Fix Slow Outlook Folder to PDF Conversion in Adobe Acrobat
Question details
The user is experiencing excessively slow performance when attempting to convert an Outlook email folder into a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Microsoft Outlook
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Converting a folder containing multiple Outlook email messages into a single PDF document or multiple PDFs.
- Observed behavior
- The conversion process takes an unusually long time, such as approximately 20 minutes to convert just 18 email messages that do not contain any attachments.
Before troubleshooting, ensure that both Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Pro DC are updated to their latest versions, as performance bugs are frequently patched in newer releases.
Disable Conflicting Outlook Add-ins and Pause Antivirus
Conflicting add-ins or overactive email antivirus scanners can drastically slow down the PDF conversion process.
Third-party COM add-ins in Outlook can interfere with the Adobe PDFMaker add-in. Additionally, if your antivirus software is set to aggressively scan emails in real-time, it will intercept every message Acrobat tries to read, causing severe processing delays.
Launch Microsoft Outlook, click on 'File' in the top left corner, and select 'Options'. In the Outlook Options window, click on 'Add-ins' on the left pane.
At the bottom of the window, ensure 'COM Add-ins' is selected in the Manage dropdown menu and click 'Go'.
Uncheck all add-ins except for 'Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Addin', then click 'OK'. Restart Outlook.
Temporarily disable your antivirus software's email scanning feature or pause the protection completely for a few minutes. Attempt the PDF conversion again to see if the speed improves.
Repair or Reinstall Acrobat PDFMaker
If the Acrobat PDFMaker component is corrupted, it can cause severe performance degradation during email conversions.
Test with a Smaller Folder and Adjust Settings
Isolating the issue by converting a smaller batch of emails can help determine if specific email formatting or complex HTML is causing the delay.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does the size or content of the Outlook emails affect PDF conversion speed?
Yes. Even if emails do not have file attachments, complex HTML formatting, embedded inline images, or extremely long email threads can cause Adobe Acrobat's rendering engine to slow down significantly.
Why does my antivirus software interfere with converting emails to PDF?
Many antivirus programs feature 'real-time email scanning'. When Acrobat rapidly accesses multiple emails in a folder to convert them, the antivirus treats this as bulk file access and scans each one simultaneously, causing a bottleneck that drastically increases conversion time.
Can I speed up PDF creation by lowering the output quality?
Yes. You can access the Acrobat PDFMaker preferences within the Outlook ribbon and change the default conversion setting from 'High Quality Print' to 'Standard' or 'Minimum Size', which requires less processing power and time.
