Need help opening a protected file? Ask the publisher/sender first.

Windows Troubleshooting

1) I am having problems with the FileOpen Client installation.

Items #2 and #4 provide explanation for specific issues.

Older FileOpen Clients, i.e. Build998 and before, may not work properly on Windows 11 24H2. If you are encountering such issues we recommend using the current version of the FileOpen Client. 

If that's not an option, please refer to this page 

General instructions:

  • Be sure to download the installer before running it. That is, when you have a choice between Run and Save, choose Save.
  • Make sure to have all web browsers and Adobe products closed when running the installer.
  • If the installer says that the system must be restarted then please be sure to reboot your computer.
  • After you have installed the plug-in please try to open the following PDF (note that you must right-click and download/SaveAs this PDF then open from the local device, in Acrobat/Reader):

installcomplete.pdf (delivered in a .zip container).

2) I installed the FileOpen Client but when I launch Acrobat I'm taken back to the FileOpen installer page.

If you have successfully installed the FileOpen Client, i.e. can see an entry for it under Control Panel>Programs, but it is not loading when you start Acrobat there are a few possible explanations:

  • Your Acrobat/Reader instance is in "Certified Mode", see item #4.
  • Your Acrobat instance was installed using the "Unified App Installer" and is running in "Reduced Mode." Here is an explanation of that:

Adobe has changed the model for Acrobat from the traditional design, in which Acrobat and Reader were separate programs, to one in which there is only one program with different functionality based on licensing. Now “Reader” is equivalent to “unlicensed Acrobat.”
 
More specifically, Adobe tells us that:
 
Unified app works in below different modes:
Acrobat reader 64 bit – Reader mode
Acrobat pro 64 bit  (signed in with id with subscription) - Acrobat mode
Acrobat pro 64 bit (signed in with id without subscription) – Reduced mode
Acrobat pro 64 bit (signed out state) – Acrobat 64-bit Reader mode 
 Currently “Third party plugins are not currently supported in Reduced mode and Acrobat 64-bit Reader mode “
 
The workaround suggested by Adobe is to either sign-in with a license or to install the standalone Adobe Reader.  

However, it is not possible to have both 64-bit Acrobat and 64-bit Reader on the same system, so the version of Reader must be 32-bit.
 
This issue is classified as bug ADC-4400883 and is set at “unresolved”". 

 

3) How do I check if the FileOpen Client has been successfully installed?

Within Adobe Reader or Acrobat navigate to Help>About Third-Party Plug-Ins, if you have successfully installed the "FileOpen Client" should appear as outlined in the images below.

If your version of Acrobat is using the "New Acrobat" UI, this dialog will be at Menu>Plugins>For getting help>About Third Party Plug-ins>FileOpen Client

 

If you click on the "FileOpen Client" dialog then the version information should appear.

 



4) The FileOpen Client does not show up in ‘About Third-Party Plug-Ins’ and/or I can’t open installcomplete.pdf. What went wrong?

In some cases the FileOpen plug-in will not load in Adobe's certified mode. Please navigate to Edit/Menu>Preferences>General  and uncheck the "Use only certified plug-ins" as outlined in the image below.

Screenshot 2021-03-03 164337

 

5) I get the error, "The FileOpen Client has failed to initialize. Please follow the instructions at https://plugin.fileopen.com." immediately followed by the error, "FileOpen client has encountered an error. Please restart Adobe Acrobat/Reader." How should I proceed?

These error messages only occur when you have an older version of the FileOpen Client that uses a now-deprecated architecture. 

The best solution is to install the current FileOpen Client. If you are unanble to do so, the following explanation would apply:

This error is displayed when a companion process, FileOpenBroker64.exe, is not running. What we want to do is get the broker process running again.

  • If you have been able to view protected documents until recently, then the broker process was running and has stopped for some reason. The easiest way to get the broker process running again is to simply reboot. If a reboot does not solve the problem, please request technical support.

  • If you just installed the FileOpen client plug-in and this is your first time trying to open a protected file, then you need to get the FileOpenBroker64.exe running. You will also want the FileOpenBroker64.exe to start every time you log in to the machine. To do this you can create a shortcut to

    C:\ProgramFiles\FileOpen\Services\FileOpenBroker64.exe

    via

    C:\Users\YOUR USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

    for launching the FileOpenBroker64.exe at login time. After creating the shortcut you can start FileOpenBroker64.exe manually by double-clicking either on the original .exe file or the shortcut. Once you have verified that the FileOpenBroker64.exe is running as a process in your Task Manager, you should be able to open protected documents for which you have permission. If you encounter this error on a server environment (e.g. Citrix or Terminal Server) please review the guidelines for using the plug-in in server environments.


  • If you are using Windows 11 you may be able to configure the FileOpenBroker to launch automatically from  Start>Settings>Apps>Startup, there should be an item FileOpen Client - Broker with an on/off button. Set this to "On".
6) How do I generate a Tracefile?

The current FileOpen Client always writes a tracefile. That is, there is no longer any distinction between the "Release" and "Trace versions."

The tracefile documents the most recent session and can be useful in identifying the cause of issues.

Here are instructions for gathering the data to analyze, or to submit a case to us:

First please obtain the output from Acrobat>Menu>Help>Generate system report... This file contains baseline information about the OS and Acrobat/Reader version. 

Second please obtain the tracefiles generated by the FileOpen Client.

You can find these at:
"C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\DC\FileOpen\fowptrace.<some#>.txt"
and
"C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\FileOpen\Traces\PIBroker.<some#>.txt"

Where USER is the name of the logged-in user and <some#> is a random number generated by the system.

Please bear in mind that the tracefile is overwritten each time Acrobat/Reader is loaded, so must be captured after the issue is encountered but before restart of the viewer.

 

 

 

 

 

7) How do I change print settings (ex. double sided printing)?

Adobe Reader/Acrobat has a bug in which it ignores printer settings applied at the job level. These same settings are respected if set as printer defaults. The workaround is to set the printer to print with your configuration choices as printer defaults.

8) Still, experiencing issues after installing the FileOpen Plugin?


This issue may be due to the broker running but missing a component in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
 
Here are the step-by-step instructions for enabling protected mode:

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.

  2. Hover to the ‘edit’ tab at the top of the application and click on it.

  3. Hover to the bottom of the menu and click on ‘Preferences’.

  4. On the ‘Categories’ Menu hover to the bottom of the menu, locate ‘Security (Enhanced)’, and click on it.

  5. In the ‘Sandbox Protections’ uncheck the following features.
5a. Enable Protected Mode at startup.

5b. Run in App Container.
 

If you have disabled ‘Certified Mode’ and enabled ‘Security Enhanced’, but still, run into issues, please fill out and send us a support request.

 
9) Can I view FileOpen protected documents in Chrome?

You cannot view FileOpen protected documents in the Chrome browser, but you can change Chrome's settings so that you open PDF documents in Adobe Acrobat / Reader.

You can set this up by following the instructions below:

 

  1. Open Google Chrome.

  2. Type: 'chrome://settings/content' into the URL bar.
  3. A 'Content Settings' box will appear.

  4. Scroll to the bottom of the 'Content Settings' box and select 'Open PDF files in the default PDF viewer application' option.

  5. Click on the 'Done' button in the bottom right corner of the 'Content Settings Box'.

 

**Note: This will open documents in your default PDF viewer application. So you will need Adobe Acrobat / Reader, Bluebeam or Foxit set as your default PDF viewer in order for this setup to work properly with FileOpen protected documents. 

 

10) Can I view FileOpen protected documents in FireFox?

Yes, to display the encrypted files Firefox must be configured so that Firefox uses Adobe's PDF viewer plug-in to display PDF files. You can do so by following the instructions below:

 

Open up your Firefox menu by clicking on the menu button in the upper left corner of the browser. Then click on options.

 

Then select the 'Applications' tab on the left hand side.

 

Change the 'Portable Document Format (PDF)' Action to 'Use Adobe Acrobat/Reader..'.

 

Click OK to finish configuring Firefox. You can test your configuration by opening the installcomplete.pdf

 



11) Is there a FileOpen Client for Foxit Reader?

The FileOpen Plugin for Foxit Editor/Reader is installed by the Foxit application when a FileOpen encrypted PDF is accessed. You can check for the presence of the plug-in from Help>Foxit Plug-Ins>FileOpen.

12) Where can I get more information on removing the FileOpen Plugin?

See the How to Remove the FileOpen Plug-In page.

Mac Troubleshooting

1) How do I open encrypted documents on a Mac?


First, you need to have Adobe Reader installed. If you do not have it, visit https://get.adobe.com/reader/ to get the latest version.

 

Next, the FileOpen plug-in needs to be installed. Before installing the plug-in you need to quit out of Adobe Reader.

 

To download the FileOpen installer for Mac OS 10.9+:

 

Open FileOpenInstaller.dmg and run the installer inside, FileOpenInstaller-Bxxx.pkg. 

 

Verify that you can open the installcomplete.pdf test file with Adobe Reader, not Apple's Preview.

 

If you are using Mac OSx 10.8+ protected documents can no longer be viewed in Safari. The best practice is to open the protected document using the "Open with a Different Viewer" button in Firefox.

And then select Adobe Reader from the resulting Dialog box.

Alternatively, you may download your files to your local disk first and then opening them using the standalone Adobe Reader/Acrobat.

2) How do I check if the FileOpen Plug-in has been successfully installed?


Verify the FileOpen Client is listed as a Third-Party Plug-in within Adobe Reader as outlined in the image below.

 



3) The FileOpen Plug-in does not show up in ‘About Third-Party Plug-Ins’ and/or I can’t open installcomplete.pdf. What went wrong?


Please check to see if somehow Adobe's certified mode has been enabled. This will prevent the FileOpen plug-in from loading and cause this problem. The checkbox at Adobe Reader > Preferences > General > Use only certified plug-ins MUST be unchecked for proper plug-in operation:

 



4) Still, experiencing issues after installing the FileOpen Plugin?


This issue may be due to the broker running but missing a component in Adobe Acrobat Reader. 
 
Here are the step-by-step instructions for enabling protected mode:

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.

  2. Hover to the ‘edit’ tab at the top of the application and click on it.

  3. Hover to the bottom of the menu and click on ‘Preferences’.

  4. On the ‘Categories’ Menu hover to the bottom of the menu, locate ‘Security (Enhanced)’, and click on it.

  5. In the ‘Sandbox Protections’ uncheck the following features.
5a. Enable Protected Mode at startup.

5b. Run in App Container.
 
If you have disabled ‘Certified Mode’ and enabled ‘Security Enhanced’, but still, run into issues, please fill out and send us a support request.
 
5) How do I install and use the trace plugin?
  1. First, you will need to download our plugin again in order install the trace version. Please download our plugin installer here: link to mac installer.

  2. Proceed as usual install, until you reach the Installation Type step where you will choose 'Trace Installation'.




  3. Finish the installation process by following the prompts.

  4. *Important* Attempt to reproduce the issue that is causing you trouble.

  5. During the reproduction of the issue, a trace file will be generated that will contain more detailed information of what went wrong.

  6. To find this trace file, open a finder windows and go to your finder menu and choose the “Go” Tab from there in the drop down select “Go to Folder” and type the following,  /Users/"USERNAME"/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/DC/FileOpen, insuring that "USERNAME" is your username. 

  7. Send the trace file with the extension ".txt" to support@fileopen.com

Still Have Questions?

If you are the publisher of the protected files (a FileOpen customer), please contact our support team. If you are an end-user trying to view protected content, please contact the publisher directly.