How do you disable "What's Next?" in the side bar?

[Zeba_SA]

Every time I place my signiture in a PDF, this big pop up on the right pops up. It takes up most of my screen. It is very annoying. How can I stop this from popping up? I've tried right clicking the side bar and clicking the checkmark that is next to "What's Next?". However, all it does is hide the popup and it does

not remove it from the sidebar. See below screenshot of the popup.

[Deepa Chaudhary · Accepted solution]

Hi Zeba_SA,
Thank you for sharing your concerns with us.
We understand the inconvenience caused by the pop-up when placing your signature in a PDF. The pop-up of "What's Next?" you see is related to the Next action pane feature. You can manage this using the FeatureLockDown options:
Windows:
Open the registry editor (regedit).
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\[Product]\DC\FeatureLockDown.
Create or modify key : "bEnableNextActionPaneFeature" = 0 to disable Next Action Pane.

Mac:
Navigate to /Library/Preferences.
Open or create com.Adobe.[Product].plist
Create or modify key: "bEnableNextActionPaneFeature" = 0 to disable Next Action Pane.

We acknowledge the AutoOpen behavior and are planning to address it in a future update. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we are committed to enhancing the user experience.
Thank you for your understanding. If you need assistance with FeatureLockDown or have further questions, please let us know.

Thanks
Deepa Chaudhary
Adobe Acrobat Team

[Michael28839779wak4]

I second this annoyance. How do we disable the "What's Next" sidebar from popping up every time I open a new PDF and sign/ initial it? 

[creative explorer]

@Zeba_SA @Michael28839779wak4  I don't see this pop-up at all! It might be I have turned it off. Look at your Acrobat Pro Preferences. 

I tried turning that on in the Hidden Information just to see the pop-up, and I don't get it. I am running the latest Acrobat Pro. What version is it, and is the pop-up on the left side or right side of the screen?

[Zeba_SA]

I've already tried looking through the prefrences and nothing works. My "hidden information" checkmarks look exactly like yours. The pop up happens on the right side after you place your inials or signiture. My Co-workers do not get this pop up but I do. The only thing I can think of is that I use a custom "draw" inials set while my co-workers use "type".

[Michael28839779wak4]

This is an example of the pop up. Happens 100% of the time: someone sends me a pdf in an email. I download it to my laptop. I open the pdf into my adobe (i have the full monthly adobe subpscription package with pro). Once it opens, I sign it with my signature. that's when the "what's next" sidebar popup comes up. 

[creative explorer]

Interesting because the difference between yours and mine is the 'AI Asistant' . Even though y version of Acrobat Pro is the latest, I don't have the 'AI Assistant turn on' 

If you righ-click on the side bar, you should get the fly out side panel....see if you take off that second icon, which is 'what's next?'

[Zeba_SA]

@creative explorer Just like my first post says, we cannot take off the "What's Next?" in the sidebar.  It does not let us. Same thing with the "Generative summary ", "Comment", "bookmarks", and "Pages".  I can turn on and off all other options in the sidebar.  This is what my sidebar options look like.

[Zeba_SA]

Here is the version of Acrobat Pro I am using.

[Michael28839779wak4]

Echoing what the original poster said: 
The pop-up is tied to the icon called "What's Next" on the sidebar "explore next best Acrobat tools" (see the first photo attached)

I do see the option for "what's next" when I right click... but it cannot be unchecked (see the second photo attached).

As the Original Poster said, it IS the case that I use a custom drawn signature and custom initials that are saved as my signatures.... I do not type my signature or initials. 

[creative explorer]

@Zeba_SA the top half of the side panel is permanent, the second half is optional. You can just click on it the second half icons to turn it on or off (mine does on my end). You can even reset it too. Which for me is the only four icons. 

Oddly, my version of acrobat is the same as yours, except, am on a Mac:

[Zeba_SA]

Just to clarify again, I am not able to turn off "What's Next?". "Reset side panels" does not work either.

I am able to turn off and on Everything Else on the second half but "What's Next?" It seems completely permanent on mine.

[Zeba_SA]

@Michael28839779wak4 I fixed it!!!! (so far)

I decided to try to uninstall Acrobat Pro this morning. When I went to my Creative Cloud Desktop application, I noticed that it did not give me the option to uninstall. (See Screenshot below) I guess my Acrobat was installed outside of Creative Cloud.

So I sent to "Apps and Features" and uninstalled from there. After I restarted my computer, my Creative Cloud Desktop application gave me an option to install Acrobat. Once I installed it, I had an option to uninstall it unlike before. So right then and there I noticed a difference. 

I tested a PDF and no "What's Next?" (see screeshot below) I only got some first time pop ups like "what's new" and UI tutorials. However, they only popped up once.

So, It looks like this issue is on the stand alone Acrobat Pro application.

@Michael28839779wak4 If this works for you, please mark this post as a "Correct Answer". Good Luck!

[Michael28839779wak4]

Awesome I'll give this a shot and report back. Thanks for sharing!

[Michael28839779wak4]

Thank you for this! I only have the adobe creative cloud desktop app. Once on it, I tried deleting, restarting my computer, then going back to the creative cloud app to reinstall the app.  Same issue unfortunately. 

[Deepa Chaudhary · Accepted solution]

Hi Zeba_SA,
Thank you for sharing your concerns with us.
We understand the inconvenience caused by the pop-up when placing your signature in a PDF. The pop-up of "What's Next?" you see is related to the Next action pane feature. You can manage this using the FeatureLockDown options:
Windows:
Open the registry editor (regedit).
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\[Product]\DC\FeatureLockDown.
Create or modify key : "bEnableNextActionPaneFeature" = 0 to disable Next Action Pane.

Mac:
Navigate to /Library/Preferences.
Open or create com.Adobe.[Product].plist
Create or modify key: "bEnableNextActionPaneFeature" = 0 to disable Next Action Pane.

We acknowledge the AutoOpen behavior and are planning to address it in a future update. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we are committed to enhancing the user experience.
Thank you for your understanding. If you need assistance with FeatureLockDown or have further questions, please let us know.

Thanks
Deepa Chaudhary
Adobe Acrobat Team

[Michael28839779wak4]

Hi Deepa, the OP solved the problem by deleting then reloading the app. I tried the same steps but I was not successful and the pop up still occurs. I followed your steps but could not find the key to modify: 

I could not find the NExt Action to disable autoopen. 

[S. S · Accepted solution]

@Michael28839779wak4 If not already there, please create one and then add the value "0" to it.

-Souvik

[Michael28839779wak4]

This worked! thank you very very much! 

[S. S]

@Michael28839779wak4 That's great! Thanks for letting us know.

-Souvik

[Michael28839779wak4]

Unfortunately, I was mistaken. the "What's Next" panel started popping up once again. Did I do the registry editor correctly: 

[S. S]

Hi @Michael28839779wak4,

A Correction.

Please create a D-Word at the location HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\[Product]\DC\FeatureLockDown and change the value= 0.

Once done, relaunch Acrobat and let me know if this works.

-Souvik

[Michael28839779wak4]

Hi, I right clicked featurelockdown, selected new, then D-word.

I then right clicked it and made value = 0.

No luck, as soon as i go to sign or add initials the panel pops up 😞

[Michael28839779wak4]

i also restarted my computer after i'd done that btw

[S. S]

@Michael28839779wak4 The name of the D-word file will be: bEnableNextActionPaneFeature

-Souvik

[Michael28839779wak4]

so instead of "new value #2" i rename it to bEnableNextActionPaneFeature?