Fix Adobe Acrobat Won't Open - Kill Background Processes

You click the Acrobat icon, wait, and absolutely nothing happens. Your computer thinks it is already running a copy of the program, so it refuses to launch a new one.

Why this happens

A background process from a previous session hung while closing and is still active. Because this hidden instance is active, Windows prevents a second copy from starting.

Steps

1. 01
   Right-click your taskbar and select Task Manager
2. 02
   Go to the Processes tab and look for any items labeled Acrobat or AcroRd32
3. 03
   Right-click each one you find and select End Task
4. 04
   Repeat this until every trace of Acrobat or AcroRd32 is gone from the list
5. 05
   Attempt to launch Adobe Acrobat again from your desktop or Start menu