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Acrobat for Windows and Mac: User Interface

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Option to Hide Bookmarks Panel for all PDFs

Using: Acrobat Pro DC

Request: Ability to set a global setting that hides the bookmarks panel whenever a new PDF is opened, as opposed to having to navigate to the initial view settings for each file and then save it.

Reason: I open a lot of PDF files from emails, as I'm sure thousands of other people do, with no intention of saving it in that instance. Or files from the internet, again with no intention of saving it. This is to VIEW the file and find content relevant to the task in hand. Having the bookmarks panel occupy a third of the program window reduces the visibility and scale of the actual file.

This would seem to be basic user experience to me. Not everyone uses bookmarks either. It should be a preference setting available as standard - forcing the user to focus on a feature they don't even use and interrupting basic workflow is ridiculous design philosophy.

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  • Victor Ross commented  ·   ·  Report

    I second this. There should be an option in the interface that can easily be toggled. All part of good interface design -- when Adobe seems to have forgotten.

    That and the Rotate page feature should be free again. Charging money for that is outrageous.

  • John Barrow commented  ·   ·  Report

    Thanks Jack for your regEdit fix.

    This was so annoying that I uninstalled Reader for a while and used the Chrome browser to view PDFs but decided to try the reader again and managed to "simplify" most of the UI by turning on Edit > Preferences> Category "Documents" & Tick 'Restore last view settings when reopening documents". The bookmarks panel was the exception as ignored this setting (Adobe, including the Bookmarks panel in this setting would make sense!). My regEdit key was
    [Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Acrobat.Document.DC\shell\Open\command]

    and amended the value as instructed to

    "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" /A "navpanes=0" "%1"

    Thanks again Jack.

    Note to Adobe: The reader should have an option for a 'minimalist' view, such that you can view the document with no other distractions.

  • Tom Cutler commented  ·   ·  Report

    Yes, I moved to Revu. Very powerful but not cheap.

  • alick commented  ·   ·  Report

    iv triyd
    foxit reader but it could not preview recent files
    PDFelement could not zoom with mouse wheeel only
    PDF-xchange could not zoom with mouse wheel only
    adoby wast screen space wasted with bookmark and can no longer make hand tool defult ,and so cant zoom with mouse wheel only
    sumatrapdf cant zoom with mouse wheel only

  • alick commented  ·   ·  Report

    did any one find a solution that didn't involve reg edits
    has any one found a beter pdf reader

  • Ryan Huguelet commented  ·   ·  Report

    For future generations:

    1. Open a PDF
    2. Right Click on the bookmark bar, if it is semi-collapsed click on the small triangle to expand it
    3. Select Pin bookmarks
    4. Now bookmarks will be pinned every time you open acrobat

    In case you want to customize the PDF initial view. Here, are the steps to do that -
    1. Open a PDF
    2. Hit CTRL+D on win / CMD+D on mac to open document properties
    3. Click on the Initial View Header
    4. Here you can customize the properties as per your need

  • Giles Hooker commented  ·   ·  Report

    Created an account just to vote on this.

    Adobe: very very very few people intentionally design pdfs thinking about whether the document tab should be open or not. If you automatically generate pdfs, it gets flagged that way even if you don't want it! It's more likely someone will have thought about whether you want the Tools pane open, and you can disable that by default.

    Thank you Jack. For recent readers, there's a number of places this command appears in the registry -- poke some more if one of those doesn't appear.

    But again: Adobe this is ridiculous. (Although who am I kidding that they will read this.)

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Thanks for the registry fix, worked for me!

    In my case; I had to apply the regedit to Acrobat 2017 rather than to the reader. Follow JACK's instructions but apply here:

    Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Acrobat.Document.2017\shell\Open\command

  • SDK/TPA commented  ·   ·  Report

    And I thought it was just me! This setting should be a "no-brainer"... Please modify!

  • Justin B commented  ·   ·  Report

    Having this option in the user Preferences of the program is a no-brainer. I do not have Administrator access to edit the Registry, and such a workaround should not be necessary. Please implement this in the next release, or sooner.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    I just moved from preview to acrobat reader to avoid certain problem and now I face this...

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Really really appreciating those replies. I could have committed suicide due to those stupid panes!

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    thank you for posting this ive been fighting with this for a long time now.

  • Jim commented  ·   ·  Report

    It is absolutely INFURIATING that in 2020 I have to go to the registry to disable those useless tabs that take up space! I work with 100s of PDF docs every month and it really does breed hate every time I have to close a bunch of useless panels just to view a file. That's adobe for you...

    You think layers/bookmarks panel is bad and takes up 1/3 of the screen? But wait - acrobat also reads CAD file contents as "comments", so it opens ANOTHER panel for a grand total of 2/3 of your screen...every...time...

    The registry hack works, by the way. Shame it's not an actual option, but we can't ask that much of adobe... It would be something competent done for once and we can't have THAT!

  • McNEil commented  ·   ·  Report

    @Anon 8 July 2020

    you have to apply the regedit to the acrobat pro rather than to the reader. Follow JACK's intstructions but apply here:

    Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Acrobat.Document.DC\shell\Open\command

    My work computer has the registry locked so I still can't fix it.

  • Mush commented  ·   ·  Report

    I just tried Jack's method and it worked a treat. Thanks Jack. :)
    It is crazy that this isnt the default...
    It does require you having persmission to change the Registry, which may not be an option for some on work computers...
    .................................

    For anyone finding this now, this works for me:
    go to cmd regedit (don't forget to backup the current registry)

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document.DC\shell\Read\command
    I changed (Default) from:

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%1"
    to:

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" /A "navpanes=0" "%1

    ............

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Agreed. I've spent the last hour looking for some way to turn this stupid thing off. I process just shy of 100 bills each month. 90% of those come in as PDF files and nearly all of them are single pages. Why does a single page need bookmarks? I open each file once and copy the relevant information into the AP system then close the file. I have to close this bookmark bar every time I open a PDF so I can read the bill.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    The constant annoyance I have with Acrobat Pro DC where no matter what I do, I have to constantly click the minimise on the left bookmarks bar for every single pdf I print from Autocad so I can view the file maximised.
    Being I have 20 to 40 drawings I open every day it drives me nuts...Completely hate loathe it.
    There are tons of users with the same issue online and it seems Adobe only care about their subscription being paid.. They won’t provide a fix. Annoyed that I had no choice but to use this ****** PDF creator. "I've used better."
    Personally will never ever recommend this program to anyone.
    The registry fixes provided don’t work.

  • JACK commented  ·   ·  Report

    For anyone finding this now, this works for me:
    go to cmd regedit (don't forget to backup the current registry)

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document.DC\shell\Read\command
    I changed (Default) from:

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%1"
    to:

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" /A "navpanes=0" "%1

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