Participating Frequently

Question

Fillable Form Dropdown list requires two clicks to open

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
March 29, 2025
2 replies
1394 views

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

JR Boulay

Community Expert

"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.

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

S

steveb93395723Author

Participating Frequently

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.

try67

Community Expert

Can you share a sample file?

S

steveb93395723Author

Participating Frequently

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

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

S

steveb93395723Author

Participating Frequently

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.

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

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded