What Is Adobe Synchronizer?

Adobe Synchronizer is a helper application that installs with Adobe Acrobat 8 and Reader 8. It runs in the background of a computer system and maintains the accuracy of files accessed by multiple users.

Synchronizer communicates between networks and local computer stations. When a user accesses a network file on a local system, Synchronizer creates a copy of that file for the user. If any changes to the file happen on the server, Synchronizer automatically applies those changes to each open local copy so each user can have an updated version.

On Mac OS X systems, the main Adobe Synchronizer process is called AdobeResourceSynchronizer. On Windows operating systems it is called AdobeCollabSync.exe. By default, Synchronizer stores data in the ~/Library/Acrobat User Data/8.0_/Synchronizer folder on Mac and C:\Documents and Settings<user>\Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\8.0\Synchronizer folder on Windows.

If more than one user on a network accesses and modifies the same file, the chance exists that one or more changes will not save correctly. Synchronizer ensures that changes made by multiple users are all saved correctly and that each user has the latest version of a file at all times so that no users overwrite or lose any data.