Impact of Internet Explorer 11 end-of-life on Acrobat and Acrobat Reader desktop apps

Microsoft has ended support for the Internet Explorer (IE) 11 desktop application on June 15, 2022. For more information, see the announcement. This document explains the impact of IE11 end-of-life on Acrobat and Acrobat Reader desktop applications and the roadmap ahead.

Adobe PDF plug-in in Internet Explorer

The Adobe PDF plug-in provides you the ability to view PDFs in Internet Explorer. Microsoft Edge with Internet Explorer mode will replace the Internet Explorer 11 desktop app for backward compatibility with Internet Explorer-based plug-ins, sites, and apps. For more information, see Internet Explorer (IE) mode.

With the September 2021 release of Acrobat and Acrobat Reader (v21.007.20091), the Adobe PDF plug-in for Internet Explorer is certified to run in IE mode on Microsoft Edge.

Acrobat and Acrobat Reader installers will continue to install the Internet Explorer-based PDF plug-in even after June 15, 2022. Until June 15, 2022, the plug-in will be supported in both Internet Explorer and IE mode on Microsoft Edge. Post-June 15, 2022, the plug-in will be supported only in IE mode on Microsoft Edge. Adobe will drop the support for the plug-in in Internet Explorer, and will not actively test or fix bugs reported or found on Internet Explorer 11. However, IE mode on Microsoft Edge will continue being supported. 

Adobe Acrobat Create PDF plug-in

Microsoft Edge currently does not allow the installation of Acrobat PDFMaker add-in. The create PDF actions like Print Web Page, Convert/Add Webpage to PDF will no longer be supported in either Internet Explorer or IE mode on Microsoft Edge post-June 15, 2022.

Acrobat and Acrobat Reader user sign-in workflow

Use of Internet Explorer embedded control for sign-in

Acrobat and Acrobat Reader use the Internet Explorer embedded control for sign-in. With the Internet Explorer end-of-life, Acrobat and Acrobat Reader is moving away from Internet Explorer to Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) for sign-in workflows.

• Available for the Continuous track beginning January 2022 release of Acrobat and Acrobat Reader (v 21.011.20039). 
• Available for the Classic track beginning March 2022 release of Acrobat 2020 (v20.005.30314) and Acrobat 2017 (v 17.012.30205).

Use of Internet Explorer embedded control for SharePoint, shared reviews, and forms-based authentication workflows

Acrobat and Acrobat Reader use the Internet Explorer embedded control for sign-in workflows in SharePoint, shared reviews, and forms-based authentication. Moving away from Internet Explorer for these workflows is planned for later release.