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Fenbeast
Inspiring
September 13, 2026
Question

Disable Edit PDF popup in Acrobat Pro for MacOS

  • September 13, 2026
  • 11 replies
  • 65 views

Running macOS Sequoia 15.7.9 and Acrobat Pro v. 2026.002.21901

I am proofreading chapters of a book and absolutely, positively DO NOT want to edit the PDF. Yet Acrobat keeps throwing “Edit PDF?” pop-ups at me that I dismiss, only to see them reappear a few minutes later. It’s distracting and annoying. How do I shut them off entirely?

It irks me that Adobe assumes its users (in Pro? seriously?) don’t know what they want to do. If I wanted to edit the PDF, I’d be editing the PDF. Show it once? That I understand. Repeatedly? NO. Trust your customer to know what they intend to do.

    11 replies

    Fenbeast
    FenbeastAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 21, 2026

    Will do this later today when I’m able to switch computers (currently working elsewhere).

    Fenbeast
    FenbeastAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 16, 2026

    Also, I will note that it does seem as though the pop-up occurs in response to what actions I’m taking. You’ll note here that it’s asking me specifically if I want to delete text — after I used the strikethrough commenting feature. I’ve seen other inquiries, “Do you want to edit text?” when I use, for instance, the insertion comment tool. So it’s presumably a nudge from the app to get users to use editing tools in place of commenting tools, and again, that’s absolutely not appropriate for many situations — indeed, for most of the editing/proofing work I do, I’d be fired if I switched from commenting to editing.

    Fenbeast
    FenbeastAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 16, 2026

    PS this is not a scanned PDF. It’s native.

    Amal Jaiswal
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    September 15, 2026

    Hello @Fenbeast

    I hope you are doing well, and thanks for flagging this. Sorry for the trouble it's causing while you're trying to proofread.

    Here are a few steps that you may try and see if that works:

    • Menu > Preferences > General, uncheck "Show quick actions on text selection." This prevents a floating suggestion toolbar from repeatedly appearing while selecting or scrolling through text.

    • On the same General preferences screen, also uncheck "Show messages when I launch Adobe Acrobat."

    • If neither helps, try Menu > Preferences > Accessibility and uncheck "Enable assistive technology support," and see if that helps.

    Could you confirm a couple of things so we can narrow this down further:

    • Does the pop-up appear specifically when you select or highlight text, or at random intervals, regardless of what you're doing?

    • Is this a scanned PDF or a native text PDF?

    Let us know how it goes.

    Regards,
    Amal

    Fenbeast
    FenbeastAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 16, 2026

    I have implemented your suggestions and will restart and see what happens.

    Fenbeast
    FenbeastAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 16, 2026

    So, having unchecked “Show quick actions” and “Show messages” as suggested, restarting the app… I went into one of the PDF chapters I have been editing (the original one, not the edited one) and made a few quick edits. I used the redlining strike-out comment feature to indicate a deletion. And sure enough: a pop-up appeared not long after. Any other ideas? I’ve taken a screenshot to show you what I’m looking at. It may not seem like that’s intrusive… but it is. (The screenshot here shows only part of the page because this is a currently unpublished book, and I cannot share more than a snippet for copyright reasons.)