How Do I Turn Off Bounding Boxes While Editing a PDF in Acrobat?

Question

I have been using Adobe Version 2025.001.20756 and I am facing significant issues since the update.
I only need to go in and update specific fields/texts, but since I have started using this version I am facing terrible issues.

Once you right click & select - Edit a PDF, you will find that now the file has multiple boxes which you will need to remove.

Earlier it was just go directly in the text box edit the text and save the pdf in less than a min.
Now for the same work now it is taking enough time because you get multiple boxes which are just blank and you need to select borders of those boxes and hit delete and entire pdf is filled with all those boxes.

So first you need to remove all those non-sense blank boxes and only then you are able to actually edit. And if you accidentally delete a box containing which has the text in it, then entire text boxes in the page shifts up which is just Horrible.

In no way you could select all the text boxes at once and move those entire boxes back to where they were, you will have to close without saving and only then proceed back from start from your last saved version or from beggining if you decided to do all at once because in no way you can go back.

BaniVerma · Accepted Answer

Hi all,How do I turn off bounding boxes while editing a PDF?When you use the Edit PDF tool, Acrobat displays bounding boxes around editable text and images to help identify the objects that can be edited.If you prefer not to see these editing guides:Open the Edit PDF tool.Select the Settings (gear) icon next to Edit in the left-hand pane.Clear Show bounding boxes.You can enable Show bounding boxes again at any time.While you're in that panel: there's also a "Restrict editing" checkbox next to it, checked by default. If editing feels more limited than expected, check whether this is turned on too.Still seeing a box when you hover over text? That's expected. Even with "Show bounding boxes" off, a temporary dotted outline appears while you're actively hovering over or editing a text block — this is separate from the persistent bounding-box display and is by design.Note: This is different from the "Show Art, Trim, & Bleed Boxes" setting under Edit > Preferences > Page Display, which controls print-related page boundary marks, not the Edit tool's text/image bounding boxes.Reference:https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/viewing-pdfs-viewing-preferences.html (for the separate Art/Trim/Bleed Boxes setting)Do bounding boxes affect the PDF?No. Bounding boxes are editing guides that are displayed only while you're using the Edit PDF tool. Showing or hiding them changes only the editing view — it doesn't modify the PDF, and they won't appear when the document is viewed, shared, or printed.Thanks,^BS

Meenakshi_Negi · Answer

Hi SM_000,

Thank you for reaching out, and sorry for the trouble caused.

Please ensure that you have disabled the "Show bounding boxes" option under the Edit PDF tool. Please use the steps mentioned below:

- Open the PDF in Acrobat and click on the Edit a PDF tool.

- Click on the Gear icon next to Edit in the left-hand pane (Check screenshot for reference).

- Uncheck the option "Show bounding boxes".

Then check if you still get those boxes.

If you continue to experience the same behaviour, please share a screenshot or a short video showing what happens.

We see that you are using an old version. You can update the application to the latest version by navigating to Menu > Help > Check for updates. For more information, refer to the following help page: https://adobe.ly/49sVpRw.

Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

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