No longer can pres Esc key to close comment window after entering markup.

Report · Jun 22, 2022

I updated Acrobat Pro DC to version 2022.001.20142 very recently.

I do proofreading that requires constant use of markup tools to insert, delete, and highlight content. My typical workflow with insertions and deletions is to enter Comment mode, select text, and either press Delete to indicate a removal or start typing to add replacement text.

I always have been able to press the Esc key to close the pop-up note after I add my notes and edits. This has been a quick, efficient, fluent workflow.

Now, in this new version, when I press the Esc key, the notes/edits vanish but the pop-up window stays open.

Apparently, I now have to move the cursor and click on the close button. Thus, this process takes more time and increases hand fatigue.

Would someone please explain how this is advantageous?

Report · Jun 29, 2022

From all the post I have view here, I can conclude that Adobe screwed up the single key "Esc" key function from it recent update and they do not have a fix, yet. i would like Adobe to express that.

Thank you

Report · Jun 30, 2022

I have a in between Fix for the "Esc". When the Comment block is showing, to exit out press "Alt+Enter", then exit out of the block by pressing "x".

Report · Jun 30, 2022

Yes, that works, @Jeff370, but it's two key presses, one of them two-handed, to do what a single press on an easy-to-reach key could do.
Please, Adobe, resist the temptation to remove essential features and/or make them more difficult to access.

Report · Jun 30, 2022

Or at least provide an alternative single key shortcut to replace the functionality of a key that otherwise means to cancel an operation !

Report · Jul 11, 2022

I figured that clicking directly on the shut comment box button saves the comment while doing it. A single click for both.

But that's about it. There is still no keyboard replacement yet for the single button function that we're all used to.

Report · Jun 30, 2022

Like Nancy23042458zn8q, I'm also a proofreader and would like to express how frustrating it has been to have this functionality disappear from the latest version of Acrobat Reader. Adobe if you are monitoring this forum, please reinstate the use of the ESC key to save and exit comments. This function enbaled a simple and efficient workflow; what possible advantage could there be to removing it?

Report · Jun 30, 2022

Hello;

I am no proofreader but i also used a lot of the "esc" button to write comments on academic texts. I cannot see how this changing could result in ANY improvement.It is really annoying. It would be much better if Adobe just restore the way the button previously functioned.

Report · Jul 06, 2022

Oh, wow, this is disheartening. I just loaded DC on my new computer and the escape key doesn't work and I have been scouring the web looking for reasons why. While it is nice knowing others are recognizing the problem and addressing it, I was more hoping it was just a setting that I had missed. Sigh.

This has got to be fixed. Not having the 'esc' key to close the comment box will result in a ton of lost time on my part. I edit architectural drawings for draftsmen, and write hundreds of comments a day. These extra steps take about 4 seconds, which doesn't seem like much, but it will eat up another 30 minutes of my time each day. NOT GOOD!!!

Report · Jul 06, 2022

The workaround that i've found is changing to Foxit Reader. I already used it a lot, since it allows setting boomarks and customize keyboard shortcuts. Also, the default config for the "esc" button on editing comment boxes works just as we are used.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

Hi All

Thank you for being so patient.

The behavior of Esc would be to discard any draft content typed in the comment box. To post the comment, either the Post button be clicked, or Alt+Enter be pressed. Further, a mouse click on the document will also post the comment. So, apart from the Esc key, all other ways to post the comment are retained.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

Report · Jul 11, 2022

Meenakshi,

Was this a purposeful change made by Adobe? Is there a reason this 'esc' key functionality has been changed? This seems more like an accident, and should be fixed in the next update of Adobe. Please let the software engineers know this error needs to be fixed. It is NOT okay.

Thank you.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

Umm...it doesn't address the fact that the comment box doesn't shut after posting the comment with Alt+Ent. Logically assuming a comment would be expected to shut when it's being posted, being able to do so with a single keyboard command could be a pretty nifty addition.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

It isn't ideal, but I have been using the Alt-Ent and when you click you mouse anywhere on the screen the text box closes. It isn't as nice as the 'esc' key but I've found it works okay. But they still need to fix it.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

Hi, @Meenakshi Negi:
That is completely counter to the efficient previous keyboard shortcut behavior, and I am very disappointed to hear you say this. What formerly took one simple keypress now requires a two-key press plus a mouse click? This is NOT progress! I strongly suggest you remind your colleagues that this is not what users want.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

Will there be single key exit or will you give the user the ability to change key functions?

Report · Jul 11, 2022

Hi Meenakshi,

Thank you for following this up for the many of us and the more of us who have been looking for alternative ways silently.

Could you please feed my personal experience (it's too arrogant to say 'we' or 'us' too often) to the sales teams:

1. I'm loyal to brands/products when they are loyal to their conventions. Revolution and transition come with sacrifycing previous generations.

2. Convention is crucial for dominating a market. Without convention, a product is mearly abitrary.

3. The life of a format is in the hands of those who are loyal because that's the group of people who feel pain if a format has to be changed.

4. When the loyal goup decides to jump to another boat, it may take the time of a generation to turn them back. Hope these loyals live that long for Acrobat.

Report · Jul 13, 2022

@Meenakshi Negi, I just installed Acrobat Pro DC 2022.001.20169 (Mac). The Esc key still does not work as expected when posting comments to a PDF. I am very disappointed.

Report · Jul 18, 2022

@Meenakshi Negi, many of us are hoping for a return to the prior procedure for confirming and closing comments in Acrobat Pro DC. What plans has Adobe made to add this functionality back into the program in an update?

Report · Aug 10, 2022

Hi, @Meenakshi Negi:
When you say, "So, apart from the Esc key, all other ways to post the comment are retained," that's like saying, "So apart from the fact that the ship sank, the HMS Titanic is still afloat."
Those of us who use this software for long-form proofing, editing, etc. have depended on the type-Esc, type-Esc easy, ergonomic functionality for a very long time. The idea that this capability has been jerked out from under our feet not only makes our lives more difficult and way harder on the hands, but wastes our time with a bunch of needless clicking.

Please pass along our most-strenuous objections to this development, which has persisted through several updates now!

Report · Sep 12, 2022

The idea that Esc discards draft content is fairly standard, which is why the one key method to enter data into the comment was a weird choice at the outset.

HOWEVER, now that users have gotten used to that key to accept the comment data and move on, changing it is extremely frustrating. What's worse is not the action used to save a comment and move on LOSES the entered comment.

What should have been done originally is to use "enter" to enter the data in the comment and "alt-enter" for those occasions where a carriage return is used in the comment (which, in my work, is rare).

I wish I could adopt some of the solutions suggested here, such as switching to one of the million freeware .pdf readers out there or loading Acrobat; but, I am a mere cog in the wheel and software changes are not in my purview at work.

Please, please fix this.

Report · Sep 14, 2022

@Aaron26072373u83c, the "Esc" key may have been an odd choice, given its erstwhile role as what amounts to a "cancel" key, but yes, this has become the accustomed workflow. If Adobe wanted to change the keyboard shortcut, as it so often has done in the past in other applications (don't get me started about Photoshop!), then it should have substituted another single-key shortcut, not a convoluted keys-and-clicks method.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

I figured a 'workaround'. Clicking directly on the shut comment box button saves the comment while doing it. It avoids both having to click twice (Post + Shut comment), and the 2-button shortcut of Alt-Ent.

But that's about it. There is still no keyboard replacement yet for the seamless single button shortcut that we're all used to.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

That's fine if you want to take your hands off the keyboard, @Sharang5C49. The Esc key method is much more efficient and less stressful on the hands.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

I'm definitely not fine having to tediously locate and click on the 'x' button. Keyboard shortcuts are so very convenient, and don't affect the workflow if one is already typing in the comments.

Report · Jul 11, 2022

Working around should be fine if the work isn't intense.

One of my jobs is marking assignments which requires around 160 times pressing on ESC within 25 minutes. So, by any other means double the frequency it comes to 320 times. Repitition kills.