Disable tabs in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC?

[D_Cheke]

How do I disable tabs in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC? (version2015.009.20069)

I would like to have all PDF open in a separate instance as was the standard before the latest version update.

[mariahweyne]

In preferences , make sure this in not marked.

[David.Wolfe]

As others have already replied, the "Open documents...tabs..." option is missing in DC Pro on Mac.

Since moving to a new Mac two weeks ago, I love the new Acrobat. The new locations of tools and sidebar items seem more efficient for my workflow. However, the inability to open documents in separate, untabbed windows is maddening. In other apps that use tabs, dragging the tab out of a tab group (while any application frame is disabled) "frees" it from the tab and gives it a full title bar. But in the new Acrobat, doing so just results in a new tab group with only one tab and still no title bar. Maybe all those clamoring for tabs who don't have them are not Mac users. 

Why are separate windows important to Mac users? Because the title bar of documents on the Mac is a multi-functional wonder. Want to reveal the open file in the file system? Hold down Command and click on the filename. A menu appears showing the path to the document in the filesystem. click anywhere within the path, and that path in the filesystem is opened in a new Finder window for you, with the "child" item selected. Need to place the open document into another filesystem location, place it into another document, or open it in another application? Drag the document's icon from the window's title bar—it acts as a proxy to the actual document, allowing one to place it anywhere it's placeable. None of these things are possible with tabbed documents.

Since the preference option is missing entirely, leaving a gap in the list of options, I suspect the toggle was just removed from the interface, and Adobe can simply add it back in. Or maybe someone will discover a terminal command to toggle the behavior if it still exists in the code. Either way, I hope Adobe will reverse course and re-enable fully-windowed documents on our expensive recurring subscription DC Pro on Mac.

[Teri777]

Hi Brian,

Acrobat automatically updated this morning and i found i was having the same issue, i hate tabs and couldn't find out how to turn them off.... I fineally discovered how to fix this.  Launch Acrobat > go to View > Disable New Acrobat. This should relaunch Acrobat in the older format.

This should relaunch the old version of Acrobat, if at sometime you want the New Acrobat, then you would do the same as above and Enable New Acrobat...  for what it's worth, i wish they would just leave it alone.

Hope this helps.

[kbwilmore]

Yay, thank you! I had the same issue as the original poster. This worked great!

I agree; some things they should just leave alone—or make optional.

I'm so happy to see my old setup again!

[Elvi333193750pht]

Oh, thank god, you are a star! I was going crazy looking for that option that used to be there. And I do have the latest "continuous release" version on the PC, dated 2023. No idea why they needed to remove the option to not have tabbed browsing. 

[Jaketheaccountant]

Thank you, it works ~~ You are the Bessssst ~~

[kbwilmore]

There is no such route to follow in the Acrobat Pro version—at least not the Mac version. The only Preferences available are in the Acrobat menu, not Edit, and nowhere in the list of Preferences (General or otherwise) is there a place to check or uncheck "Open Documents as new tabs in the same window." That's the big problem. Also, the options for showing or not showing the sidebars seems to be missing from the document windows now. Frustrating!

[Teri777]

Acrobat automatically updated this morning and i found i was having the same issue, i hate tabs and couldn't find out how to turn them off.... I fineally discovered how to fix this.  Launch Acrobat > go to View > Disable New Acrobat. 

This should relaunch the old version of Acrobat, if at sometime you want the New Acrobat, then you would do the same as above and Enable New Acrobat...  for what it's worth, i wish they would just leave it alone.

Hope this helps.

[jefc302]

Yes this worked, thank you! So frustrating that the old check box was removed and left blank. Clearly adobe did this to piss ppl off...haha.

[Diane31317103j79s]

THANK YOU!!! THIS WORKED!!  

[defaultyb867fyredgp]

Looks like this is now NOT available, so tabs only, permenently.

[MaximillianC]

Yes, same here.  Just installed the x64 version of Acrobat Pro for Windows (2023.006.20380), and noticed that neither option people mentioned above for disabling tabs worked.  VERY frustrating!  It seems like with every Acrobat release, the app gets harder to use.  A year or so ago, I was still using Acrobat 9 for Windows, and it worked pretty well, except it was so out-of-date that I was starting to see more and more compatibility issues, so that's why I upgraded.  Ever since upgrading, I've kind of hated Acrobat.  It's gotten way harder to find the tools I use regularly, and the app was literally logging a crash every time I'd launch it.  So I uninstalled, and installed the 64-bit version a few days ago.  Now I can't disable the tabs, causing me more inconvenience when working with this app, especially across multiple virtual desktops.

It seems like Adobe is yet one more company that has forgotten how to listen to its customers... so we're left with no other choice than to make our voices heard with our wallets.  (sigh)

[GusA]

I too upgraded to the latest x64 version and have the same issue. I do not like using tabs but unfortunately no longer have another option. I think it is sad that such options are removed without warning or feedback. Welcome to the engineering mantra of  "we know it all".