Consistently being able to use page down/page up keys in commenting mode

Report · Apr 14, 2022

I am a longtime user of Acrobat for proofreading/commenting of book-length PDFs, meaning that I regularly have to work on PDFs that will have more than 300 comments. There are a number of frustrating issues with Acrobat but one that really bugs me is the uncertainty of whether the page up/page down keys will actually work and go to the previous/next page.

Many times when I am done commenting on a page and want to advance to the next page, page down does not do anything. Sometimes I can hit the escape key and it will take me completely out of comment mode, and then page down works. Of course, the problem with that is now I have to use the mouse to activate commenting again. The idea is to minimize reaching for the mouse as much as possible. Why isn't there a hotkey for activating commenting?

I can't precisely replicate what happens, but it happens a lot. I think maybe the escape key stops being able to take me out of comment mode, and with the cursor in the comment column, page down doesn't work. I used to think that maybe the tab key would change the focus from the comment pane to the PDF, but I just discovered that tab, if the cursor is not in the PDF text, toggles through the commenting tools.

As far as I can tell, the single-key accelerator option doesn't work properly, either. Or maybe I just cannot figure out how it is supposed to work. It used to work a lot better, back before they removed (and then later restored) the comment checkboxes. Speaking of which, shift-K does not work properly on ticking those. It ticks them, but only when I move OFF the comment. It has been that way for, literally, years.

It's just frustrating.

Report · Apr 15, 2022

Hi there

Hope you're doing well and sorry to hear that.

As described, you want to use page down/page up keys in commenting mode so that you can move to the next page when done commenting on one page without getting out of the comment mode.

This option is not yet available, you may share your request with the engineering team using the link https://www.adobe.com/products/wishform.html

Regards

Amal

Report · Apr 15, 2022

Hi Amal,

Thanks for your reply.

As an alternative, can you tell me how users are supposed to navigate to the next page of text in commenting mode without using the mouse to click show previous/next page in the toolbar, or by using the mouse to access the scrollbar? In other words, using only the keyboard.

Report · Apr 02, 2025

Well, it's now 2025 and this still is not a function in Acrobat. What gives?

Report · Apr 15, 2022

In order for some keyboard shortcuts to work, the affected portion of the screen must be in focus. For example, if your view pane is in focus, and you tap the down arrow, you scroll down in the doc. But if your Bookmarks pane is in focus, you move down to the following bookmark. It is often impossible to know what's in focus at times. I've gotten into the habit of clicking on parts of my interface before issuing keyboard commands for this reason. Just a thought.

Dave

Report · Apr 15, 2022

Thanks, Dave, this is essentially the entire point. You can't use Acrobat without frequently using the mouse to confirm focus. This is quite wearying, if that's a word, when you have to enter literally hundreds of changes and advance pages.

I simply don't understand how a beyond-mature application doesn't clearly indicate keyboard focus AND doesn't have a way to switch focus from the keyboard AND doesn't have a reliable way to move to the next page using only the keyboard.

Seriously, think about that--Adobe didn't anticipate that users of an application used to edit and comment on PDFs might want to use dedicated keys on the keyboard to move to the next page as they were editing or commenting on a PDF.

Report · Apr 15, 2022

No arguments from me on any of your points. A focus indicator could be incorporated and made very subtle - so those 'in the know'... know! And it wouldn't be in the way of those that don't!

Dave

Report · Sep 21, 2023

If you turn off "page scrolling" you can use just page down to jump from page to page. But this will remove the ability to scroll incrementially.