How to open pdf's in separate windows? [2016] [Locked]

[tomasw96402913]

Note from moderator: this post is from 2016 and things have changed. If you have a

question about the current version, please start a new post. This post is now locked.

Two answers are marked Correct. One is how to disable the "New Experience" and the other is

from 2016 and tells you how to disable tabs and see the PDFs in separate windows.

Separate Windows are not available (yet) in the New Experience. The first step is to disable it.

When I open different pdf's I want them to open in separate windows.

It is possible to manually separate the different documents after opening them by dragging the tabs.

But it doesn't seem to be possible to set as default that the files open in separate windows.

How do I do that?

[Katherine33145422dbst]

Does not work with new version.

[Gus33459743wkow]

Simple, by open them on Google Chrome.

-

[Deborah24300670tcgk]

Boy, between this and the vanished scroll bars...I'm trying to understand why anyone thought this would be a good idea. I have just spent 45 minutes trying to troubleshoot this misery. WE PAY FOR THIS SOFTWARE, every month, bc why should you be able to actually own something you pay for?? lol.

So we're paying Adobe to make it unusable, and waste our time trying to make it work again? I don't think that's the agreement.

[d3s1gnjet]

Adobe Acrobat 2023 ("New Acrobat" needs the option to open each document in a new window, without disabling New Acrobat.

[NudeCruzer]

Adobe did say they were going to change this and allow the customer to have the choice, but it sounds now they changed their minds. They clearly wanted to force us to have all documents in the same window.  Their answer, now, appears to be, "get used to it"; we will not make it easy to look at two documents at the same time. Adobe has spoken.

[Gus33459743wkow]

Or, you can open the PDF files with Google Chrome. Certainly, Chrome allows
you to open files in multiple windows separately to compare between them.
In the meantime, Adobe like any other aging company, they are AGING.

.

[d3s1gnjet]

Hello @PositiveEnergy1 - looking for a way to do this without disabling New Acrobat and its new features and UI. The video you link to requires using Preferences to roll back to a previous version, which is not acceptable for the future.

[NudeCruzer]

Go to View>Disable new acrobat>then the option reappears in Preferences>General.

[NudeCruzer]

(easier than watching the video.)

[d3s1gnjet]

Thanks @NudeCruzer .  Specifically, looking for a way to do this without disabling New Acrobat and its new features and UI. The instructions you provided require rolling back to a previous (non-new-Acrobat) version, which is not acceptable for the future.

[Michael29892720xy78]

I had nothing but problems when i disabled the new acrobat. I had nothing but errors and acrobat became useless. I had to have IT reinstall the new version. I open the files i need and then click on the Tabs and drag them over so it creates another session/window.

[NudeCruzer]

Good to know, I hadn't heard of anyone having problems selecting the option "Disable new Acrobat"  under the View menu. I would completely delete Acrobat. Reinstall and then select "disable new Acrobat" again. In addition, it sounds like, you are also saying that the option under the view menu to "enable New Acrobat" didn't work either.

[NudeCruzer]

You can drag the document out of the window creating a new window, otherwise Adobe does not want to allow people to open documents in new windows automatically. My previous post was just to provide a shortcut, rather than watching a video.

[d3s1gnjet]

@NudeCruzerThank you for your thoughful replies.

This is directed at Adobe, not you, but: Having to disable new Acrobat to achieve basic functionality like opening documents in new windows is unacceptable. A user may have specific workflows that are severely hampered by the tabs-in-one-window restriction. As @Deborah24300670tcgk mentioned, we the users pay for this software and should be able to retain basic control over its operation, such as this feature, without hassle or problematic workarounds as the described experience of @Michael29892720xy78 indicates.

[NudeCruzer]

Unfortunately, Adobe has simply decided to not allow one to open documents in new windows. I assume, eventually, we won't even be able to go back to the old version, creative cloud will force the issue. And permanently, you will never be able to view two PDF files side-by-side.
Eventually, there will be a new open source format file type similar to PDF. That will replace the PDF and there will be more options for software that will work with these.  Adobe is making people crave other options.

[boncrab6490]

Up until today 1/8/2024 I have always been able to drag an adobe reader tab so I can view side by side. All of a sudden, today, I cannot. I hate this. You develop a process to be efficent in your work each day and like giants controlling their lives they decide for you what you ought to be doing.