How to Fix Adobe Acrobat Touch Up Reading Order Tags Not Working
Question details
The user needs to resolve an issue where the Touch Up Reading Order (TURO) tool in Adobe Acrobat fails to tag selected text or generate reading order numbers.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Trying to format and tag a PDF document for accessibility using the Touch Up Reading Order tool.
- Observed behavior
- Highligting text and selecting a tag type results in the highlight disappearing, but no tag or reading order number is actually created in the document. The issue often happens randomly on certain pages while working perfectly on others.
Before troubleshooting, save a backup copy of your PDF document to ensure you do not lose any existing accessibility tags or structural changes, and verify that your Adobe Acrobat software is updated to the latest version.
Use the Tags Panel to Inspect and Repair Manually
When the TURO tool fails, manually creating and adjusting tags in the Tags panel can bypass the tool's glitch.
Sometimes the Touch Up Reading Order tool encounters invisible structural errors on specific pages that prevent it from applying tags via the visual interface. Using the deeper Tags panel allows you to force the tags onto the text.
Navigate to View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes and select 'Tags' to open the manual tagging structure on the left side of your screen.
Expand the tag tree to locate the content on the problematic page. Right-click the parent tag where the new content belongs and select 'New Tag' to manually define the content type (e.g., Paragraph, Heading).
Select the un-tagged text in the document using your cursor, right-click the newly created tag in the panel, and choose 'Create Tag from Selection'.
Run Auto-Tag Document to Reset Structure
Running the Auto-Tag tool can automatically generate missing tags, which you can then adjust.
Isolate Damaged Pages or Complex Tables
The issue may be caused by a corrupted page, complex table structures, or protected content within the PDF.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Touch Up Reading Order tool work on some pages but not others?
This usually occurs due to hidden structural issues, corrupted elements on a specific page, or highly complex elements like nested tables that disrupt Acrobat's tagging engine. Extracting the page to test it independently can help isolate the problem.
Can I tag form fields when text tagging fails in Acrobat?
Yes, sometimes the TURO tool can still recognize and tag form fields even when text tagging glitches. This indicates the issue is tied specifically to how the text elements are rendered or layered in the document, rather than a total tool failure.
How do I report persistent tagging bugs to Adobe?
If the issue occurs randomly across multiple files and versions, you should contact Adobe Support. Be prepared to provide your Acrobat version, operating system details, exact steps to reproduce the issue, and a sample PDF demonstrating the failure.
Will reinstalling Adobe Acrobat fix the Touch Up Reading Order tool?
If the issue is caused by a corrupted software installation, updating or reinstalling Acrobat might resolve it. However, if the bug is document-specific and relates to the PDF's internal structure, reinstalling won't fix the tagging problem for that particular file.
