Ditch the 2023 User Interface in Acrobat
There are so many shortcomings and problems with the new 2023 GUI interface. Here are just a few:
Swapping left and right-hand panels for no reason. This does not improve anything for users. It just forces users to change everything about how they work in Acrobat every workday.
Functions are indicated by random icons. In the 90s, we learned that icons in software and websites don't work across different populations. Users have a difficult time figuring out what the heck they mean. Give text labels.
The left panel is permanently positioned on the screen and obscures part of the document below. Seriously Adobe, WTF.
The entire menu/panel system can't be customized, moved, or docked. Another WTF.
Hamburger menus (those obscure 3 horizontal lines) are used on mobile interfaces to collapse menus. They are totally unnecessary and inappropriate on desktop interfaces — where working people spend most of their time working. Give people real menus with real names. "Menu" is not accurate, either. What is the name of the other menu to the right? Menu 2? Cheeseburger Menu?
The new interface is inaccessible for those with disabilities who use assistive technologies, especially screen reader users. Adobe has seriously violated its VPAT with governments and corporations worldwide who are required by law to provide accessible work environments and tools.
Grey on Grey is not an accessible color scheme. Can't tell if some icons are active or disabled. Those with low vision can't discern the icons.
Digital signatures, Document Cloud (where Adobe stores your files by default), subscriptions, OCR, file creation, file combining, and accessibility all have reported major problems for the past few years...but rather than fix these critical problems, money was instead spent on rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.
As long-time PDF consultants, my firm has found that the majority of customers are professionals who use Acrobat for their jobs. These are not "casual" users working on their smartphones. They are using desktops/laptops with full screens, not mobile devices to do their jobs. And they work with PDFs a lot.
They have developed actions and scripts to automate processes on dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of PDF files every day. These industries include print, prepress, graphic design, accessibility & remediation, accessible forms, variable forms, variable printing, data validation, financial institutions (think of all those bank statements every month!), health care, investment and finance, and manufacturing.
Dramatic GUI changes like 2023's completely change how these automated processes work...if they still work at all.
The cost to these industries to correct the now-broken processes — brought on by Adobe's whimsical, untested design idea — is appalling. If I was a major corporation hit by this unnecessary expense, I'd ban Adobe products from my company and look for another PDF vendor.
There are now many reputable competitors to Adobe Acrobat: See:
— https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-pdf-editors
— https://www.techradar.com/best/pdf-editors
— https://www.pcworld.com/article/407214/best-pdf-editors.html
Calling this Acrobat's "Modern Viewer" is a form of gaslighting Adobe customers. It's not modern at all — 30 years ago, using icons failed in software and web interfaces, and it's failing again with Acrobat 2023. Sometimes retro isn't good, especially retro user interfaces. Please don't attempt to bring back disco, old-fashioned 20 inch TVs, polyester suits, rotary phones and VHS tapes as being "Modern," too.
Ditch this "Modern Viewer" and instead give us a working tool to get our jobs done.
Revert the interface back to what it was.
Fix Acrobat's bugs. There are so many!
And improve the accessibility for those with disabilities (who can't get to the Comments panel, Bookmarks panel, understand what and how much is redacted, make edits or change the content, scale/enlarge the interface, nor sign a PDF).
For those still reading this, users can revert to the old interface for now (August 2023).
— Windows: Hamburger Menu / Disable New Acrobat
— Mac: View Menu / Disable New Acrobat
I have no idea who long Adobe is going to let us revert to the "real" interface.

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Madalyn Pettenati commented
As someone whose company, with each team member, uses Adobe every single day of work, we are all already fed up with the new interface/mode that came with an update and have all already "disabled" this terrible option and reverted to what we had before/originally. Not enough time in the day to wrestle with a program that is supposed to make our lives and jobs easier.
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David Peters commented
𝖶𝗁𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗎𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗁𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝗅𝗍𝗁𝗒 𝗌𝖼𝗎𝗆 𝗌𝗈𝖿𝗍𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗈 𝗎𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗅𝗒 𝗎𝗇𝗎𝗌𝖺𝖻𝗅𝗒 𝗌𝗅𝗈𝗐, 𝖺𝗌 𝗌𝗈𝗈𝗇 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝖯𝖣𝖥 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗍𝖺𝗂𝗇𝗌 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝖺 𝖿𝖾𝗐 𝖽𝗈𝗓𝖾𝗇 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗈𝖻𝗃𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗌?
𝖠𝖽𝗈𝖻𝖾 𝖠𝖼𝗋𝗈𝖻𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗌𝗈 𝖿𝗎𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗄𝖾𝗇, 𝗂𝗍'𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝗒𝗈𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈𝗅𝖾𝗋𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾. 𝖨 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝖺 𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗍 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾𝗇'𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖿𝗎𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗉𝗂𝖾𝖼𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗀𝖺𝗋𝖻𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝖿𝗍𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝖺𝗉 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝖺𝗒.
𝖡𝗎𝗍 𝗎𝗇𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗎𝗇𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗃𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝗆𝗒 𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗀𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗉 𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝗅𝗍𝗁𝗒 𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝖿𝗍𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝖽, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗎𝗅𝗍 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝖺𝗇'𝗍 𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝗈𝖼𝗎𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖨 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖽𝗎𝖼𝖾.
𝖩𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗎𝖼𝗄𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖽𝗈𝗎𝖼𝗁𝖾𝖻𝖺𝗀𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗏𝖾 𝗁𝗂𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗆 𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝗂𝗇 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗀𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝗈𝖽𝗌 𝗌𝖺𝗄𝖾.
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Kenneth J. O'Connor commented
The worst sentence in the English language:
"I'm from IT and I have updated and improve the program." Which means I have taken away you have been working with to take away the features you like and use and put in things we like and need to put in to justify our existence.
Thank goodness for the disable new Acrobat. -
David Cottrell commented
I completely agree with Bevi Chagnon's assessment of the new interface. It is so much harder to navigate than the original one, please keep the original version available inperpetuity. Thank you.
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Tamás Bálint commented
THIS! : GSK77 - Agree - ditch the new (or make it optional to those who just need to change for change's sake). Too many years invested and the "new", while I have used it (until today), doesn't seem to bring any real functional advantage. It is just "NEW". Not improved, not modern, and not welcome.
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Rich Tamayo commented
New interphase is terrible. Editing pdf is useless. Inserting link(s) is horrendous. Please just spend the time and energy fixing old buggy use instead.
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Yotta commented
My cynical guess is that since Adobe is now selling on subscription model, which means constantly charging you on a monthly basis, rather than sell Acrobat outright, it wants to show you that it's actually doing something to justify taking more money than it did before. So making inconsequential changes logs on their "what we did for you last year to deserve your payment" sheet. What if the changes are not inconsequential but actually detrimental to user experience? That's even better so they can roll out another update to improve your user experience, and only if 1% of users who stayed with the new UI just because they did care was a proof of their innovation.
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Walt Medling commented
Incredibly frustrating that Adobe releases the same generic statement every time they make updates "appreciate your feedback... etc etc as you get more familiar you will get more productive and more out of Adobe".
This is not the case. This is less efficient, it's obvious that those designing Adobe aren't actually users of Adobe. My needs for Adobe are not met by the changes. And the sentiment is shared by every other CPA I know in the industry. It is apparent that Adobe is making changes for the sake of changes, not for improving QOL. Please, just stop. Or keep the option of "Disable new Acrobat" because this is unusable without it.
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GSK77 commented
Agree - ditch the new (or make it optional to those who just need to change for change's sake). Too many years invested and the "new", while I have used it (until today), doesn't seem to bring any real functional advantage. It is just "NEW". Not improved, not modern, and not welcome.
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William Wadas commented
I'm grateful that y'all included an option to disable the new Acrobat but baffled as to why you felt the need to update the GUI in the first place. The new iteration is inferior in every conceivable way.
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Peter Worth commented
Every time I try to use the new interface I can't find what I need. I'm end up using the old interface
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Philip Taylor commented
I completely concur with your analysis, Ron, but sadly Adobe are not the first (and undoubtedly will not be the last) to allow the mobile ’phone generation to influence how desktop products should look. I cite as the classic example the desktop functionality of Microsoft Windows 7 with the "let’s make it as much like a ’phone as possible" idiocies of Windows 10 and 11 ...
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Ron Richey commented
By the way... I used to work for Adobe at their Utah site. I know wherewith I speak...
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Ron Richey commented
This is a classic case of children taking over an adult tool, and changing it to look like their toys (i.e. phones). Adobe, please stop letting the junior product managers make asinine decisions with your products! Bring some adults into the discussion next time. Bring some user advocates into the discussion. Yes, you gave us the ability to revert, but seriously, how long will THAT last? It is costly to maintain two very different user interfaces. The day I am forced to use this awful interface is the day I cancel my subscription and look elsewhere for a PDF solution.
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OMan commented
it would be nice if Adobe tried to make our lives easier by making their products better. As someone who has used Adobe products since the 90s, I was hoping the bloat from the years of selling new versions would chill out and the products would be more focused on performance and ease of use- perhaps with plugins for available for niche uses- instead we have a tone-deaf monopoly squandering good will and the new generation of designers questioning why they should use CC when there are now cheaper/better options.
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Andrew Cecka commented
I fully support the comments of Bevi Chagnon. I have been seriously disappointed with Acrobat for years, to the point that I feel like Adobe wouldn't even listen to me, discounting me as somebody who complains. But I'm not.
Most of the software I use works well. Sometimes there are issues and then developers fix those problems. Sometimes they change the interface and it's jarring, but I either immediately understand why or can figure it out over time.
But this? This is like Adobe contracted with patients in a mental health facility to full revamp their product. What possible benefit could come from switching the left and right panels? It doesn't even make any sense based on the way the program is used in most locations - select your page, highlight your text, choose your tool, left to right. Now we're going right to left? And that's just one of the egregious changes.
I'm 100% convinced that every change Adobe makes somehow benefits them, almost always to the detriment of the consumer. This is the only explanation for mysterious changes that make our jobs harder. If Adobe didn't have monopoly power, they'd quickly lose their position as the leader to any of the competitors Bevi mentioned above. I only use it because my IS department refuses to use another product.
That said, I still wish Adobe would get their act together, because I do HAVE TO use this product. There will come a point that this relationship cannot be fixed though, and I will only wish for Adobe to be pulled apart in some anti-trust class action suit. Actions like the "2023 Modern Look" being forced upon us with no warning will only hasten that process.
This is so disappointing guys. Seriously.
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Sylvio Proulx commented
The thing that bothers me the most is point #1, with the left and right panels being swapped. I just don't understand how someone could think this was a good idea.
I totally understand that some people may prefer placing their tools on the right, espêcially for people using languages that read from right to left. If that was the intention, just make it an option! In pretty much any desktop application out there, menus and toolbars can be shuffled around and docked according to user preference.
Don't change the default layout unless you also give the user the possibility to set it back to their preference.
Basic common sense!
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AR commented
I just stopped my subscription to Acrobat because the update was so horrendous and went back to the Photography Plan only. I used to pay for both, and sometimes the whole Creative Cloud. I posted long ago when this discussion was getting started my opinion on the update. So glad we could revert to the previous interface.
I don't need Acrobat professionally (so sorry for all those who do and this has been so difficult for),
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Wow. Awesome comment. Spot on. The best part, which still works in October 2023, for those who missed it:
[U]sers can revert to the old interface for now (August 2023).
— Windows: Hamburger Menu / Disable New Acrobat
— Mac: View Menu / Disable New Acrobat -
Chazz Layne commented
Just dropped in to add another voice to the pile of pressure on Adobe to actually do their f***ing job for a change. This update is basically just force-feeding those of us on WORKSTATIONS the gimpy touch interface (it's not bad on a tablet).
Also, force me to deactivate and reactivate my workstation (which hasn't changed in 4 years) and see what happens, I dare you. How about you actually fix your BROKEN S*** before force feeding us features NO ONE ASKED FOR!!!