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drlambert100
drlambert100
Known Participant
June 15, 2018
Question

Hand tool vs select tool

  • June 15, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 2838 views

Is there a way to make the 'Hand tool' the default tool when opening Acrobat. Currently, every time I open a document the select tool (I-beam) is selected by default and I have to change it to the hand tool for navigating the document. I use this 99% of the time when I open a document and it would be nice to have it as the default.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    tonyharmer
    tonyharmer
    Inspiring
    June 17, 2018

    Hey

    Try this:

    1. Go to Preferences > General and then check the Make Hand Tool Select Text & Images option
    2. In any open PDF, select the Hand Tool then quit Acrobat

    When you relaunch, the Hand Tool should now be the default.

    drlambert100
    drlambert100Author
    Known Participant
    June 18, 2018

    I followed your suggestions and that didn't work. Documents still open with the select tool as default. I've attached a short video to show the steps.

    Video clip - YouTube

    tonyharmer
    tonyharmer
    Inspiring
    June 18, 2018

    Hi

    Sorry I didn't realise you were running an older version. I'll see what I can find for earlier versions and come back if I find a solution.

    In the meantime, could I propose a workaround? Go back to the General preferences and check the option to Use single-key accelerators to access tools then all you need to do is press H on your keyboard to pick up the Hand Tool.

    I know it's not the solution you're after, but it is at least faster than using the mouse—and hopefully a bit less frustrating.

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