How to Fix Acrobat Out of Memory Error When Opening PDFs
Question details
Users encounter an Out of Memory error or experience freezing when attempting to open or scroll through large, complex PDF files in Adobe Acrobat.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- Windows
- Scenario
- Opening, viewing, or scrolling through resource-intensive PDFs, such as large CAD drawings or documents with many page thumbnails.
- Observed behavior
- Acrobat freezes, fails to load page thumbnails, or displays 'Out of Memory' and 'A drawing error occurred' messages, even on computers with plenty of available RAM.
Check whether you are using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Acrobat, as 32-bit applications have stricter memory limitations when rendering complex line segments and transparency effects.
Disable Protected View and Enhanced Security
Turning off enhanced security features can sometimes bypass memory allocation errors in Acrobat when dealing with complex or trusted CAD drawings.
Acrobat's protected sandbox environments use additional system memory to isolate files. Disabling them temporarily can help successfully render large documents.
Launch Adobe Acrobat, click on 'Edit' in the top menu bar, and select 'Preferences'.
In the left-hand category pane, scroll down and click on 'Security (Enhanced)'.
Under 'Sandbox Protections', select the 'Off' radio button for 'Protected View'. Then, uncheck the box next to 'Enable Enhanced Security'.
Click 'OK' to apply the changes, close Adobe Acrobat completely, and reopen your complex PDF file.
Hide or Disable Page Thumbnails
Preventing Acrobat from loading thumbnails can save a significant amount of memory when working with multi-page complex PDFs.
Simplify the Original PDF Document
Recreating the PDF from its source application with optimized settings reduces the number of resource-intensive line segments.
Open Complex PDFs Smoothly with WPS Office
If Adobe Acrobat struggles with memory limitations on your device, try using WPS PDF. Included in the WPS Office suite, it offers a lightweight and highly efficient rendering engine designed to open large CAD drawings and complex documents without causing memory overloads.
- 1. Install WPS Office: Download and install the free WPS Office suite on your Windows computer.
- 2. Launch WPS PDF: Open the WPS Office desktop app and click on 'PDF' in the left navigation menu.
- 3. Open the Complex Document: Click 'Open PDF', navigate to your large CAD drawing or complex document, and double-click to load it.
- 4. View Smoothly: Use the mouse wheel or scrollbar to navigate through the pages without freezing or memory errors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Acrobat show an out of memory error when my PC has 16GB of RAM?
Even with substantial system RAM, older 32-bit versions of Acrobat are restricted to utilizing a limited amount of memory (typically 2GB to 3GB). Additionally, complex PDFs like CAD drawings contain hundreds of thousands of vector line segments that quickly exhaust the application's allocated resources.
Does disabling page thumbnails really prevent memory errors in PDFs?
Yes. Generating thumbnail previews for highly complex multi-page documents forces the PDF reader to render the intricate details of every page simultaneously in the background. Hiding the thumbnail pane frees up significant processing power and memory.
Can I permanently fix the PDF drawing error without changing security settings?
If you prefer not to alter security settings, the best permanent fix is to optimize the PDF at its source. Re-export the document from the original CAD software with flattened layers, reduced transparency, and optimized resolution to lower its memory footprint.
