The basic Acrobat Reader, available for several desktop and mobile platforms, is freeware; it supports viewing, printing, scaling or resizing[17] and annotating of PDF files.

The commercial proprietary Acrobat, available for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and mobile, can also create, edit, convert, digitally sign, encrypt, export and publish PDF files.

[22][23] Following the introduction of Document Cloud, Acrobat.com was discontinued as their features were integrated into the desktop programs and mobile apps.

[29] In September 2020, Adobe released a feature to make documents easier to read on phones called "Liquid Mode" using its Sensei AI.

Arabic and Hebrew versions are available from WinSoft International,[37] Adobe Systems' internationalization and localization partner.

Before Adobe Acrobat DC, separate Arabic and Hebrew versions were developed specifically for these languages, which are normally written right-to-left.

While JavaScript is designed without direct access to the file system to make it "safe", vulnerabilities have been reported for abuses such as distributing malicious code by Acrobat programs.

[43] On September 13, 2006, David Kierznowski provided sample PDF files illustrating JavaScript vulnerabilities.

Since at least version 6, JavaScript can be disabled using the preferences menu[44] and embedded URLs that are launched are intercepted by a security warning dialog box to either allow or block the website from activating.

[46] As a workaround for this issue, US-CERT recommended disabling JavaScript in the affected Adobe products, canceling integration with Windows shell and web browsers (while carrying out an extended version of de-integration for Internet Explorer), deactivating Adobe indexing services and avoiding all PDF files from external sources.

There have been reports of these vulnerabilities being exploited to trick Windows users into clicking on a malicious PDF file delivered in an email message.