A

Anonymous

Answered

How do I turn OFF the setting that automatically displays bookmarks when I open a file?

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
February 8, 2017
23 replies
124914 views

Every time I open a PDF file, the bookmarks panel is automatically displayed, and I have to take the extra step of closing it, because I do not use bookmarks. I see that there is an option to change how a particular PDF file opens, but most of the PDFs I work with are not saved, so I want to change the settings for Adobe so that it does NOT open every PDF with the bookmarks panel displayed. Please help!

Correct answer S_S

Hi @peterriva,

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble.

Unless the file has been created as such that it will open the bookmark panel at launch, you can try the below steps and see if the layout you are working with stays intact.

Could you please try deleting “Exchange-ProMesaages” DB file after closing Adobe Acrobat.

The file is located at “C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\LocalLow\Adobe\Acrobat\DC.”

Once this file is deleted, open Acrobat and continue with the workflow.

Let me know if this works for you.

-Souvik

Show previous replies

P

peterriva

Participant

Thank youi, I am trying this. BTW I called Adobe, 25 mins, useless help. Of course, when you're 85% of the industry you don't have to give a damn about customers paying you every month. The bookmarks issue is some geek setting this in code and there is NO WAY to deal with this easilly.The customer, for Adobe, always has to fight for fixes.

S_S

Correct answer

Community Manager

Hi @peterriva,

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble.

Unless the file has been created as such that it will open the bookmark panel at launch, you can try the below steps and see if the layout you are working with stays intact.

Could you please try deleting “Exchange-ProMesaages” DB file after closing Adobe Acrobat.

The file is located at “C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\LocalLow\Adobe\Acrobat\DC.”

Once this file is deleted, open Acrobat and continue with the workflow.

Let me know if this works for you.

-Souvik

J

jwakerly

Participant

I have a free pre-installed version of Acrobat DC in Windows 11, and it worked for me, except my file in the folder you indicated is named "ReaderMessages". I've been wanting a solution to this for a couple years, so thanks!

R

RainbowChaser

Participant

ADOBE: Stop creating extra work for people. If I want the Bookmarks tab on I'll turn it on. Keep it off so I don't have to turn it off for the hundreds of PDFs I have to open every year. Get rid of this annoying default feature.

M

MWMc61

Participating Frequently

well said; thank you

J

John_Finlayson

Known Participant

I give up, I just need a pdf reader and not this complicated piece of over engineering

J

Joe Gadsden

Participant

I stopped using Acrobat Pro a couple of years ago because I got sick of paying a monthly fee / tax / charge to use a program. If I want the latest and greatest program, I'll buy it, rather than rent it and never own it. So I downloaded Kofax Power PDF. Is nearly identical to Acrobat Pro in so many ways. There is only one irritation for me with Kofax is when you save a copy, there is no option. It is "Duplicate" and it opens another window (a duplicate), and then you save it. Minor irritation, but I paid ONCE.

And yeah, Adobe COULD simply implement the feature that everyone here is talking about. I mean, it's not that **** hard? I still use Acrobat Reader for some things, and it would be NICE ADOBE IF YOU COULD LISTEN TO YOUR USERS!

D

dimitard90784143

Participant

Yes, it is so annoying. It is a waste of time when you have to open tens and even hundreds of PDFs every day to do the extra step and close the Bookmarks simply because most people don't need it. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.

D

David247836165iho

Participant

That decision occurs when the PDF is created. For instance if the File is printed in Solidworks it needs changed in the Options popup. Uncheck the Bookmark box.

C

Curtis246310747wfb

Participating Frequently

WOAH this did it for me!!

For AutoCAD users looking to solve this problem:

- PRINT command (opens print dialogue)

- in the window, under "Printer/plotter", with a PDF plotter selected (the one I was using is "AutoCAD PDF (General Documentation).pc3", click on the button that says "PDF Options..."

- Under "Data" section, uncheck the box that says "Create bookmarks"

- Click OK, and save the changes to the pc3 file

Thank you @David247836165iho !

J

jwakerly

Participant

I found a simple solution that works for me in Windows, and there is probably an equivalent solution in MacOS. Simply set the default app for opening pdf documents to Google Chrome. You get a nice full window or tab with the few basic tools you need for quick viewing those 99% of documents.

A corollary to this solution is do not renew your Acrobat subscription, if any.

D

Drewstre

Participant

This works on Acrobat Pro 2023 on my Mac, not sure about Windows... With a PDF open, right-click the little bookmark icon. Look for "Unpin Bookmarks". See if that does the trick.

I personally find it helpful to "Pin" the Page Thumbnails view, as I like to see that more often than not.

J

j28588415xrum

Participant

If you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader then the solution that works is to make a registry change (click on Start in Windows then type regedit):

Navigate to:

[Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Acrobat.Document.DC\shell\Open\command]

To be safe, right click on the "command" folder and select "Export" to back up it before editing it.

Now amend the Data value to:

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

I found this from another site and it prevents Bookmarks from appearing after opening pdf.

C

Curtis246310747wfb

Participating Frequently

I just tried this with a full version of Adobe Acrobat 2020, and it looks like the same thing should work! My personal problem with this method is that an error comes up when I try that says "Cannot edit: Error writing the value's new contents.". I am reasonably certain it is due to my network administrator's restrictions in place... I don't even have permission to delete application shortcuts from my desktop -_-

In any case, thank you for posting! I think this will help a great many people (with administrative privelages) who have the same problem.

D

dan_0295

Participant

this worked for me! THANK YOU SO FRIKKIN MUCH!!!!!!!!!

A

Alex24645988l0pv

Participant

Open the file and go to File - Properties - Initial View. Under "Navigation Tab" select "Page Only". Press OK and then save the file.

GOOD LUCK!

C

Curtis246310747wfb

Participating Frequently

Thanks for asking the question. I'm looking for the same thing. I work in an office where we deal with hundreds of engineering drawings per week. We review them, create them, send them, receive them... always new documents, never the same. We don't want to turn off the Bookmarks pane for every single drawing we open. We want it turned off ALWAYS.

D

David25246255ikyn

Participant

A simple solution would be to make bookmarks always visible when opening but provide an off button in preferences. This would be like comments and other persistent menus that open by default. If we are smart enough to find the off button, surely, we are smart enough to expand bookmarks if we want to see them. I would take this a bit further. Give us a catchall button to open DC with no menus expanded.

Show more replies

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