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A
Anonymous
April 20, 2015
Answered

How do I remove the Tools Pane Permanently in Adobe Reader DC? [2015]

  • April 20, 2015
  • 20 replies
  • 74882 views

I have just installed Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version 2015 Release and it has a very annoying

bug/feature that I don't like.

 

I have to keep removing the Tools Pane using using SHIFT+F4 every time.

 

Is there a way to make this pane dissapear permanently by making this setting stick?

 

This hasn't been a problem in previous versions of Adobe Reader.

 

Please tell me how to remove this annoying pane or issue an update to make this setting stick when opening PDFs.

 

Thanks in advance.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer AshuMittal9644438

    Hi @dan400man,

    You'd have to follow the steps in the below mentioned sequence:

    1)      Launch Reader

    2)      Uncheck this preference

    3)      Collapse the RHP

    4)      And relaunch Reader  =>> Now RHP will appear as collapsed for every doc

    Hope this helps,

    -ashu

    20 replies

    Show previous replies
    J
    jo_ru
    Participant
    May 28, 2015

    I detest this trend by software creators, the sneaky "free cloud storage" Or "online tools" and in reality it is an invasion of privacy. You data is not secure, there is nothing free. Its a con job to hold your data hostage, sell your information and track you.

    It worked on smart (dumb) phone idiots playing "free games" and now they assume PC users will follow that trend. Free apps or storage are very intrusive and VERY profitable. All the new "assumed safe, added features" scare a old dog like myself, just how far will these people go to monitor my PC in my home?  Why is is assumed to be OK that these apps follow your every move? Lock you in to data storage fees and offer no real security? . It is short sited and criminal. Elderly users and youths don't stand a chance with this perverted marketing.

    Adobe, you have claimed to be the secure document software for 20 years. By far not perfect but, better than this crap.

      C
      c@m2013
      Participant
      May 19, 2015

      We use Adobe at my workplace, and I and my colleagues  find the new "feature" completely annoying. The  main function that we use Adobe for is to read documents. We use it to read thousands of documents,  and at times we also manipulate the documents. The time spent reading vs manipulating is approximately  96-4%,  and that is a high estimate for manipulation. So why on earth would we want this to be the default view? 

      A
      Anonymous
      May 15, 2015

      Hey Huh,

      to disable the right pane, you can follow the answer from tmmcentyre  https://forums.adobe.com/message/7472578#7472578 or the answer from HHugo https://forums.adobe.com/message/7544218#7544218

      The problem with both workarounds is, if you click on "Home" or "Tools" on the toolbar, you can't go back to "Document."

      With tmmcentyres workaround you lose some more features too.

      To fix this follow HHugos workaround, but keep the last line form the file too.

      So edit the "Viewer.aapp" file located in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroApp\ENU\".

      Here remove line 2 till 8:

      <Layouts>

          <Layout name="Default">

              <RHP>

                  <Component name="AppShortcutListView" type="Custom"/>

              </RHP>

          </Layout>

      </Layouts>

      So the content of the file is only:

      <Application xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/acrobat/app/2014" title="Viewer" id="Viewer" majorVersion="1" requiresDoc="true" minorVersion="0">

      </Application>

      Now the right pane should be closed if you open a .pdf file. You can switch between "Home", "Tools" and "Document" without issues and the remaining features should work as intended also.

        E
        erikl77762586
        Participant
        May 17, 2015

        User 231s method worked for me. Not perfect but much much better than a registry tweak, deleting executable, or losing actual software functionality (I do need to sign PDFs from time to time).

        It is totally unacceptable that Adobe is making its users manipulate code to do this when it would only take a small snippet of code in the UI to create a button to do it.

        P
        peterhull90
        Participant
        May 13, 2015

        Just wanted to add my voice to this - Adobe, please make this a user setting, also the F9 Show/Hide menu bar.

        It's amazing how such a minor thing becomes so irritating after a while. Otherwise I am fairly happy with Reader DC.

        Pete

        RahulTyagi_
        RahulTyagi_
        Participating Frequently
        May 9, 2015

        Hi JMG876,

        It is not an Adobe recommended step but you might want to use the workaround suggested in this thread to disable the tools pane : https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1817184?sr=stream&ru=3593483


        Regards,

        Rahul

        wrooot
        wrooot
        Inspiring
        May 10, 2015

        And you will have to do it after every update. No, thanks.

        HelenWLee
        HelenWLee
        Inspiring
        May 8, 2015

        Yes, this must be fixed. Let the user decide their workflow themselves. The tools panel steal too much screen space. Easy to open those times I want to use it (seldom).

        And I agree about the too light grey text in righ click menus. Hard to read and it looks inactive, as if  something is wrong.

        wrooot
        wrooot
        Inspiring
        April 21, 2015

        +1 here. Tools pane opening and loading its content on the side every time you open a pdf is very annoying. Also the Mobile link black popup which shows up every time you open a pdf is annoying too. Not speaking about the horrible choice to make menu s with gray on white text.. menu entries look like inactive this way. Also, what was the idea behind not reusing same registry entries for options, now you have to set all options for a user again. Not going to update my users to this version so far. And it seems we may be stuck with 11 version for quite some time (or switch to some other product).

          AmbooS
          Adobe Employee
          AmbooS
          Adobe Employee
          April 21, 2015

          Dear wrooot,

          For the MobileLink popup issue you are facing, please click on it once. It will stop appearing in subsequent launches. If it still doesnt work for you, do let us know.

          Thanks,

          -Amboo

          wrooot
          wrooot
          Inspiring
          April 23, 2015

          AmbooS wrote:

          For the MobileLink popup issue you are facing, please click on it once. It will stop appearing in subsequent launches

          Yes. This worked. But instructing users that they have to click on something hey don't know and don't need is not a good solution. Is there a setting or registry key to disable it?

          D
          DXM
          Participant
          April 20, 2015

          We need an option under preferences for the tools pane:

          • Off on open Acrobat
          • ON on open Acrobat
          • REMEMBER LAST STATE on open Acrobat

          It is unacceptable to have the tools panel open and occupy precious desktop real estate by default every time Acrobat opens.

          Previous versions of Acrobat DID NOT open the tools pane by default. Please reinstate the previous Status Quo.

            A
            Anonymous
            April 21, 2015

            I know, it is not that hard is it?  This needs to be fixed by Adobe.  It is annoying.

              A
              Anonymous
              April 20, 2015

              I have the same problem, too.

              Have you resolved this "problem"?

                A
                Anonymous
                April 20, 2015

                No.  I don't think this is a simple fix I think it is a programming problem.  I hope someone from Adobe reads these posts because

                this "feature" should be able to be turned off by the user.

                  A
                  Anonymous
                  April 20, 2015

                  Ok. Thanks.

                  I have installed the Adobe Reader 11 as workaround.

                    pwillener
                    pwillener
                    Legend
                    April 20, 2015

                    Looks like we are making progress: I didn't know about Shift+F4.

                    Maybe next someone will come up with a way to permanently removed that sidebar...

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