Fillable Form Dropdown list requires two clicks to open

[steveb93395723]

I have found numerous instances of people having the problem that the user trying to fill out a PDF form must click the dropdown box twice to make a selection.  

I am using Acrobat Pro with a current license and I too am experiencing this issue and have never seen a resolution.  Here is my experience with this situation.

Upon first opening a fillable form, all the fields appear as originally intended.  Here is an image of my form.

But when the user clicks on a dropdown box, the options appear momentarily and then disappear leaving the dropdown box with a change in appearance ... 

... but when clicking the dropdown a second time, the options list remains so the user can make a selection ... 

... once the selection is chosen, the field return to the correct appearance intended.

Is there a resolution for this issue?  From various searches I have seen that this problem has been going on for a few years now.  What is the problem?  Why hasn't Adobe been able to determine why this occurs?

Best regards,

Steve 

[try67]

Can you share a sample file?

[steveb93395723]

Yes.  I have uploaded the file into Box and you can download it here ... 

https://app.box.com/s/biaii21nc8svk9bzw5uwhqpvgs8p2fhj

[try67]

This is not the same file as in your screenshot. The "Shipping Carrier" selection in this one is a radio-button group, not a drop-down.

[steveb93395723]

You are correct but the symptom occurs with any of the dropdown boxes.  I changed the shipper from a dropdown to a radio button in hopes it would resolve the issue, but it did not.

[try67]

I tried the other drop-downs in both Reader and Acrobat and they worked fine. Please upload a full-window video that demonstrates the issue for further help.

[steveb93395723]

Subject: Issues with PDF Form Functionality

Hello,

I have uploaded a video demonstrating the issue with the form. You can access it using the same link I shared earlier:

https://app.box.com/s/biaii21nc8svk9bzw5uwhqpvgs8p2fhj 

I have been experiencing some strange behavior with the PDF form. After rebooting my PC, the form worked as intended for a while. However, after performing other tasks, such as checking my email or opening and closing a browser, I encountered a problem where I had to click on the dropdown box twice for it to respond with the selection. I believe others may have faced similar issues. If you search for “PDF form click dropdown twice” on Google, you will find numerous reports of this problem spanning several years.

Thank you!

Steve

[steveb93395723]

Just for general information.

I have two PCs ... a Dell desktop XPS8960 and a Lenovo laptop Thinkpad P16 Gen2

The Dell PC has Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2 (OS Build 26100.3476). Adobe Acrobat Pro

The Lenovo Laptop has Windows 11 Pro Version 24H2 (OS Build 26100.3194).

Both exhibit the same symptoms that I have been experiencing.

I have a current license to Adobe Acrobat Pro and used it to create the fillable form.

Overall, I like Adobe Acrobat Pro but would like to see a solution to the "two clicks required for dropdown boxes" problem.

I recommend that to see the problem, it might be a good idea to not perform a fresh reboot of the PC as that seems to temporarily resolve the issue.  But after a bit of time opening / closing some other apps, the symptoms that I (and many others) are experiencing return.

[Tariq Ahmad Dar]

Hi @steveb93395723, 

Thanks for reaching out. 

I checked your form on different machines, both Mac and Windows. It appears to be working fine at our end. 

Regarding appearance, launch Acrobat, Hold Cmd/Ctrl + K > Preference > Form, and compare your preferences to those of another machine. These are basically your preferences for the application, which defines how the fields will look. 

Ensure your copy of Acrobat is updated, to check for pending updates. Launch Acrobat > Help > Check For Updates. 

Also, you try the following to check if double click for the field to work might help

Optimize Rendering Settings:

• Go to Edit > Preferences > Page Display > Rendering and enable “Use Page Cache” to speed up rendering.

• Try disabling “Smooth line art” and “Smooth images” under rendering options.

Use Fast Web View:

• Go to Preferences > Documents and enable “Allow Fast Web View” to improve document loading times.

Disable Protected Mode (For Testing Only):

• Navigate to Edit > Preferences > Security (Enhanced) and temporarily disable “Enable Protected Mode at startup” to see if it improves performance. (Re-enable it afterward for security.)

If the issue persists, could you confirm if this happens with all large PDFs or only specific ones? 

Looking forward to your response! 

~Tariq

[steveb93395723]

Hello Tariq,

I did as you suggested ... no change in the behaviour.  Also, I tried your suggestion to go to Preferences > Documents and enable “Allow Fast Web View” ... there is no option to "Allow Fast Web View".

Regarding setting up options for how a form will look ... the whole concept of making the PC settings overriding the form settings is not good design.  If I design a form with various colored fields, I expect that any user will visualize those colors as I created them. Having a default setting in Acrobat that overrides what was designed is piss poor design.  What is Adobe thinking?  And lastly, regarding the two clicks for a dropdown box ... this issue has been around for a number of years and Adobe has not been able to resolve the issue.  Is this poor design of the product or reluctance on the part of Adobe to fix a problem.  FYI, here is a simple result of a Google search ... the issue goes back at least to 2016 ... NINE YEARS!

why are two clicks required for dropdown box fillable form - Search

[steveb93395723]

Hello Again, 

I assume you are not an Adobe employee, but perhaps you may know why the same form on two different PCs takes on a different appearance.

On my Dell desktop

On my Lenovo laptop ... 

Is this a feature of the software?

[steveb93395723]

I found out why there is a difference in the appearance of the same form on two different PCs.  Seems like it has to do with an option in Acrobat ... "Preferences, Forms, "Show border hover color for fields".   I unchecked that option on my laptop and the form assumes the appearance as it was created.  From what I am reading, this is not document related but is PC-related.  So if a user has not unchecked that box on their copy of Acrobat, the form will not appear as it was created.  Isn't that nice?

[try67]

This is just a display setting. It shouldn't have any effect on how the fields work.

[steveb93395723]

As this is just a display setting, I have no problem.  The only issue I have is that the display setting is for the PC and not for file.  So a user with the display setting enabled will not view the form as it was originally designed.  This is quite poor design.

[try67]

I fully agree. This should have been a property of the file, not the application.

You can enable or disable it, though, using a script, but I don't recommend you do that without notifying the user of the change.

[JR Boulay]

"I have found numerous instances of people having the problem that the user trying to fill out a PDF form must click the dropdown box twice to make a selection.  "

Tariq Ahmad Dar, I have the same issue on my PC, still not fixed for over 3 years.

The same forms works fine on Macs, and with Foxit on the PC, it's not a document issue.

[steveb93395723]

I expect that the techies at Adobe just hate it that so many people are experiencing this problem and that it appears to be an Acrobat problem versus a document problem.  If there were a reasonable alternative to Acrobat Pro I would use the alternative in a heartbeat.