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Answered

PDF interactive button not working

Forum|Forum|1 day ago
April 29, 2026
4 replies
63 views

Hello community.

Ive made a document with some buttons to navigate to certain pages, when I export as interactive PDF I get the following warning.

But then I export as Epub, and view it in Thorium and the buttons are working fine.
I asked ChatGTP and it's telling me Indesign can export Interactive PDFs, but I'm doing something incorrect. So do interactive buttons function in exported PDF interactive, or this function is only for Epubs?

Thank you.

PS: I view the interactive PDF in my adobe acrobat reader, where I can see a little hand hovering over my buttons, but nothing happens, if this information helps to solve my problem.

Correct answer BobLevine

That message is very clear. The action you’ve assigned to that button won’t work in PDF. Look at the actions choices when you assign it:

And FWIW, buttons in PDF are nothing but a crapshoot anyway. Stick to bookmarks and hyperlinks for this kind of thing.

N

nosarengonikkitikkitengo

Inspiring

I recommend giving up on buttons, as most browsers don’t support them. Use hyperlinks if you can.

S

Stefan CargoskiAuthor

Inspiring

I went with the hyperlink destination to navigate to page six, and on page six I made a button, when took me to the first page again.

Kind regards.

BobLevine

Correct answer

Community Expert

That message is very clear. The action you’ve assigned to that button won’t work in PDF. Look at the actions choices when you assign it:

And FWIW, buttons in PDF are nothing but a crapshoot anyway. Stick to bookmarks and hyperlinks for this kind of thing.

S

Stefan CargoskiAuthor

Inspiring

I viewed my interactive PDF online using Xodo.com and the buttons are working. Just my Adobe reader is having issues.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

I just installed the free Xodo reader and it did not work.

What you can do is edit the button(s) in Acrobat Pro:

Why one can’t do this in InDesign is beyond me...

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

leo.r

Community Expert

First, try to export as a normal PDF (not Interactive); it supports interactive elements, too. I don’t know if this will address your error, but it’s the first step to try.

S

Stefan CargoskiAuthor

Inspiring

I tried that, but didnt work.

I just did a print screen of the interactive elements to make sure they're visible when exported. But they do not respond.

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