excessive highlights to a single file increases its complexity and file size, which can eventually cause performance issues on mobile apps.

PDF Troubleshooting