Yesterday, Adobe has released a security update for its PDF Reader app – Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, when you download and install the program online, Adobe Acrobat extension will be installed in Chrome silently (this has not happened before with previous versions), the browser shows notification about the same and offers options within the notification to disable or remove the extension.

The extension in question allows us to convert web pages to PDF via the option present in the Context menu, but the Chrome browser itself allows us to save a web page in PDF format easily. So there isn’t much use with this extension, moreover, there is a privacy issue associated with Adobe Acrobat as it anonymously sends product usage info to Adobe by default, you can find the option to disable that in the extension’s options.

You can visit chrome://extensions page and remove the Adobe Acrobat extension.

Avoid Adobe Acrobat extension being installed in Chrome browser

If you don’t want Adobe Acrobat extension to be installed sneakily in the Chrome browser without your consent, next time, install Adobe Acrobat Reader DC offline.

UPDATE May 02, 2020: This still happens in 2020 when you download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader DC from Adobe Website where its chrome extension and McAfee Security Scan Plus and McAfee Safe Connect will be pre-selected to install on your computer, you need to be watchful and uncheck the offers before clicking “Download Acrobat Reader” button.

Further, the installed Adobe Acrobat Chrome extension sends anonymous usage information to Adobe, you can opt-out of this by unchecking the option provided in extension options.