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Rahzel
Participant
June 29, 2026
Answered

Adoba Acrobat Reader: How to remove permanently Bookmarks and Tools

  • June 29, 2026
  • 7 replies
  • 292 views

I just wanted to point out that Bookmarks and Tools keep popping up every time I open a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader. There seems to be no way to disable them, which is beyond annoying.

Whoever decided that users should have these panels forced on them every time they open a document made a terrible UX decision.

I’ve switched to PDF24 Reader instead. It simply opens PDF files without shoving unnecessary menus in my face.

Goodbye, Acrobat.

    Correct answer Dave Creamer of IDEAS

    I’ve never had  the tools open automatically.

    The bookmarks have only opened for me if:

    • They the document settings have it set under initial view, or
    • I opened them and saved the document.

    (I do have restore last view turned off.)

    7 replies

    KookieRS97
    Participant
    September 2, 2026

    Tried all these solutions and Bookmarks panel still opens automatically for all the PDFs I open. I also tried running a repair and checked for updates. Please let me know if there are other troubleshooting steps I can try.

    Anand Sri Bhattacharya
    Community Manager
    Anand Sri BhattacharyaCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    September 2, 2026

    Hello ​@Sunny_Rose9b45 

     

    I hope you are doing well, and thanks for reacing out. Sorry for the trouble you had.

    Could you please share more details about the issue? What is the version of Acrobat/Reader  installed? 

    Check from Help > About Acrobat (Windows) or Acrobat > About Acrobat (macOS).

     

    Check one affected PDF
    In Acrobat Pro, open an affected PDF.
    Select:
    Windows: Menu > Document Properties
    macOS: File > Document Properties
    Open the Initial View tab and check the Navigation tab:
    If it is set to Bookmarks Panel and Page, the PDF was configured to open with bookmarks. Change it to Page Only, save the PDF, close it, and reopen it.
    If it already shows Page Only, but the Bookmarks panel still opens, the behaviour does not match the document’s configured initial view.

     

    Reset the app’s preferences once, and restart the computer.

    Windows

    1. Close Acrobat fully (end any Adobe processes in Task Manager).
    2. Go to (paste into the address bar): %APPDATA%\Adobe\Acrobat\DC\Preferences (for Reader, use ...\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\Preferences).
    3. Rename the Preferences folder to Preferences_old (renaming keeps a backup).
    4. Relaunch. Acrobat builds a new default Preferences folder.

    Mac

    1. Quit Acrobat.
    2. Finder > Go > Go to Folder, open ~/Library/Preferences.
    3. Move the Acrobat plist (com.adobe.Acrobat.Pro.plist, or the Reader equivalent) out to your Desktop as a backup.
    4. Relaunch to regenerate defaults.

    Then open a PDF and see whether the Bookmarks panel stays closed on the next files. A couple of things to check alongside it:

    • Preferences > Documents: confirm "Restore last view settings when reopening documents." Open a PDF, close the Bookmarks panel, then close and reopen it, does the closed state stick now?

    Please check this article for more details: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/viewing-pdfs-viewing-preferences.html

     

    I hope this helps, and please reach out if you need any assistance.

    Regards,

    Anand Sri.

     

    KookieRS97
    Participant
    September 2, 2026

    Hello,

     

    I have tried ALL the solutions but the Bookmarks panel still pops up automatically and it’s basically all PDFs that I open. I also tried running the repair and checked for updates but it seems like it’s just a bug at this open.

     

    Please advise if there’s other troubleshooting I can do.

    Prod31557546r96h
    Participant
    August 3, 2026

    To stop this very annoying auto opening which has just started for me after today’s update, I found the exact opposite - make sure it’s closed then from "Restore last view settings when reopening documents"  make sure this is **checked** so it doesn’t open next time.

    Dave Creamer of IDEAS
    Community Expert
    Dave Creamer of IDEASCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    June 29, 2026

    I’ve never had  the tools open automatically.

    The bookmarks have only opened for me if:

    • They the document settings have it set under initial view, or
    • I opened them and saved the document.

    (I do have restore last view turned off.)

    David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
    Amal Jaiswal
    Community Manager
    Amal JaiswalCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    June 29, 2026

    ​

      

    Hi @Rahzel 

     

    Hope you are doing well and thanks for taking the time to share your feedback.Having panels you didn't ask for pop open every single time is genuinely disruptive, especially if you just want to quickly read a document.

    This is actually controllable, and a few users miss this setting because it's tucked away. Before you fully switch, here's how to stop the Bookmarks and Tools panels from auto-opening:

    To prevent the Bookmarks panel from auto-opening:

    1. Open any PDF in Acrobat Reader.

    2. If the Bookmarks panel is currently open, click the Bookmarks icon on the left sidebar to close it.

    3. Go to Preferences (Ctrl,Cmd+K).

    4. Select Documents from the left-hand category list.

    5. Under "Open Settings," find the option "Restore last view settings when reopening documents"  make sure this is unchecked if you don't want it remembering panel states per-document.

    6. Click OK.

    To collapse the Tools panel on the right:

    1. Click the small arrow/chevron on the right edge of the Tools panel to collapse it.

    2. Once collapsed, Acrobat should remember this state for subsequent opens.

    3. If it keeps reopening, go to View > Show/Hide > Tools Pane and toggle it off.

    One more thing worth knowing: Some PDFs are saved by their authors with certain panels set to open automatically this is baked into the file itself, not Acrobat's default behavior. If it only happens with specific PDFs, that's likely why.

    If you've already tried these and it's still not sticking, could you let us know:

    • Which version of Acrobat Reader you're on? (Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader)

    • Windows or Mac, and which version?

    That'll help us to further investigate the issue.

     

    Regards

    Amal

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