Run-Time Error 53 (Word for Mac)

Question

Run-Time Error 53 (Word for Mac)

Susan M. Smith 86

Every time I open MS Word, I get a Run-Time Error 53 message. It says:

File not found: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/MACPDFM/MacPDFM.framework/Versions/A/MacPDFM

How do I fix this?

Locked Question. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

Emi Zhang-MSFT 30,206 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-09-19T03:01:57.34+00:00

Hi @Susan M. Smith ,
I have not heard back from you in a few days and wanted to check on the status of the problem. If you have any questions with the previous information I've provided, please don't hesitate to let me know. I am glad to be of assistance.
Susan M. Smith 86 Reputation points

2022-09-22T02:59:06.337+00:00

Hello. There is no file called "Group Containers" in my library. My laptop is a MacBook Air.

But I did find the .dotm by searching for it and I moved it to my documents folder (as a precaution) rather than trash it.

And Yes it was just with Word.

Susan
Kim Leighton 11 Reputation points

2022-11-19T16:33:48.403+00:00

Done, thank you!
Robert Sette 1 Reputation point

2022-12-07T15:20:55.657+00:00

I have the same problem, same file path/file name, but it is when I open Excel. I deleted "linkcreation.dotm" and that resolved the problem with Word.

Any tips on how to resolve this on a Mac running current Office 365?

Thanks,
Robert
John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2022-12-07T16:36:17.587+00:00

Please see my answer to this thread, but use the path ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Excel instead.
Robert Sette 1 Reputation point

2022-12-07T16:40:10.93+00:00

I tried that initially, but the only file in the Excel folder is SaveAsAdopePDF.xlam.
John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2022-12-08T15:57:30.81+00:00

SaveAsAdopePDF.xlam is the file to delete. If you're feeling uncertain, drag it to your desktop first to test whether it fixes the Excel error message.
Anonymous

2023-02-24T16:30:23.4866667+00:00

That didn't resolve my error
Tony Cortes 0 Reputation points

2023-03-09T11:00:48.67+00:00

@John Korchok Thank you for your helpful tip on this problem. It worked for Word and Excel but the error persists in PowerPoint. The startup folder is empty for Word, Excel & PowerPoint. Any ideas on why the PowerPoint error is not fixed?
Shelly Kindler 0 Reputation points

2023-03-13T12:57:13.5333333+00:00

I am having the same issue on my mac. Please help! Thank you.
Anonymous

2023-04-12T17:55:07.62+00:00

Both work. Why on Earth does the MS installer do this to us??
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Mollee Rucker 0 Reputation points

2024-04-02T20:12:30.51+00:00

I finally found the "Go" menu, but I have no "Library."
Karen Dodo 0 Reputation points

2024-04-08T13:41:56.42+00:00

Thank you, that helped for me!
Mortal Wombat™ 1 Reputation point

2024-07-09T10:13:40.3166667+00:00

After all these years and after one million updates this is still an issue... I wonder why MS cannot handle this.

Yes, I know they blame it to everything else... same old story: Stuff at MS sucks but its the fault of all the other companies whose Apps run flawlessly unless MS comes in...
Addison, Sheila 0 Reputation points

2024-09-19T17:19:31.32+00:00

I continue to have this same issue in Word for Mac. I have followed the directions, and yet every time I remove linkcreation.dotm from the folder in my library, then re-start Word, I get the error again and linkcreation.dotm shows as selected in the Tools menu (see images). And yet there is no such file in my library - it's been deleted, I've emptied the trash, etc.

Here you can see I've unchecked linkcreation.dotm in Templates and Add-ins:

I guess I can only add one image per post? I have images of the empty Word folder under the Libraries tree, and the same Templates and Add-Ins window showing linkcreation.dotm selected again after restarting Word.
Riker75 0 Reputation points

2024-09-21T00:24:20.33+00:00

I had exactly the same problem and solved it like this: complete deinstallation of both MS Office 365 and Adobe Acrobat Professional 2020. Then reinstall Adobe Acrobat first, then reinstall Office 365. The bug is gone - for now. I'm not sure if it returns after the next update of either one of the programs...
John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2024-09-21T14:26:48.5766667+00:00

The error is caused by an Acrobat installation gone awry, so re-installing Acrobat is a good move if you intend to keep using it. Reinstalling Office will not help the issue.
Addison, Sheila 0 Reputation points

2024-09-21T17:05:31.3966667+00:00

My Acrobat install is not new though, nor did it recently update, so why did this problem just begin a few days ago?
John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2024-09-21T17:19:22.7733333+00:00

Sorry, only Adobe could answer why the problem began a few days ago.
Riker75 0 Reputation points

2024-09-21T22:37:15.46+00:00

Reinstalling Adobe Acrobat alone didn't solve the problem for me, the bug was still present. Only complete reinstallation of Office 365, too, solved it. I guess Adobe corrupted the Office installation with the bug.
Addison, Sheila 0 Reputation points

2024-10-15T02:03:50.0966667+00:00

I have reinstalled Acrobat and the issue persists.
BRAHMANANDA REDDY 0 Reputation points

2025-10-06T15:03:41.7+00:00

word and power point not working

7 answers

Emi Zhang-MSFT 30,206 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-09-19T03:01:57.34+00:00

Hi @Susan M. Smith ,
I have not heard back from you in a few days and wanted to check on the status of the problem. If you have any questions with the previous information I've provided, please don't hesitate to let me know. I am glad to be of assistance.
Susan M. Smith 86 Reputation points

2022-09-22T02:59:06.337+00:00

Hello. There is no file called "Group Containers" in my library. My laptop is a MacBook Air.

But I did find the .dotm by searching for it and I moved it to my documents folder (as a precaution) rather than trash it.

And Yes it was just with Word.

Susan
Kim Leighton 11 Reputation points

2022-11-19T16:33:48.403+00:00

Done, thank you!
Robert Sette 1 Reputation point

2022-12-07T15:20:55.657+00:00

I have the same problem, same file path/file name, but it is when I open Excel. I deleted "linkcreation.dotm" and that resolved the problem with Word.

Any tips on how to resolve this on a Mac running current Office 365?

Thanks,
Robert
John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2022-12-07T16:36:17.587+00:00

Please see my answer to this thread, but use the path ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Excel instead.
Robert Sette 1 Reputation point

2022-12-07T16:40:10.93+00:00

I tried that initially, but the only file in the Excel folder is SaveAsAdopePDF.xlam.
John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2022-12-08T15:57:30.81+00:00

SaveAsAdopePDF.xlam is the file to delete. If you're feeling uncertain, drag it to your desktop first to test whether it fixes the Excel error message.
Anonymous

2023-02-24T16:30:23.4866667+00:00

That didn't resolve my error
Tony Cortes 0 Reputation points

2023-03-09T11:00:48.67+00:00

@John Korchok Thank you for your helpful tip on this problem. It worked for Word and Excel but the error persists in PowerPoint. The startup folder is empty for Word, Excel & PowerPoint. Any ideas on why the PowerPoint error is not fixed?
Shelly Kindler 0 Reputation points

2023-03-13T12:57:13.5333333+00:00

I am having the same issue on my mac. Please help! Thank you.
Anonymous

2023-04-12T17:55:07.62+00:00

Both work. Why on Earth does the MS installer do this to us??
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Mollee Rucker 0 Reputation points

2024-04-02T20:12:30.51+00:00

I finally found the "Go" menu, but I have no "Library."
Karen Dodo 0 Reputation points

2024-04-08T13:41:56.42+00:00

Thank you, that helped for me!
Mortal Wombat™ 1 Reputation point

2024-07-09T10:13:40.3166667+00:00

After all these years and after one million updates this is still an issue... I wonder why MS cannot handle this.

Yes, I know they blame it to everything else... same old story: Stuff at MS sucks but its the fault of all the other companies whose Apps run flawlessly unless MS comes in...
Addison, Sheila 0 Reputation points

2024-09-19T17:19:31.32+00:00

I continue to have this same issue in Word for Mac. I have followed the directions, and yet every time I remove linkcreation.dotm from the folder in my library, then re-start Word, I get the error again and linkcreation.dotm shows as selected in the Tools menu (see images). And yet there is no such file in my library - it's been deleted, I've emptied the trash, etc.

Here you can see I've unchecked linkcreation.dotm in Templates and Add-ins:

I guess I can only add one image per post? I have images of the empty Word folder under the Libraries tree, and the same Templates and Add-Ins window showing linkcreation.dotm selected again after restarting Word.
Riker75 0 Reputation points

2024-09-21T00:24:20.33+00:00

I had exactly the same problem and solved it like this: complete deinstallation of both MS Office 365 and Adobe Acrobat Professional 2020. Then reinstall Adobe Acrobat first, then reinstall Office 365. The bug is gone - for now. I'm not sure if it returns after the next update of either one of the programs...
John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2024-09-21T14:26:48.5766667+00:00

The error is caused by an Acrobat installation gone awry, so re-installing Acrobat is a good move if you intend to keep using it. Reinstalling Office will not help the issue.
Addison, Sheila 0 Reputation points

2024-09-21T17:05:31.3966667+00:00

My Acrobat install is not new though, nor did it recently update, so why did this problem just begin a few days ago?
John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2024-09-21T17:19:22.7733333+00:00

Sorry, only Adobe could answer why the problem began a few days ago.
Riker75 0 Reputation points

2024-09-21T22:37:15.46+00:00

Reinstalling Adobe Acrobat alone didn't solve the problem for me, the bug was still present. Only complete reinstallation of Office 365, too, solved it. I guess Adobe corrupted the Office installation with the bug.
Addison, Sheila 0 Reputation points

2024-10-15T02:03:50.0966667+00:00

I have reinstalled Acrobat and the issue persists.
BRAHMANANDA REDDY 0 Reputation points

2025-10-06T15:03:41.7+00:00

word and power point not working

Answer 1

Sheridan Skrobanek 0

None of this worked for me. Help! I need to do my assignments!

John Korchok 236.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-09-20T15:20:47.39+00:00

This thread is over 3 years old and Adobe has changed the location of its files that cause this error. Please use a Spotlight search to look for linkCreation.dotm, or ask for the current location at the Adobe Community Forum.

Answer 2

Mike C 5

Thanks to John's pointer, I found an answer on the Adobe Support website and it worked for me. Here is the link to the answer page: https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/run-time-error-53-and-acrobat-freezing-up-not-responding-quot/m-p/10567310

0 comments

Answer 3

Jonri 20

I had the same issues for many years on my MAC. The solution that frequently worked was to uncheck the linkCreation in word (and remove PDF add-in i PPT) delete the files accordding to a path that many suggested.

However, one morning this solution did not work anymore. I discover that the location of the files was changed and appeard in the following path(s):

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office365/User Content/Startup/Word/

(and /Powerpoint instead of /Word if the problem appear with PPT)

Deleting the linkCreation.dotm in the Word folder and the SaveAsAdobePDF.ppam located in the Powerpoint folder solved the issues with Runtime 53 Error

Addison, Sheila 0 Reputation points

2024-09-28T01:32:03.0233333+00:00

Interesting. Sadly I don't find a Microsoft folder in /Library/Application/Support or SaveAsAdobePDF.ppam anywhere on my drive so I'll have to keep searching.
Carsten Burfeind | Beratung 0 Reputation points

2024-10-08T14:59:36.2066667+00:00

👍 That's what I was going to write using Office 365 on Mac. Since the GroupContainer-solution did not work for me (anymore), I today found that "> Library > Application Support > Microsoft > Office365 > User Content > Startup > Word" OR "> PowerPoint" is the place to look for the linkcreation or SaveAsAdobe files.

@Addisson: its "Application Support" not "Application/Support".
Anthony Boarman 0 Reputation points

2025-01-02T21:10:40.18+00:00

Thank you for this! My folder names were slightly different, but I was able to delete the startup files in Office, Excel, and PowerPoint so I no longer received that message. Appreciate the help.

Answer 4

Teplitz, Pamela 15

Removing SaveAsAdobePDF.ppam in the User Content/Startup/PowerPoint folder works for PPT too. Thank you!

0 comments

Answer 5

John Korchok 236.6K Volunteer Moderator

Yes, removing the .ppam should get rid of the error message.

Candace R 1 Reputation point

2023-01-07T15:48:42.173+00:00

I’m having same error on power point. But when I follow your instructions above there is no file under ppt in the library to drag to trash. Other suggestions? TIA!!