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October 9, 2024
Question

Adobe Acrobat not remembering the layout when using two (or more) acrobat-windows

  • October 9, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 324 views

Hello, 

 

when i am using only one acrobat-window at a time, acrobat is "remembering" where i had the last Acrobat-window placed, how "big" i made it, if i had the side-toolbars showing or not, and so on.

So after closing Acrobat and reopening another PDF via doubleclick, i do not have to adjust the size, placement and layout again, because Acrobat is remembering, what i had it adjusted to the last time and does show it to me like the one before.

So far, so good...

 

But when i am using two (or more) acrobat-windows at a time, this functionality has some errors.

Let me show you an example:

 

I am working really often with two PDFs side by side, because i have to "compare" them in a certain matter. One is a report, showing what a mechanic did exactly. The other PDF is a "collective invoice", collecting many of such cases to one invoice and showing the costs for them.
So i am opening both of them side by side and kind of "compare" them, to check if the charged costs correspond to the doings written in the reports:

I doubleclick both PDFs in Outlook, then click on the first PDF and hit WindowsKey+arrow-left to place that one left-side, then click the second PDF and hit WindowsKey+arrow-right to place that on the right side (because Acrobat is opening them just slightly offset/overlapping another (would be fine if acrobat could also remember that i had the last two PDFs placed side-by-side and place the new ones in that same layout, too, but that's another story)

When opening the first PDF and setting it to the left-side of the screen, everything is fine and Acrobat does not show the sidebar and toolbar, just like i had it adujsted before when checking another PDF.
But after opening the second PDF and setting it to the rght-side of the screen, Acrobat doesn't remember the toolbar-layout of the before-used PDF anymore.

Acrobat always shows the left (and sometimes even the right) toolbar again, although i had it adjusted to not showing it before.

 

Is there a chance to get this fixed?
I always need the maximum width i can get from that screen, and every toolbar showing up minimizes the usable width and complicates the readability in that layout.

 

I can imagine that this can't be respected "to infinity", but i hope two or even four windows remembering their last layout could be possible?

If that helps, the filenames are always similar, only the numbers at the end differ. Maybe Acrobat can remember to open PDFs with similar filenames in the same way again...?

It seems like Acrobat even does something like that filename-check, but not correctly as i said.

 

Thank you,

Marc

 

P.S. As i said, best would be if i even would not have to place that two PDFs left and right again and that Acrobat would remember the last placement of the windows AND the layout of the toolbars.

So i would not have to place that PDFs left and right again, too.

 

 

e.g.

Opened two PDFs, placed them left and right and adjusted the layout to not show the toolbars at all:
Layout OK, not toolbar at the left side:

 

 

Closed both PDFs, reopened both PDFs, and placed them to left and right via WIN+Arrow-Keys:

Layout NOK, one toolbar showing up at the left side:

1 reply

S_S
Community Manager
Community Manager
February 13, 2025

Hi @ThatMarc,

 

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble, and the delayed response.

 

In case you are still looking for a solution, you can try the below steps:

1. Go to Edit-> Preferences-> Documents-> check the checkbox saying "Restore last view settings..."

2. Go to Preferences-> Accessibility-> check the below checkboxes:

(i) Always Use Page Layout Style-> set the layout as per requirement;

(ii) Always use zoom setting -> set the zoom as per requirement.

 

If these are already checked, please repair the application by going to Help-> Repair Installation.

 

Also, ensure that you are on the latest version (2024.005.20xxx) of the application for the best experience.

To do so, go to Help-> Check for Updates.


-Souvik

PMarcAuthor
New Participant
February 13, 2025

Hello Souvik,

thank you for your answer.

 

I checked your suggestions, but they do not help with my problem? Maybe you misunderstood me? 

 

The setting you suggested (Go to Edit-> Preferences-> Documents-> check the checkbox saying "Restore last view settings when reopening documents") seems to only apply, if i am REopening a certain document, so if i had it opened once before?
But every such document i am talking about gets to me for the very first time. And mostly i only open them once at all.

So i think that setting can not change anything here, because most times there is no reopening, but only the first opening? 
So it seems like i could not even expect that to change the behaviour i am talking about?

 

Just to remember:

I said the "remembering the last windows setting" in priciple does indeed work. But it only works with one single PDF/window.
Only when i am opening a second window/PDF, the left toolbar always pops up, although i close that annoying thing every time it appears...

 

I also did some testing with that settings you said, also set the zoom to 75% fixed and so on, but the problems remain:

 

1. The left toolbar pops up when opening a second Adobe-Acrobat-PDF-window

2. The windows do not appear in the exact same location as before, but only some millimeters displaced.

 

I always use "Windows-key + Left-arrow" and "Windows-key + Right-arrow" to place this two windows exactly on the left and right half of the screen. But after closing them and opeing the next two PDFs in two new Windows, they are not discplaced some millimeters apart from that positions, AND in the second window the left-toolbar pops up.

PMarcAuthor
New Participant
February 13, 2025

Correction of the last sentence:

But after closing them and opeing the next two PDFs in two new Windows, they are not discplaced some millimeters apart from that positions, AND in the second window the left-toolbar pops up.