There are two versions of this error message:

Unable to Open "Ebook Title"
Errors were encountered in this item
file://C:/Users/Name/My%20Digital Editions/Ebook%20Title.epub

Or:

Unable to open "Ebook Title"
The original document file is missing!
C:\Users\Ebooks\Documents\My Digital Editions\Ebook%20Title.epub

If it says "The original document file is missing!" this is normally an easy fix. Usually this means that Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) cannot find the ebook file to open it. Either because you have renamed the ebook file, or deleted it, or moved it to another folder. Simply download the ebook again but do not rename or move the ebook file and the ebook should then open.

If is says "Errors were encountered in this item" then unfortunately we may not be able to resolve this. It is still unclear what causes this issue and Adobe have not released a solution (they do not provide support for ADE).

This article will list possible solutions:

Firstly, please try uninstalling ADE and then reinstalling it again. Then retry.

Another potential solution is to change your computer clock and roll the time/date back a few hours/days, and this can resolve the issue, but only on specific versions of ADE.

Alternatives

If the error persists the best course of action is to read the ebook by different means (if possible).

The fastest and easiest method is to read the ebook in your internet browser using our Online Reader. In your eBooks.com account simply click the Read Now button to open the Online Reader in your browser, no extra software needed.

The Online Reader requires an active internet connection. If this is an issue and you need to download the ebook instead, if you have an iOS, Android or BlackBerry phone or tablet you can download and read the ebook in our Ebook Reader app. More information about using our Ebook Reader app can be found here.

If you really need to download and read on your PC, you can try using Bluefire Reader for Windows instead (Not for Mac unfortunately). Bluefire Reader is free ereader software compatible with Adobe DRM (you must authorise it with an Adobe ID in the same way as you need to for ADE). It is possible that using different software resolves the issue. Bluefire Reader for Windows can be downloaded for free here.

The last resort for downloading to PC or Mac is to use an Android emulator. BlueStacks is a free Android emulator and once installed you can then run the Android version of our Ebook Reader app on your desktop. More details on how to do this will follow in an upcoming help article. BlueStacks can be downloaded for free here.

To discuss the error, or for help implementing any of the alternative solutions, please do contact our support team. Please do quote the error message in full (or send a screenshot) and mention what solutions you have tried and what alternative you need assistance with.