{"id":1765,"date":"2025-11-09T23:56:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T23:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/?p=1765"},"modified":"2025-11-09T23:56:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T23:56:19","slug":"adobe-signatures-not-deleting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/?p=1765","title":{"rendered":"Adobe Signatures not deleting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Acrobat Fill &amp; Sign \u201ccan\u2019t delete signatures\u201d \u2014 Field Notes<br><br>*See ticket 3964<br><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Symptom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fill &amp; Sign shows old signature\/initials.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The \u201cX\/\u2013\u201d delete button does nothing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Root cause (practical)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Two separate stores:\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Digital ID\/certificates (Windows\/Mac keystores)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fill &amp; Sign cache files in user profile<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The UI delete often fails; manual file cleanup works reliably.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fast fix (Windows)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Close Acrobat\/Reader.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delete Fill &amp; Sign cache files:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>%AppData%\\Adobe\\Acrobat\\DC\\Security\\acrobat_fss_signature*<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(Keep everything else; you\u2019re only targeting files that start with\u00a0<code>acrobat_fss_signature<\/code>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reopen Acrobat; re-open the doc from \u201cRecent\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If the \u201cDigital ID\u201d keeps reappearing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Remove the certificate from Windows:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>certmgr.msc<\/code>\u00a0\u2192 Personal \u2192 Certificates \u2192 delete the matching self-issued ID.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Then repeat the cache cleanup above.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Known pitfalls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Running as SYSTEM (RMM) makes\u00a0<code>$env:USERPROFILE<\/code>\/Desktop paths empty for the signed-in user; write to the real user Desktop (often OneDrive).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>OneDrive Desktop redirection: path like\u00a0<code>C:\\Users\\XXX\\OneDrive - XXX\\Desktop<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reader vs Pro paths differ. Use\u00a0<code>if exist<\/code>\u00a0guards in scripts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some orgs have multiple Acrobat profiles (e.g., DC vs 2020); the \u201cDC\u201d folder name is the common case.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Batch cleanup script (drops into .bat)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This kills Acrobat\/Reader, deletes the Fill &amp; Sign cache, and restarts Acrobat\/Reader if present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>@echo off\necho Closing Adobe Acrobat...\ntaskkill \/IM \"Acrobat.exe\" \/F &gt;nul 2&gt;&amp;1\ntaskkill \/IM \"AcroRd32.exe\" \/F &gt;nul 2&gt;&amp;1\n\necho Deleting cached signature and initials files...\nset \"sigpath=%APPDATA%\\Adobe\\Acrobat\\DC\\Security\"\nif exist \"%sigpath%\\acrobat_fss_signature*\" del \/Q \"%sigpath%\\acrobat_fss_signature*\"\n\necho Restarting Adobe Acrobat (if installed)...\nif exist \"C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat DC\\Acrobat\\Acrobat.exe\" start \"\" \"C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat DC\\Acrobat\\Acrobat.exe\"\nif exist \"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Adobe\\Acrobat Reader DC\\Reader\\AcroRd32.exe\" start \"\" \"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Adobe\\Acrobat Reader DC\\Reader\\AcroRd32.exe\"\n\necho \"Done. Old Fill &amp; Sign signatures\/initials have been cleared.\"\npause\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">One-liner to create the .bat on a known Desktop (PowerShell)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Adjust the path for the user:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>$bat = @'\n@echo off\ntaskkill \/IM \"Acrobat.exe\" \/F &gt;nul 2&gt;&amp;1\ntaskkill \/IM \"AcroRd32.exe\" \/F &gt;nul 2&gt;&amp;1\nset \"sigpath=%APPDATA%\\Adobe\\Acrobat\\DC\\Security\"\nif exist \"%sigpath%\\acrobat_fss_signature*\" del \/Q \"%sigpath%\\acrobat_fss_signature*\"\nif exist \"C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat DC\\Acrobat\\Acrobat.exe\" start \"\" \"C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat DC\\Acrobat\\Acrobat.exe\"\nif exist \"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Adobe\\Acrobat Reader DC\\Reader\\AcroRd32.exe\" start \"\" \"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Adobe\\Acrobat Reader DC\\Reader\\AcroRd32.exe\"\necho \"Done. Old Fill &amp; Sign signatures\/initials have been cleared.\"\npause\n'@\n$path = 'C:\\Users\\XXX\\OneDrive - XXX\\Desktop\\Clear_Adobe_Signatures.bat'\n$bat | Set-Content -Path $path -Encoding ASCII\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pure PowerShell cleanup (silent, no .bat left behind)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Handy for RMM push:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code># Kill Acrobat\/Reader\nGet-Process Acrobat, AcroRd32 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force\n\n# Delete Fill &amp; Sign cache files\n$sec = Join-Path $env:APPDATA 'Adobe\\Acrobat\\DC\\Security'\nif (Test-Path $sec) {\n  Get-ChildItem $sec -Filter 'acrobat_fss_signature*' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Remove-Item -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue\n}\n\n# Relaunch if present (optional)\n$pro   = 'C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat DC\\Acrobat\\Acrobat.exe'\n$read  = 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Adobe\\Acrobat Reader DC\\Reader\\AcroRd32.exe'\nif (Test-Path $pro)  { Start-Process $pro }\nelseif (Test-Path $read) { Start-Process $read }\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Verification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Acrobat \u2192 Tools \u2192 Fill &amp; Sign: should show empty \u201cAdd signature \/ Add initials\u201d.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Preferences \u2192 Signatures \u2192 Identities &amp; Trusted Certificates \u2192 More\u2026: no unwanted Digital ID listed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If still present: confirm you cleaned the right user profile and that Acrobat was closed during deletion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If escalation is needed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Schedule a long block with the device present and call Adobe Support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Final resort: wipe\/reload Windows (no guarantee; only consider after backup and user approval).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acrobat Fill &amp; Sign \u201ccan\u2019t delete signatures\u201d \u2014 Field Notes *See ticket 3964 Symptom Root cause (practical) Fast fix (Windows) If the \u201cDigital ID\u201d keeps reappearing Known pitfalls Batch cleanup script (drops into .bat) This kills Acrobat\/Reader, deletes the Fill &amp; Sign cache, and restarts Acrobat\/Reader if present. One-liner to create the .bat on a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1766,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1765\/revisions\/1766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultrexstaff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}