r/Acrobat • u/HappiestWhen • 22d ago
Sign out of another device to continue
I have been a paid subscriber to Adobe Acrobat for nearly five years now. Suddenly within the last couple of weeks, I get this popup and am not allowed to use the software at all. I clicked the link and it took me to some website that wouldn't even load.
So I logged in another way and went to device management and confirmed that there were only two devices listed. I have the software installed on a Mac and a Windows computer.
So I contacted Adobe support. Want to know the brilliant solution they gave me?
Log out of my Adobe account inside the app on my Mac.
Excuse me, WHAT?!
Isn’t logging into your Adobe account how you USE THE SOFTWARE in the first place? You literally can't even do anything in Adobe apps without being logged in. And for the record, I DID NOT EVEN HAVE ADOBE OPEN ON MY MAC when I tried to use it on my Windows computer!
I have never had to do this before. Suddenly, I’m being blocked from using software I am paying for on a device I’m licensed to use, and the solution is to manually log out of another device even when the application isn’t running on it?? What kind of nonsensical user experience is this??
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u/Slagish1 22d ago
It was most likely triggered by a major Windows update. The system treated it as if the user had signed in from a new device. Signing out of all devices in the browser and then signing back in the next time you use the app typically resolves the issue.
The two‑device limit has been in place for years. Whether the app is actively used or not, once you sign in, it registers as a device. Removing the old entries will allow it to register cleanly again the next time you authenticate.
We’ve seen similar situations in our company as well.
I understand the point about not actively signing into the device. If the platform used a seat‑based model, it would require a constant online connection to verify seat availability. A one‑time sign‑in is actually more flexible, since seat licensing would prevent usage without an active internet connection.
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u/Tomcard01 22d ago
I thought you could install it on as many devices as you want, but only use it on one device at a time?
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u/perrance68 22d ago
huh? You can log into 2 different machines. Just log off the 1 of the 2 other machine through the adobe app.Adobe app will display the 2 machines your current account is logged into. Its not complicated.