Exit
  • Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
  • 한국 커뮤니티
26

Hide "All tools" pane?

Community Beginner ,
Jun 30, 2023 Jun 30, 2023

Same problem as everyone else under the sun: I cannot figure out how to permanently hide the "All Tools" menu on Acrobat Pro 2023.003.20215.

 

Preferences > Documents > Open Settings > Remember Current State ... is just missing for me (and apparently for others, too.) And, depressingly, the registry keys bRHPSticky and bExpandRHPinViewer don't seem to affect Acrobat Pro.

 

Having to close and re-close the "All Tools" menu every single time I open a new PDF, all day every day, is exhausting and I hate it. Does anyone know a fix for this (aside from switching away from Adobe)?

TOPICS
Edit and convert PDFs , General troubleshooting , How to
153.1K
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
New Here ,
Mar 23, 2025 Mar 23, 2025

Here’s what worked for me:

Disabled New User Experience

Running Adobe Pro version 2025.001.20435 (64 Bit) on Win 11

To disable the new experience,

  • Click the hamburger menu ( 3 lines ) at the upper left corner and choose Disable new Acrobat

Tools Pane

To prevent the Tools pane from opening by default in Adobe Acrobat  go to: Menu > Preferences > Documents and select "Remember last state of All tools pane when opening documents," then collapse the Tools pane, and save. 

Navigation Pane / Bookmarks etc (Global Hide)

Right click on open pdf file. Navigate to: Document Properties\Initial View(Tab)\Navigation and change Bookmarks Panel and Page to Page Only.  Then save .  However, only works for that single document when opened in future.

If you want to turn off panes or all pdf files opened regardless of what set by creator and not have to change initial view and save then edit the registry.

 

Launch %windir%\regedit.exe
Navigate to:  HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Acrobat.Document.DC\shell\Open\command

String to be modified is similar to this:
"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" "%1"

Change to: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" /A "navpanes=0" "%1"

 

Every pdf file from every location now opens up without the panes. Been annoying me for years.

View solution in original post

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Dec 21, 2023 Dec 21, 2023

James

There is no Disable New Acrobat when I click Menu.  What next?

David

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Feb 14, 2024 Feb 14, 2024

Thank you!

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Mar 27, 2024 Mar 27, 2024

You can press F4 do disable right panel and shift+F4 to disablem left panel.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jul 10, 2024 Jul 10, 2024

I know there a smart bunch of people here, and many are really incensed over this issue. But I'd like to offer a suggestion if like me you found one of the simpler solutions offered here "did not work".

 

I preferred NOT to solve things by turning off the "new" reader. But I DID find that enabling the setting for "Remember last state of the All tools panel" works for me, in July 2024 (on version 2024.002.20895 64-bit on Windows).

 

That said, if it "doesn't work" for you, here's something I experienced at first: don't miss that you MUST click the "ok" button at the bottom of that menu>preferences>documents window. If you just click the "x" in the top right of the window to close it, that will NOT save the setting.

 

If you might presume "nobody would make that mistake", note that on an HD resolution monitor (like my laptop or in a remote desktop session as one might experience it) the "ok" button does NOT appear on screen unless you scroll down to see it! (I experienced this problem and felt at first the setting change "wasn't working for me" either, until I realized what was amiss.) So I wanted to share if they may help someone else. It would also apply for any other settings changes done in that preferences window.

 

Still, I appreciate that there may be some other situations where somehow this setting really "does not work" for some.


/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Aug 01, 2024 Aug 01, 2024

Menu -> Preference (or ctrl + k for windows)

Then select documents then check Remeber last state of all tools pane when opening documents

 

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Aug 01, 2024 Aug 01, 2024
That works for some versions of Adobe but it didn't for mine.
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Aug 01, 2024 Aug 01, 2024

James, in saying that what Bibhu proposed didn't work, did you happen to see my post before that (from Jul 10), where I offered something for those who might say that change "doesn't work"? I'll point to my comment rather than repeat the key points here, but it would be helpful if you might confirm whether that, too, still does not get things working for you.  It did, for me.


/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Aug 01, 2024 Aug 01, 2024
I appreciate your post and suggestion; however, my posted "fix" worked for
my version and I have had no problems since. When I replied to the recent
suggestion it was meant that I had previously tried it and it did not work
at that time. Apologies for any confusion.
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Aug 02, 2024 Aug 02, 2024

Menu -> Preferences -> Documents; check "Remember last state of the All tools pane when opening documents" seems to do the trick in v. 2024.002. 

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Aug 23, 2024 Aug 23, 2024

To make it work the All tools pane has to be hidden --"collapsed" -- before the PDF can be the most recent for purposes of the setting (i.e., to learn what should be done when opening. So how do you hide the pane to begin with?

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Sep 25, 2024 Sep 25, 2024

this does not work in September 2024

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Sep 25, 2024 Sep 25, 2024

When you say "this", what are you trying, among the 50+ replies in this thread?

 

If you prefer not to answer, then it's not a very helpful comment to have made. Someone reading it can't know which offered solution didn't work for you, and we can't suggest what else might work. And before you say "I tried them all", I hope you're sincere about that. Otherwise we'd have no choice but to say "oh, well". (Remember: we're not Adobe. We're users helping each other.)


/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Oct 21, 2024 Oct 21, 2024

You can do this with the New Reader.  Just go to Menu > Preferences > Documents > (5th checkbox) Remember last state of All tools pane when opening documents > Check on > Click OK at the bottom of the window.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Oct 25, 2024 Oct 25, 2024

I have version 24.3.20180.0

There is no 'Remember Current State..." option within the preferences.

Paul235122392a87_0-1729868340022.png

 

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Oct 25, 2024 Oct 25, 2024
Yeah, that's why I made sure to put which version I used at the time, but
they change everything so often it makes it hard for everyone to help each
other.
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Nov 10, 2024 Nov 10, 2024

This worked for me.

Thanks

 

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Nov 11, 2024 Nov 11, 2024

@MVH32363373jn0p wrote:

This worked for me.

Thanks

 


When saying "this" you really should specify what "this" is, so that we all know what solution of the many did work for you. Remember, this thread is 2 pages long, and I've read multiple suggestions for possible solutions. 

 

(check also here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/hide-quot-all-tools-quot-pane/m-p/14881529#M48012...)

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Nov 13, 2024 Nov 13, 2024

Hey Y'all.  Sorry for any confusion and the pain in the ; )
Call me if you need help through any of this - (773) 993-1000
But, I am pretty sure this is your solution: Menu > Preferences > Documents > (5th checkbox) Remember last state of All tools pane when opening documents > Check on > Click OK at the bottom of the window

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jan 17, 2025 Jan 17, 2025

On the new Adobe Acrobat Classic (no one wants/needs the DC features) it's not possible to hide the All tools pane. Tested with latest release 2024.001.30225 x64.

 

Setting -> documents  --> "Remeber last state of all tools pane when opening documents" and "Restore last view settings when reopening documents"

 

Exists but doesn't change anything on Acrobat Classic. Version installed in READER_MODE without subsciption Features. I have also tried the suggestion from James to untick the boxes, close the pane and then activate the boxes. Same result.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Mar 23, 2025 Mar 23, 2025

Here’s what worked for me:

Disabled New User Experience

Running Adobe Pro version 2025.001.20435 (64 Bit) on Win 11

To disable the new experience,

  • Click the hamburger menu ( 3 lines ) at the upper left corner and choose Disable new Acrobat

Tools Pane

To prevent the Tools pane from opening by default in Adobe Acrobat  go to: Menu > Preferences > Documents and select "Remember last state of All tools pane when opening documents," then collapse the Tools pane, and save. 

Navigation Pane / Bookmarks etc (Global Hide)

Right click on open pdf file. Navigate to: Document Properties\Initial View(Tab)\Navigation and change Bookmarks Panel and Page to Page Only.  Then save .  However, only works for that single document when opened in future.

If you want to turn off panes or all pdf files opened regardless of what set by creator and not have to change initial view and save then edit the registry.

 

Launch %windir%\regedit.exe
Navigate to:  HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Acrobat.Document.DC\shell\Open\command

String to be modified is similar to this:
"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" "%1"

Change to: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" /A "navpanes=0" "%1"

 

Every pdf file from every location now opens up without the panes. Been annoying me for years.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Apr 16, 2025 Apr 16, 2025

3 month later - i tried the latest release 24.001.30246 from last week and it's still the same sh... They fixed an issue with erros popping up every time you close a file but it's still not possible to hide the "All Tools" panel.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Apr 16, 2025 Apr 16, 2025

You can do this with the New Reader.  Just go to Menu > Preferences > Documents > (5th checkbox) Remember last state of All tools pane when opening documents > Check on > Click OK at the bottom of the window.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Apr 17, 2025 Apr 17, 2025

Thanks for your suggestion but: nope you can't. As I said in January the option is available but without any function when you install Acrobat Pro 2024 aka Acrobat Classic (https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/download-acrobat-pro-2024.html) in Reader Mode (ENABLE_READER_MODE=1)

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Explorer ,
Jul 03, 2025 Jul 03, 2025
LATEST

Ich habe das gleiche Problem und bin froh, hier in der Community von gleichen Problemen anderer zu lesen. Es nervt, immer aufs neue "All Tools" schließen zu müssen. Offenbar ging ein Update voraus, da es vor einigen Tagen noch nicht war. Stellt es bitte umgehend ab. Es ist ein großes Ärgernis.

Die Version lautet 2024.001.30254 64bit

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines