Acrobat 2023: How to revert to classic GUI user interface

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

ADOBE: Do not delete or merge this conversation thread.

This post is to consolidate the information from dozens of other posts about how to revert to the previous user interface in Acrobat.

It consolidates the information users need to know.

When Acrobat is updated to version 2023, it replaces the traditional user interface that's been in place for the past 20+ years with what Adobe is calling the "Modern Viewer," which has some severe technical problems (missing utilities) and a complete relocation of familiar tools, menus, and quick access tool bars.

In Windows Acrobat:

1. Locate the "hamburger menu" in the upper left corner (3 horizontal bars where the old "File" menu used to be).
2. Select Disable New Acrobat.
   
   

The hamburger menu in new Acrobat-Windows.

In Mac Acrobat:

1. From the View menu at the top, select Disable New Acrobat.

Thanks to Gary_SC for this Mac screen capture.

Let Adobe know:

You can voice your opinion about the new interface at UserVoice: https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/47082691-ditch-t... 

Be sure to leave a comment about your opinion and experience with the new interface. They need to hear from us users.

FYI, UserVoice is Adobe's official website where it reads and takes into account suggestions and complaints from users of its various products.  On the other hand, this community forum is a user-to-user help forum and information posted here rarely reaches ears or eyes at Adobe.

Learn about the new interface:

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/new-acrobat-experience.html

Hope this post helps you quickly get back to work!

[gary_sc]

Thanks Bevi

[derricklp]

The new interface adds multiple steps to every click, extremely huge and inefficient decline from previous interface, bordering on unusable.  Thank you Bevi Chagnon for finding this life-saving option to continue using the prior, vastly better interface.

[Ameya29369639ob8a]

Completely agree .. The new upgrade is actually a downgrade

[blugrsgrl]

Hello, thanks for being so helpful on this and other threads. I appear to NOT have the "new" Acrobat, however I still cannot get the Click to Zoom, Hand and Select tools to show on the toolbar, even though I have truned everything else "off" under "Show Select and Zoom Tools". Any ideas?

[Ameya29369639ob8a]

May be they forgot to include in the update. Why dont you use shortcut CTRL+ '+' and CTRL+'-' for zooming in or out instead - till the solution is identified

[mvheim]

Hi

I tried to post a comment on the forum noted above, but it would not accept my password, and when I tried to reet my password, the verification email looked remarkably like spam — it had no mention of Adobe and was sent by a server I had never heard of, so I did not follow through. This seems a massive violation of good customer inreface practice — communications from a public-facing website should clearly identify the origination company (NOT the intermediary servicing vendor).

[Tariq Dar]

Hi All!

Hope you 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 and get more out of Acrobat.

We are actively working on any unavailable features, such as customizing the All Tools positioning or user interface. And we will address them with the highest priority. 

A point to note is that as we made these changes in the interface, we have ensured all tools & features that are currently supported retain their familiar functionalities and workflows as they did in the previous version. We proactively address any gaps or issues users report regarding any break in current workflows.

If your critical workflows are impacted, you can switch to the old UI from the “Menu” on the top left corner of Windows OS 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.

We will follow up on this response with a detailed article explaining the changes, a guide to help familiarise you with the new interface, and regular updates on upcoming changes.

Thank you once again for your feedback, and do look forward to our upcoming releases!

~Tariq

[blugrsgrl]

Can you please advise re: my question I posted earlier:

I still cannot get the Click to Zoom, Hand and Select tools to show on the toolbar, even though I have turned everything else "off" under "Show Select and Zoom Tools". Any ideas?

[Tariq Dar]

Thanks for your quick reply, @blugrsgrl! Sorry, you are having trouble. 

Would you please share a full screenshot while Acrobat is on your screen? Before attaching the screenshot, please ensure it doesn't have any identifiable personal information on it. Also, let us know the version of Acrobat on your machine to check the version:

1.  If you have a Windows machine, Launch Acrobat, Help> About Adobe Acrobat. 
2.  Mac, Launch Acrobat > Acrobat Menu> About Adobe Acrobat. 
   
   Once we have that information, we help you further to figure this out. 
   
   ~Tariq

[blugrsgrl]

Please see attached.

[Tariq Dar]

Would you try the suggestions from the Help document: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/how-to/customize-toolbar.html and let me know if that helps? 
If you have tried it already, I would suggest repairing Acrobat. To repair, Launch Acrobat>Help> Repair Acrobat installation. Restart your machine and try the suggestions from the help document again. 

 

[blugrsgrl]

That didn't help. Please see new photo showing the tools are checked but they do not show on the tooldbar.

[blugrsgrl]

I accidentalyl solved this! I was trying to get the navigation tools that used to show on the bottom of the page back and went to View, Show/Hide, Page Controls... when I clicked Shjow Page COntrols voila, the other things I was trying to get back (Zoom and Hand and Select) showed back up in the tool bar. Still can't figure put how to get the ones back on the bottom of the page though.

[gary_sc]

Hi, @Tariq Dar.

Thank you for this short background on the new UI. I do look forward to the promised detailed article for these changes. I'm sure they will be welcomed by all.

Nonetheless, with all due respect, the paragraph I found most interesting is this:

>A point to note is that as we made these changes in the interface, we have ensured all tools & features that are currently >supported, retain their familiar functionalities and workflows as they did in the previous version. We are proactively >addressing any gaps or issues reported by users related to any break in current workflows.

You can't "ensure" that all tools work in one part of a paragraph and also state that you are "addressing any gaps or issues reported." You can say that you "…are striving to ensure…," but the word "ensured" implies that the work is done, with nothing more to do. 

In addition, if you have done such exhaustive testing over the past 12 months, why are we seeing more complaints about how confusing and frustrating the new UI is than at any time in the many years I've been monitoring these forums? What testing has been done since the new UI was released? And more importantly, who was involved in the testing, and can you share the test parameters?

Again, with respect,

Gary

[sirocawa]

hi 

what date for deadline  for  "revert to classic GUI user interface" ?

i can't find  information in the forum about classic GUI deadline .

[Stephanie32580438vsa5]

Tariq, I don't mean to dogpile you but the new interface is terrible.  It's so terrible I was inspired to log in and type a comment about what an abject failure this is.  Some people may enjoy hiding every single useful tool in submenus that have been randomly scattered about the screen, but I'm not among them. 

Can someone explain why the left and right side menus were just switched?  Can someone just give me a straightforward explanation of the ways in which this improves productivity or workflow?

[miket24511498]

the new interface is terrible ... 

Can someone explain why the left and right side menus were just switched?  Can someone just give me a straightforward explanation of the ways in which this improves productivity or workflow?

By @Stephanie32580438vsa5

With you 100% - it is truly awful. I tried to live with it, but the impact on my workflow is impossible to deal with, so I've reverted to the old version.

Comments like "you'll get used to it" don't address the fundamental issue that the UI is deeply flawed - and I speak as someone with an honours degree in psychology (with a specialism in user interface design). 

If a car manufacturer suddenly designed its cars so that the accelarator and brake positions were reversed, and you had to lean down to the dashboard operate the turn indicators, there'd be an outrcy. "Ah, but you'll get used to it", and arguments that it makes things tidier don't cut it.

But there's not a lot of difference between this and what Adobe has done with the new UI.

[ekedling]

I am adding my voice to the many -- we do not want to re-learn Adobe Acrobat every time you feel like doing an update.  The changes here are not intuitive, I have to search for functions to know if they are lost or available but just not where I expect them to be, and everything now takes more time to do.  What kind of sense does it make to move the bookmarks and paperclips from one side of the screen to the other?  Not helpful, and in my opinion even the visual appeal of the layout and the font is lacking compared to the prior version.

[krisgilberttufts]

In Windows it will not accept 'Disable New Acrobat'. Have tried this multiple times, it restarts and goes right back to the hideous, unusable travesty of the NEW Acrobat.

[UnamedAccountingAssistant]

Good day to you Tariq

Of particular note when the update hit me today, I took note that the "What's new" popup described the new UI as a simplified design, and I will agree, that's exactly what it was.

Please advise the User Experience (UX) Team that outside of mobile applications where interaction is limited, simplification is never an improvement
Please advise the Project Management Team that they are wasting resources trying to solve and fix problems that do not exist, and their endeavors actively create problems

Please advise the Customer Support Team that they are absolute legends for having to be the mediation between the consumer base and the incompetent corporation that Adobe continues to present itself as. the CST absolutely deserve raises and should consider unionizing

[TerabyteNet]

Tariq, with all due respect, it has become commonplace in the software industry to just redesign apps for the sake of redesigning apps.  As a collective you've all forgotten the tried and tried adage that, "if it ain't broke don't fix it."  Your new GUI does NOTHING for productivity or functionality.  If anything it does the exact opposite.  As an IT engineer and consultant I've had hundreds of complaints and most ended up just dumping Adobe for one of the plethora of alternatives out there.  If your intention was to alienate users and convince them to look at alternatives you've done a fantastic job.  If your intention was to make the product more useful and functional you've failed perhaps more spectacularly than any vendor ever has and I own a copy of Microsoft Bob.

[Colette29714163pkhb]

The problem is you forgot to take into account that a considerable number of your users are 45+ and not super-au fait with new technology. We have a business account with you and I have emailed from that to complain about the shortcomings of the new version of Acrobat.

[TerabyteNet]

45+? Are you kidding?  The over 45 crowd INVENTED the Internet.  I had a computer on my desk in the late 1970s.  Even my father who is 80 used computers most of his career.  We are quite well prepared to handle new technology.  The problem is the apparent kids Adobe employees to write their code think changes for the sake of change are the right way to encourage loyalty and customer spending.  Adobe pulls this junk all the time.  Let's not blame their poor decisions on the age of users.  Let's put the blame were it squarely belongs, on the apparent 12 year old writing Adobe's code who don't know anything about efficiency or functionality.  They just want it to look new so they can justify their jobs.

[AutumnRossG]

I would strongly advise Adobe to closely consider TerabyteNet's comment. This isn't a new problem and it isn't limited to Adobe or even software design in general. Numerous industries have been ravaged by unqualified outsiders and apprentices who are all-too-eager to show the world how little they actually know. For years now we have been forced to watch the entropy of these industries.

To speak candidly about the elephant in the room, I see a frightful intellectual collapse taking place in society that showed up around same time Merit and Excellence were abandoned for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Critical Marxist Theory, both of which are going to kill not only theirselves but everyone and everything that attached to it.