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How can I hide the Tools Pane when opening a pdf in Acrobat?

New Here ,
Oct 31, 2018 Oct 31, 2018

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Whenever I open an existing pdf document, by default Acrobat always includes the right-hand side "tools pane", which takes up about 1/3rd of the window pane.  To minimise it, I have to always go to >>View,>>Show/Hide,>>Tools Pane>> then toggle/click.  Or on my laptop shift+Fn Key+F4.

How can I change this to not include the Tools Pane in full and just have it in its minimised form, like icons on the right-hand side, which is how it shows when I manually hide it.

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Expert , Oct 31, 2018 Oct 31, 2018

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Community Expert ,
Oct 31, 2018 Oct 31, 2018

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New Here ,
Oct 31, 2018 Oct 31, 2018

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Hello and thanks for your tip.  I followed your instructions and it worked! hurrah!

No more pesky large size "tools pane".

If I need a tool, I can choose it from the far right-hand side icon list panel.  Perfect.

Or, if for some strange reason I want the large version back, I can open it manually. (shift+F4, or on my laptop it is shift+Fnkey+F4)

Many thanks, Jackie

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Explorer ,
Sep 16, 2019 Sep 16, 2019

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I've tried this solution from the Adobe site, however it doesn't look the same as the current version of Acrobat Pro DC I'm using, so I still have this problem. The solution posted by yourself has a tick box "Remember current state of Tools Pane", however on my latest version they have removed this. The tools pane still opens.

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Explorer ,
Sep 16, 2019 Sep 16, 2019

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This doesn't work for me, I'm using version 2015.006.30033, this option to disable the tool bar doesn't appear.  I'm not sure if this is because I'm using a 2015 version (?) but there is no option to update because I'm in a controlled corporate environment.

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 08, 2021 Mar 08, 2021

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This feature was removed since the Adobe Product Design team determined that it was not useful for users.

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New Here ,
Dec 08, 2021 Dec 08, 2021

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@styledliving, your post is incorrect. This feature is still present in my latest version 2021.007.20099 and works just fine as described in the linked article.  Thank goodness the designers didn't make such a bone-headed move. This pane is a big waste of space, I have yet to use any of its tools. It just takes up space for the 99% of Acrobat users who only want to view/print PDF's, not do anything else with them. It should be "off" by default when the software is first installed, but that's a separate discussion. And Adobe could do a much better job of explaining how to hide it (like a checkbox on the pane itself).

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New Here ,
Dec 23, 2022 Dec 23, 2022

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Did you ever find a solution for this?  I also have 2015.006.30033, and this is driving me crazy.

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New Here ,
Jun 13, 2023 Jun 13, 2023

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the option mentioned/pictured in previous comments is also absent from my version.

 

turns out my issue may not have been exactly the same as the topic, i was getting the tools pane because the document had comments and i located this under edit>preferences>commenting that did the trick for me:

 

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New Here ,
Oct 02, 2023 Oct 02, 2023

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I have version 23.006.20320 on Macbook Air, I both selected "Remember current state of Tools Pane" and deselected "Show comments pane when a PDF with comments is opened", and yet the tools pannel STILL opens everytime I open the application..... if anyone finds a solution to this please let me know

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New Here ,
Oct 02, 2023 Oct 02, 2023

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After 30 minutes of messing around, I finally figured it out. Before changing preferences, go to View > Show/Hide > Tools Pane to hide it accordingly. Voilà!

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New Here ,
Oct 18, 2023 Oct 18, 2023

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the show/hide tools pane doesn't show up in mine

 

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New Here ,
Oct 23, 2023 Oct 23, 2023

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It's not there on mine anymore since the recent update where the whole look has changed.

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 23, 2023 Oct 23, 2023

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It does on mine since the last update with the new look - and all the suggestions listed don't work (they did before).  The tools pane opens EVERY time I open a document.  Please fix this.

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New Here ,
Oct 23, 2023 Oct 23, 2023

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This is so annoying when your window is half screen size and you are working on 2 things.  Having to click to close the tools pane with 15 or more PDF's at a time is so frustrating.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE fix this.

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New Here ,
Oct 26, 2023 Oct 26, 2023

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Opening a PDF doesn't necessarily mean that you want to edit the PDF. Viewing PDFs should be the focus & editing option a small icon or menu item - Adobe, please fix this!

 

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New Here ,
Nov 28, 2023 Nov 28, 2023

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I accidentally found the solution to this issue.  Right click on the right side panel>>Unpin contents (or anything else being pinned)

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New Here ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

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1. open one pdf document
2. View>show/hide>Tool pane
3. click "restart" application   

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

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As I said in my original post - this does NOT work anymore...


Thanks!
Dee

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 27, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

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As I said in my original post - this does NOT work anymore since the latest update last week.

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New Here ,
Oct 30, 2023 Oct 30, 2023

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You'll find an option called 'disable new Acrobat reader' or something similar under the file/edit menu. Once I did that along with the preferences option, it worked for me

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New Here ,
Oct 30, 2023 Oct 30, 2023

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"Disable new Acrobat reader" is the trick! Finally!

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Explorer ,
Nov 13, 2023 Nov 13, 2023

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Where did you find the Disable new Acrobat reader option please? I've tried everything else and nothing works so I'm hoping this will but I can't find the pesky thing! Thanks in advance 🙂

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New Here ,
Nov 14, 2023 Nov 14, 2023

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Like Rohan said:
"You'll find an option called 'disable new Acrobat reader' or something similar under the file/edit menu. Once I did that along with the preferences option, it worked for me".

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Explorer ,
Nov 14, 2023 Nov 14, 2023

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I couldn't find 'disable new Acrobat reader' anywhere so ended up uninstalling and reinstalling the product and it's fine now.

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