Participant

Answered

Choosing between the current and previous Acrobat interfaces

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
June 22, 2023
351 replies
220626 views

Why? Why do you "creators" feel a need to completely change the layout of toolbars, etc. in a program?! Do you have nothing to do so you just search out what you can do to aggravate us? Adobe Acrobat DC is now TOTALLY different in the toolbar layouts! WHY???

Correct answer BaniVerma

Hi all,

How do I switch between the current and previous Acrobat interfaces?
Acrobat lets you choose between the current and previous (classic) interface, so you can use whichever fits your workflow (where the option is supported in your version).

Switch to the previous (classic) interface:

Windows: Menu (hamburger, upper-left) > Disable new Acrobat
macOS: View > Disable new Acrobat

When prompted, select Restart to relaunch Acrobat in the previous interface. To return, select View > Enable new Acrobat and restart again.
Reference: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/get-started/preferences-and-settings/switch-new-acrobat.html

Don't see "Disable new Acrobat"?
The option depends on your Acrobat version. First, update to the latest release: Menu > Help > Check for updates, then restart Acrobat and look again.

Why does Acrobat offer two interfaces?
The current experience groups tools into workflow-based categories (editing, commenting, signing, organizing, and sharing) to make common tasks easier to find across desktop, web, and mobile.
Adobe continues to refine the experience and provides the option to switch between the current and previous interfaces where supported.

Reference: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/learn-new-acrobat.html

Thanks,

^BS

Show previous replies

J

james90293

Participating Frequently

Has anybody seen or read "THE REASON" for the changes to the interface? I have read the usual suspects view that it was "CLEANER" or "IMPROVED" but I have yet to see the rationale for taking menus that were on the right and move them to the left. It seemed like a pontless exercise to me but I am willing to learn if any of you "smart guys" can dumb it down for me. I know this is a user to user forum. Thanks to all those that help us.

J

Jim5F93

Participant

It seems like changes for the sake of change. The Acrobat team needs to do something so they appear productive.

W

Wendy2202434800r4

Participant

I'm so glad for the info on how to go back to the old interface. THANKS!

WHY move EVERYTHING around and make buttons smaller?

To enlarge or reduce the PDF you are viewing ... ya lets move it from the TOP to the bottom right and make is SMALLER!

Ugh ... lets NOT!

G

GKARAM

Participant

Agree 100%. What they have done should be criminalized. At the very least, put out a very detailed video and tutorials explaining where everything went and update all of their online articles to reflect these absurd changes. One can't find anything now.

jane-e

Community Expert

One can't find anything now.
By @GKARAM

Have you disabled the "new experience" yet, as described throughout this thread?

To disable the new experience,
- Windows: Click the hamburger menu ( 3 lines ) at the upper left corner and choose Disable new Acrobat.
- macOS: Go to View > Disable new Acrobat.

Jane

J

Jim5F93

Participant

I tried.

macOS: Go to View > Disable new Acrobat.

CRASH!

I think I need to delete/reinstall to make it work.

J

Jeremy3228255937sx

Participant

I agree, Adobe pulled a Windows Metro on Acrobat.

J

james90293

Participating Frequently

I agree. Adding new features is good. Improving the fuctionality is good. Simply moving menus and buttons around is pointless and likely to aggravate almost all longtime users.

Abambo

Community Expert

Go back to the old menu as shown. I have tested the new interface and decided, that I like it. I can understand that you want what you are used too, and Adobe seems to anticipate this. At least for now, the old interface is still available. Use that one.

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

J

james90293

Participating Frequently

Abambo:

What is it about the new interface that you like? Is there anything in particular that is way better?

I can figure out how to use this new interface. I will learn to use it in time. It looks like they switched left and right menus to the opposite sides for reasons I can't fathom.

KathyVarner

Participant

So helpful Jane and Bevi. Yay, I got the previous version restored! Did Adobe really test this new version on a sufficient focus group or was this just an internal (bad) decision? The new version is not only less intuitive to use but visually unappealing.

C

chastainmedia

Participant

When you open adobe to do a task and sudddenly are looking at the black obelisk from 2001: A Space Odessy.

There none of your normal sticks and no warning or anything - I feel like a caveman all of a sudden.

Now 23 minutes later I can start the original 10 minute task.

merrittmck

Participant

I am feeling exactly this way. They moved the area with the tools from right to left. Wow. Why??? make it an option for lefthanded people, but WHY US????

And I cannot for the life of me find bookmarks anywhere. I am going to disable the new experience until someone at adobe realizes they have messed with the program with no warning and no guidlines.

AnandSri

Legend

Hi All!

I hope you all are doing well.

We acknowledge that the new Acrobat represents a notable change; however, we hope that as you get familiar with the new interface, you can be more productive & get more out of Acrobat.

As we made these changes in the interface, we have tried to ensure all tools & features currently supported retain their familiar functionalities and workflows as they did in the previous version. We are committed to addressing any gaps or issues users report related to any break in current workflows in all our past & upcoming releases.

If any of your current workflows are not functioning as expected, share them with us on this thread, and we will address them with the highest priority.

We appreciate your valuable feedback! We're always looking for ways to improve Acrobat, and we appreciate the time and effort you have taken to share your feedback. 

If your critical workflows are impacted, you can switch to the old UI from the "Menu" on the top left corner of Windows and View Menu on MacOS. We will follow up with a detailed community-featured post, guiding you to familiarise yourself with the new interface and regular updates on upcoming changes.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

T

Toni30820053kyza

Participant

Everything about this change means that there are extra clicks that have to be made to get the job done. Why would you think that would be helpful at all? I do not understand why these changes are made this way. What you need to do is remove the so-called upgrades and go back to the drawing board. Pay attention to your users instead of the programmers that make changes for the sake of change.

~ Gil

Inspiring

BINGO!!

"THIS" is exactly, out of continued frustration, that I came looking to (cursing removed) because it seems that is all you can do with these people. I used to be able to simply "right click" on a comment to check it and remove it from view. Now, it's like fishing, maybe it works, maybe not, maybe if you click another comment (never mind it might change your page) and come back, it will work.

"we hope that as you get familiar with the new interface"

. . . seriously ? most of us here are trying to get our work done, to pay the subscription, revenue to Adobe, that pays the developers saleries. One starts to wonder, who is working for who here !

J

Judy321345438wv7

Participant

TOTALLY AGREE! I am wasting so much time trying to find my essential functions in this new PDF look, and my job is too busy for this. PDFs were working perfectly fine before.