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How to install Adobe Acrobat Pro

This article gives instructions on installing Adobe Acrobat Pro on:

  • Personal devices owned by staff and Postgraduate Research Students (PGRs)
  • University-owned computers.

 

Undergraduate (UGs) and Postgraduate (PGTs) students cannot install locally Adobe Acrobat Pro on their computers using a University license. All UGs and PGTs will need to either use Adobe Acrobat from:

  • Common Learning Spaces (CLS) machines, onsite
    or
  • The Southampton Virtual Environment (SVE) Portal.

Adobe Acrobat Pro continues to be available to all users on SVE and common learning spaces (CLS).

 

If you need a PDF reader, you can:

  • open your PDF with your browser (by right-clicking your file and choosing the function Open with)
    or
  • use the free software Adobe Acrobat Reader.

 

Installing Adobe Acrobat Pro

Installing Adobe Acrobat Pro on your personal device

1. Open the Adobe website and then click the Sign In button on the top-right corner of the screen

Sign In button 
2. Sign in with the short version of your university email in the form of username@soton.ac.uk (for example: abc12u12@soton.ac.uk, not A.Surname@soton.ac.uk) and university password

3. You will then be redirected from Adobe to the University's external authentication portal. This may involve a second redirection:

Microsoft authentication window

4. Once logged in, select the App switcher icon

App switcher icon

5. Select the Acrobat icon

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6. To use Acrobat on your desktop, select the Get your apps button

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7. Select the Adobe Acrobat Pro button (or the Open button). The installer download will automatically start

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8.  Launch the installer to install Acrobat Creative Cloud and Acrobat

9. Follow the instructions 

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Installing Adobe Acrobat Pro on a university-owned computer

Windows users

To download the software off campus, you will need to connect to a Virtual Private Network VPN (GlobalProtect). To set up a VPN on your laptop, read the article How to set up the Virtual Private Network (VPN) via GlobalProtect.

1. Go to your Desktop and select the Software Center icon. You can find it is also available in the Start menu.

  Software Center icon

2. A new window will appear. Once the Software Center has fired up, enter "Adobe Acrobat" or "Adobe Acrobat Pro" into the search field.

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3. Select Adobe Acrobat Pro and then Install on the next screen.

The installation will start downloading the software. This action can take up to 30 minutes if you are at home. You can carry on working on other programs whilst this is in progress.

4. Once the downloading part has been completed, the installation will automatically begin and complete. If requested to complete any reboots, please do so.

5. Adobe Acrobat Pro can be launched from the Start menu. You should automatically signed in with your university account.

If you need to sign in manually, please:

  1. Select the Sign in button at the top-right corner of the window
  2. Enter your university email address in the form of username@soton.ac.uk (for example: ab1c24@soton.ac.uk)
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  3. Enter your password 
  4. You might be asked to confirm your identity through Multi-Factor Authenticator. Authenticate using your preferred method.
 

Apple macOS users

Apple macOS users can download Adobe Acrobat Pro from the Adobe website by following the step-by-step instructions within the chapter "Installing Adobe Acrobat Pro in your personal device".
 
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Choose between personal and Company or School account

If you have both a personal account (Adobe ID) and a Company / School account (Enterprise ID or Federated ID) associated with the same email address, you will choose the account you want to use. Even if the two accounts share the same email address, they are distinct accounts. No data is shared or transferred automatically.

What to do:

1. Enter the short version of your university email address (for example: abc12u12@soton.ac.uk, not A.Surname@soton.ac.uk) and select Continue.

Adobe sign in window

2. You can now select a profile to sign in. Please select the option Company or School account

Windows asking you to select a profile to sign in to your profile on Adobe

3. Sign in as usual

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Common issues and troubleshooting

All Adobe's applications are not appearing

Overview of the problem

If you are not seeing that you have the Adobe applications you expect available, you might have logged in with the wrong account.

This happens because your Adobe Acrobat is linked to the short form of your email account (for example abc123@soton.ac.uk), not the long form (for example A.Surname@soton.ac.uk). If you log in with the long email account, you are using the wrong account.

How to resolve this issue

  1. Select the circular icon at the top-right corner of and check the account you are logged on with. 

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  2. If you are using the wrong account:
    1. Logout 
    2. Log in with the correct account.

  3. If this logon offers you a choice of profile during this logon, select the option School or company

 

You cannot use Acrobat on more than 2 computers

You are only allowed to be logged onto your Adobe account on two computers simultaneously.

On logging onto the third, you will receive a message detailing the computers you are already logged onto and the option to log out remotely from Adobe on one of these computers.

This limit is set by Adobe and the university is not able to change or increase it.

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Related content

How to set up Adobe Acrobat Pro to be your default PDF viewer using Microsoft Edge

Managing Adobe profiles

How to download software

How do I set up VPN on my device

Microsoft 365 License Comparisons (A5 & A1)

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