Document Properties Initial View Bookmark Panel Bug

Report · May 06, 2025

Nearly every PDF document I open in Acrobat opens with the bookmark panel expanded, which seems very strange. I understand that this behavior is determined on an individual document level and not at the application level. It doesn't make sense that nearly every document opens with the bookmark panel expanded when they don't have any bookmarks, though. Wouldn't it make more sense for the bookmark panel to only be expanded when opening documents that have bookmarks?

Playing around with the document properties, though, I believe I've discovered a bug. If I go to Document Properties> Initial View> Navigation tab and set it to "Page Only", then save the document and reopen it, it'll open with the bookmark panel expanded. If I go back in and set it to "Bookmarks Panel and Page", then save the document and reopen it, it'll open with the page only view. That's clearly the opposite of how it's intended to work, which would explain why nearly every PDF document I open starts with the bookmark panel expanded. Does this same behavior occur for anyone else? How can we get Adobe developers attention to fix this bug?

Report · May 07, 2025

Hi @Nickel1,

If the document's initial view is not set, this behavior is driven by app preferences. The initial view preference overrides the app preference for all properties that can be set using the initial view.

To test this, open a document that hasn't been set for this property, "Initial View." Also, ensure app preference is enabled by launching Acrobat > Ctrl/Cmd + K > Preferences > Documents > "Restore last view settings when reopening documents." Once you open the document, check the bookmarks panel. If it is open, try closing it. Close the file and open it again; this time, the panel should be closed if "Initial View" isn't set.

If you are not getting the desired result, try repairing Acrobat. To repair launch Acrobat > Help > Repair installation (Windows only option).

Please ensure your copy of Adobe Acrobat is updated. To check for any pending updates, launch Acrobat > Help > Check For Updates.

Let us know how it works.

~Tariq

Report · May 07, 2025

Thank you for the reply, Tariq.

I ran the "repair installation" option as you recommended. I have Acrobat 64-bit, version 25.001.20474, and it says there are no updates available. I also confirmed that the app preference for documents is set to "Restore last view settings when reopening documents."

Unfortunately, Acrobat still opens all documents set to initial view "Page Only" with the bookmarks panel expanded. Documents set to initial view "Bookmarks Panel and Page" open without the bookmarks panel expanded.

Is there a way to configure Acrobat so it only opens with the bookmark panel expanded if the document has bookmarks? The initial view setting for "Page Only" doesn't appear to work as intended.

Report · Jun 13, 2025

Hello @Nickel1!

I hope you are doing well, and we are sorry for the delayed response.

Could you please install the latest build of Acrobat: 25.001.20531 (Win) | 25.001.20529 (Mac), planned update June 10, 2025. Check for any pending updates from the Menu > help > check for updates, install the updates, restart the app and the machine, and try again.

If you want to ensure a specific file opens without the bookmarks panel, open the PDF. Go to Menu > Properties > Initial View. Set the Navigation tab to “Page Only.” Save the file. Then manually close the bookmarks panel, close the file, and reopen it
This sometimes works if the document doesn’t have a conflicting internal setting, but it’s not reliable across all files.

If the issue continues, please provide the following information: the current version of the operating system on your device, a sample PDF, a quick screen recording with the steps to reproduce the issue, and the logs from the affected machine. To collect the logs, download and run the Log Collector tool. Make sure to select all log options and attempt to reproduce the issue. After that, close the Log Collector tool; it will generate the logs along with a log ID. Please share this log ID with us for further investigation.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.