Cannot switch between old and new UI after reinstalling Acrobat

[Darren L.]

After reinstalling Adobe Acrobat, I no longer seem to be able to “Enable new Acrobat” nor “Disable New Acrobat” to switch between the old and new UI schemes. I am stuck on the old UI even though I was previously able to access the new UI. The button just does not appear in the View menu anymore.

Is this a bug, or did the latest update remove the new UI, or did something else occur?

[Mike_Gondek]

That is only available in the acrobat reader at this time, maybe you are trying in Acrobat Pro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIV8iKREunw

[Darren L.]

Hi @Mike_Gondek, I don't think that is accurate. I was previously using Acrobat Pro before reinstalling on the same machine, and I still have Acrobat Pro now. But after reinstalling, it appears the new UI as well as all its traces has just “disappeared.”

[BobsWorld1231]

Hey @Darren L. did you end up finding the fix for this? Just ran across a similar issue

[Darren L.]

Hey @BobsWorld1231, it turns out that the new UI is part of a “phased rollout” system. It is designed to gradually offer the new UI to more users over time, using the number of sessions as a counter. When you reinstalled Acrobat, you also reset this hidden timer, so now you have to wait for it to offer the new UI again.

There aren't any in-app settings to expedite the process, but there are several out-of-app values that control the process. This type of stuff can be dangerous unless you know what you're doing, so I can't get specific.

If you are already in the know, here's everything you'll need for Windows and for Mac.

[Darren L. · Accepted solution]

After looking into this issue, here's what I've found:

The new Acrobat UI (named the “Modern Viewer”) is set as a phased rollout that becomes available to users differently over time. Under normal circumstances, about 25% of users will have been offered the new UI as at June this year. The passage of time is measured by number of sessions, and when you reinstall Acrobat the clock is set back to zero, so you will have to keep using Acrobat until such a time when the new UI is offered.

However, in my case, I was able to use my knowledge of the Windows Registry and Group Policy objects to set appropriate values and enable the new UI early. I will not be providing any instructions for this as I do not condone registry editing for the inexperienced. For those who know what they're doing, here's everything you'll need to make it happen.