Hiding the tool bar / showing page thumbnails by default

Tired of messing with the new Acrobat DC. It has been DELETED and I have gone back to Acrobat 11. I don't mind 'improvements" but this new version adds a bunch of stuff I'll never use, didn't ask for, and got rid of/changed stuff I used every day. One huge step backwards!

Following up on an earlier post...

I've tried a few alternative PDF products (which shall remain nameless). It is clear that Adobe creates really good, solid albeit sometimes annoying technology. In looking at reading capability, it is clear that Acrobat handles the more difficult situations effortlessly, and performance is quite good. Notwithstanding this, the majority of PDFs that I come across are quite mundane. An unsubstantiated guess is that most are created from basic MS Word documents.

The raison d'etre for the PDF was to maintain the sanctity of the print format when presented online. For the majority of documents (again unsubstantiated opinion), this is irrelevant. It is used the way it is because it is the easiest way to take a Word document and make it readable electronically.

If my guesses are correct, Adobe has really misread the main usage of Acrobat. Instead, the focus is continuing the development of Acrobat to keep it meaningful. Unfortunately, this direction is taking it away from its primary use case. Typically, product management is paid a lot of money to make bad judgements (being snarky) and this may be one of them. The product is better fulfilling uses cases other than just being a reader, the primary use case.

So, going back to looking at alternative products: what I've seen is that there are those that have some of the duality of Acrobat. What was done, however, was an acceptance of this duality: there was a way to switch the product between an Edit mode and a Reader mode. Something such as this might go a long way towards quieting people like us.

And, as a response to other comments in this thread...

One of the things that I do when designing a document for within Acrobat was signalling if I wanted the left pane to display. In many cases I did as this left pane would contain an outline of the information that is in my document. By manually creating a structure, I could facilitate my reader's access to the information. (I never found a use for thumbnails.)

It should, of course, be up to the reader if they want never to the left pane by default. However, as a document's designer, I want to have the ability to say how I want to be.

thats it adobe, just deinstalled that crap DC and reinstalled Acrobat Pro XI (http://trials2.adobe.com/AdobeProducts/APRO/11/osx10/AcrobatPro_11_Web_WWMUI.dmg)

Totally agree with the posters here. It's very irritating to have to open the thumbnails and close tools everytime I view something. At least in my case, primary usage seems is viewing more than editing, despite all the features Adobe likes to push. User testing Adobe?

There should be settings to:

a) Always show thumbnail navigation on document open

b) Keep tools hidden on document open

Adobe, please fix this mess and inconvience you cause to your paying customers.

It aint no fun to work with acrobat anymore!

I give up. There are other pdf readers out there. Why did someone think that taking up 20% of the window with operations that are irrelevant 99% of the time (or more) is a good idea? Did they forget the product is a "reader"? Why do I want a floating list of icons at the bottom of the page? Does this improve usability over having the same icons in the toolbar?

I thought the goal would have been to make it easier to use. At least some companies do stuff like say "use old interface" or allow you to configure the interface so it does what you want and also remembers your changes.

Do they hire usability people who try to figure out what people are wanting to do. What you have is a very polished interface that does a great many things I don't want to do.

Solution by tmmcentyre.  It works for me.

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1817184

Go to the install directory, i.e." C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroApp\ENU". Create a new subfolder (I used "Disabled"). Move 3 files from the "ENU" folder into the new "Disabled" folder: AppCenter_R.aapp & Home.aapp & Viewer.aapp. Open a PDF and no more Tool Pane!  I originally moved just the "Viewer" file but if you clicked on "Home" or "Tools" on the toolbar you couldn't go back to the "Document." Moving all 3 files takes care of that issue. Like a lot of people I don't and won't ever use any of the tools. I just want a reader. Let me know if this works for you.

@GilGoncalves

RE: "Likewise, how can the page thumbnails show up everytime a PDF is opened?"

Not with Adobe Reader. Yes with Acrobat. Open a PDF with Acrobat. Open the PDF's Document Properties.
Select the Initial View tab.  Configure as desired. Close out of dialogs. Save As for the PDF.

For many PDFs; again, use Acrobat run an Action (you build) to process the many PDFs.

Be well...

I searched, scoured the web for a solution or a workaround for this. I specifically use Adobe Acrobat because I need a few of the features it uses. Mainly the export feature and the ability to properly focus images on zoomed out pdfs. I even tried reverting to an older version of adobe reader, but it doesn't have the export feature. If you don't need that feature, reverting to the older version allows you to hide the panes successfully. Me on the other hand I'll keep on searching but Please let me know if anyone finds an actual solution.

Chatted with customer support and confirmed it is impossible to reconfigure default layout. (Arrhg! Annoyed!) Those folks who really missing the feature, please submit feature/enhancement request here: https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

Below is what I posted already, feel free to re-use/re-cycle

*******Enhancement / FMR*********

Brief title for your desired feature: Interface layout is not customizable (i.e. Tools panel is always visible while Navigation pane is always hidden)

How would you like the feature to work?

1. User must be able to customize the interface so the Tools panel is hidden and /or navigation pane visible by DEFAULT

Why is this feature important to you?

1. Display space is cluttered by Tools panel

2. Tools panel is less functional/less frequently used than Navigation panel

3. Time/speed: I lose time collapsing Tools panel and opening Navigation panel every time a document is opened