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jimm30680722
jimm30680722
Participant
April 7, 2015
Answered

How do I stop the side toolbar from appearing every time I open a pdf in Acrobat DC?

Right side tool bar is annoying in Acrobat DC . How can this be fixed?

    JonPereraCorrect answer
    Adobe Employee
    April 7, 2015

    Hi there,

    The new "right hand toolbar" in Acrobat DC is always on by default, proving instant access to frequently used tools. That said, we're definitely hearing a # of customers that want Acrobat DC to "remember" the last state. So if you close it, it'll remain closed when you open it next.   Looking to have a fix in place in next ~3 months here. 

    Thank you for the feedback.

    Jon Perera

    Vice President

    Adobe Document Cloud

    View reply

    98 replies

    shabenz4
    Known Participant
    April 3, 2022

    Why is this toolbar on the right, when it's been on the left for years and years.  Why would you do something so ingorant to the users??

     

    1) the toolbar MUST be returned to the left side where it has been for years

     

    2) it was always available as needed, not forced on us like now.

     

    3) IF IT'S NOT BROKEN, DON'T FIX IT

        ---  So now that you did break it - fix it.

     

    4) HOW can I go back to a version before this nonsense came to be?

     

     

    Adobe doesn't care about real users.  That's clear.

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    CA-girl
    Participating Frequently
    October 15, 2016

    It's been well over a year now, and that useless tools pane keeps opening, even though I close it every time.  Who uses these tools?  The number of people reading PDFs dwarfs the tiny number who actually have Acrobat, so these tools are useless for 99% of your users.  Just stop it!  There are other PDF readers and I'm switching to one of them until Acrobat gets its act together.

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    Bernd Alheit
    Community Expert
    Bernd AlheitCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 15, 2016

    The most users of Adobe Acrobat needs the tools.

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    CA-girl
    Participating Frequently
    October 15, 2016

    That's probably true, but most users of Acrobat READER do not.  There are many, many times more Reader users than the Acrobat users, as evidenced by the pages & pages of Google search results in how to remove the tools sidebar. 

    In any case, you said well over a year ago, that there would be a fix for this.  Where is it?

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    Anonymous
    June 23, 2016

    Here's another issue I can't resolve, and I can't find an answer.  I once selected "Search Tools," and now every time I click on (just) Tools my entire document is covered with all tools.  How can I disable this?  Have rebooted, of course, to no avail.  Selecting "Document" restores the pdf to view, but once I need a tool, this odd little occurrence happens again.  Thanks for any suggestions.

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    dprawel
    dprawel
    Participant
    February 11, 2016

    NOTE EVERYONE: THIS IS NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER.

    Why is this considered the correct answer? Who decided? I thought this was our (as in "user") forum, not some place for marketing geeks to tell us the company line. And BTW - he promised a fix in three months. Today marks 10 months from the promise.


    "Correct" means helpful and solves the problem, not . The "correct" answer is below from jerryANDtom. It actually solves the problem.

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    sharih19449227
    Participating Frequently
    January 13, 2016

    Has this been fixed as yet?  It is driving me crazy!1

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    try67
    Community Expert
    try67Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 13, 2016

    Yes, it is. Go to Edit > Preferences > Documents and tick off "Open Tool pane for each document".

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    sharih19449227
    Participating Frequently
    January 13, 2016

    Are you able to see the picture below?

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    juleyh3682335
    Participant
    October 2, 2015

    Jon, it is now October 2, 2015, and I don't believe it has been fixed.  What is taking you so long?  Everyone I talk to finds DC extremely obnoxious!  Make the default without it with a simple click to pull it up when needed!

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    hgvenom
    hgvenom
    Participant
    September 14, 2015

    the still there every time I open it.

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    AadeshSingh
    AadeshSingh
    Participating Frequently
    August 2, 2015

    Hey,

    The issue has been fixed in the latest update, please refer to this release note Hide the Tools panel permanently in Acrobat and Acrobat Reader DC.

    Regards,

    Aadesh

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      johnd59898678
      Inspiring
      August 8, 2015

      Changing this preference setting worked for me (which is great), but I am more concerned about what my clients see when I send them a PDF. When most clients receive a PDF they are only concerned with viewing the artwork/proof. I have been designing with Adobe software for over 25 years and have currently over 100 corporate clients and in all those years I have only had ONE CLIENT that ever used a markup tool in Reader (and it made my life a living Hell). Most people using Reader (that I have as clients) can barely figure out how to turn their computer on as it is. ALL these tool bars should be OFF by default. If they are smart enough to use them (or need them on a regular basis), they are smart enough to turn them on if they want them!

      As far as Acrobat Pro DC, I am pulling my hair out with all the windows and tools popping up - I feel like I am working on Windows! Can't see what I am working on for all the toolbars and junk - 99% of which I never use and if I did I know where to find them.

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        AadeshSingh
        AadeshSingh
        Participating Frequently
        July 16, 2015

        Hey jimm30680722,

        The issue has been fixed in the latest update, please refer to this release note Hide the Tools panel permanently in Acrobat and Acrobat Reader DC.

        Regards,

        Aadesh

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        alainsr
        Participant
        July 23, 2015

        Aadesh,

        That partially solves the issue, but there is one change that is still needed: one must be able to either disable the sidebar completely, i.e., remove the stripe n. 2 (in blue on the picture below); or at least move it to the left of the window instead of the right, since the right edge is historically reserved to the scroll bar (stripe n. 1 in blue on the picture below) and moving the scroll bar away from the edge and inserting something between them certainly downgrades the usability: users are used to move the mouse completely towards the right to reach the scroll bar, but that isn't possible anymore, because if they do the same and click they'll activate unwanted sidebars(!), and that doesn't happen in any program, but only in Adobe Reader!

        Don't you think that should be changed or, at least, customizable by the user?

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        alainsr
        Participant
        July 15, 2015

        It's being more than 3 months already. Where's the change all the customers are asking for?

        And not only regarding closing the sidebars, but also removing them, or at least moving them to the left of the window. After all, the right edge is historically reserved to the scroll bar, so how can one not think that moving the scroll bar away from the edge and inserting something between them would make the design and usability worse?

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