When a PDF is opened twice in different windows, changing the bookmark on the left PDF changes the right PDF's page instead of the left.. does anyone have this issue?

Question

This is happening to several people in our org intermittently but enough to where they are reporting about it.

Say there is a PDF, (A).

When we go to the top bar and press view, then new window, it opens another PDF (A) that we will call (A2).

So now, we have open PDFs (A) and (A2).

The issue is that whenever we navigate through the bookmark selection on (A), the pages on (A2) change instead of (A).

Our Acrobat is completely up to date, all Windows Updates installed, and we’ve reinstalled the program only for the user to tell us that it’s happening again a few days later.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Anand Sri Bhattacharya · Accepted Answer

Hello @Stvnly,I hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out. We're sorry for the trouble you had. In Acrobat, when you use Window > New Window, both windows are actually two views of the same document instance, not fully independent copies. Because of this, some navigation actions (including bookmarks/left navigation panel) can stay linked between the views, which can lead to the behavior you’re seeing. Does this happen with all sets of PDFs, or with any specific PDF? Assuming you are on the latest build of Acrobat version, and a Windows machine: 26.001.21677, Planned update, Jun 17, 2026, for testing purposes, go to Menu > Preferences > GeneralUncheck “Open documents as new tabs in the same window”Restart AcrobatOpen the same PDF twice from File Explorer (instead of New Window), and check the behaviour.Also, capture exact reproduction details. Because this is intermittent, note which window had focus last, whether the bookmark panel was clicked in window 1 or window 2, and whether it happens right after switching focus between the windows. Please note that if the goal is to view two parts of the same file at once with independent navigation, use Window > Split instead of New Window. As with Split, "you can independently scroll, change the magnification level, or switch to a different page in the active pane without affecting the other pane." Use Window > Split for two panes; to return to a single pane, choose Window > Remove split. For more details, please check this article: https://adobe.ly/4wdCHFyLet us know how it goes, and share your findings.Regards,Anand Sri.

Jason22659563pq11 · Answer

I have this same issue as well. I use this feature for large PDF files where I need to cross reference information. The troubling thing, this Adobe behavior seems to be new. It wasn’t an issue in the past… It defeats the purpose of having two windows open on one PDF file if you can’t navigate pages independently.

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