Problem with Outlook 2016 not remembering default PDF app choice

I have a customer who subscribed to Office 365 and downloaded the Office 2016 applications. She also has Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. She is using Outlook for email and when she opens PDF attachments Outlook shows a list of apps which could be used. Adobe Acrobat Reader is shown as the default PDF handler at the top of the list (I confirmed by checking the file associations for all Acrobat file types). There's a box at the bottom of the list that says "remember this choice" and the problem is Outlook doesn't remember. Every time she tries to open a PDF attachment Outlook shows the list. The PDFs do open, but it's a nuisance that I want to try to fix. TIA for any help.

I might try setting the default to something else, restarting and then changing to Adobe. Hopefully all flags will be set properly.

Ken

Caledon Ken said:

I might try setting the default to something else, restarting and then changing to Adobe. Hopefully all flags will be set properly.

Ken

Thanks for the suggestion. I wonder though if the issue actually has anything to do with the Adobe Reader? When I first observed the problem Edge was showing as the default PDF reader in Outlook's drop down list. It was possible to select Adobe Reader from the list, but even though we put a check in the box for Outlook to remember the choice it didn't. After setting the Adobe Reader as the default in Control Panel/Default Programs/ the icon on PDF files changed to the Adobe Reader icon and it replaced Edge as the first app in Outlook's drop down list, however Outlook continues to ask and doesn't save the choice.

One thing I wanted to try was repairing Microsoft Office, but strangely there is no entry in Programs and Features. I wonder if there's a way to run the repair from the command line?

Sheltieuk said:

If it's Office 365 that she's using, I see an option to repair in Programs and features for my Office 365 install

I did check and there is no entry for Office 365. Thanks for confirming that the link is supposed to be there.

I would check Staret => Settings => Apps => Apps and features => scroll down to Office => left click once => Modify

Should bring up a repair

Caledon Ken said:

I would check Staret => Settings => Apps => Apps and features => scroll down to Office => left click once => Modify

Should bring up a repair

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Thanks, I've passed this along. I'll post again when I get results.

ugamgray said:

Following. I had the same issue that I reported to Adobe in February and they blamed Microsoft. I still haven't found a resolution.

Adobe Acrobat DC w/ Outlook 2016 |Adobe Community

My customer wrote and told me the issue was resolved, but unfortunately she could not relate how she went about it. It sounded like the problem was fixed by doing a repair, but I don't know how she dealt with the fact that there was no entry for Office in Programs and Features. If I was starting over I would uninstall/reinstall first to hopefully get the entry in the installed programs list. Then I would run the repair options if the problem of Outlook not saving the PDF choice persisted.