How can I configure Acrobat scans to NOT append to an existing file by default?

[parallelidentity]

I am using Acrobat Pro DC, fully up to date. Whenever I scan a document using File | Create | PDF from Scanner, the settings default to append the scan to an existing file. That's rarely what I want to do. (When I want to append a scan to an existing file, I use the Insert Pages tool.) It's not a major problem to uncheck the "Append" box, but it's a repeated nuisance, especially if I forget and I wind up with new pages added to a document that have to either be extracted or deleted and re-scanned.

I've seen the issue a number of times in the forums, but it's always for the opposite problem. Getting append to be the default is an issue that has, apparently, been solved too well.

[Lovekesh Garg]

Hi Martin,

As of now append is default option if any file is opened. You have to change it manually if you want.

I have raised this concern. We will surely look into this and resolve it after prioritizing.

Thanks.

[parallelidentity]

Thanks. Is there any way for me to be notified if the there's been a modification, or will I just notice the change in the application?

[Lovekesh Garg]

Whenever a new update is release, all the major changes are listed down in release notes.

Also we try our best to notice the customer individually(if issue is for a limited set of users). I have mentioned your details in the bug itself, so that we can intimate you once this update is available.

Thanks.

[parallelidentity]

Thanks. It's nice to know Adobe actually pays attention to their forums.

[matthewl85098861]

Adobe does not pay attention to their users or forums.  It has been four years and this still has not been fixed.

[michael1720]

Hello Lovekesh, has there been any change to this issue? Are we now able to disable the "Append to Existing File" toggle when scanning via Adobe Acrobat? To be clear, this toggle is enabled by default when taking these steps in Adobe Acrobat (We're specifically using Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017, 2017 Release (Classic) | Version 2017.011.30059):

File > Create > PDF from Scanner

Thank you for your insight.

[risharmaAdobe]

Hi Michael,

Not yet.The issue hasn't been prioritized yet. We will let you know once this functionality is added.

Thanks

Rishabh

[matthewl85098861]

Hi Rishabh,

It has been over four years since Adobe promised to fix this issue.  Please let us know the status.

Thank you,

Matt

[randally90098764]

I agree with everyone else on this forum--Please allow users to turn off this default setting

[Dave.Cox]

This setting is a real irritant for me. I think you need to make it a priority, and soon.

Thanks,

Dave Cox

[parallelidentity]

This question has been marked "Assumed Answered," but my question can only be considered "answered" if the answer is that this is an issue about which Acrobat does not intend to do anything. I posted my original question more than two years ago. I was told it was not a priority. Obviously, that was true. But doesn't anyone who maintains this software actually use it? Don't they recognize the inconvenience? Don't they realize that, if you want to append a scan to an existing document, there's a far more logical way to do it using the "Insert Pages" command on the "Organize Pages" toolbar. Why am I constantly updating this software if something as basic as this can't be fixed. And I'm not asking Acrobat to deprive others of the ability to use "Append to Existing File" as a default; I just want the ability to change the default for myself. If someone wants to append but inadvertently creates a new file, it's easy enough to add the new pages into the old document. If new pages are inadvertently added to an existing document, it can be a much more difficult fix, and some problems (like a new modification date) may not be fixable at all. Help us out here, Adobe.

[Sam 1234]

I have the exact same problem and I'm using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

The issue is still not fixed.

[chrisc21823138]

Having the same problem. The default setting of "append to existing file" makes no sense. Please prioritize this to allow users to set their own default!!

[cmwark]

Also very annoyed by this "feature."  Who thinks that when scanning a pile of unrelated documents it would be a good idea to save them all as a single pdf by default.  Guess that works if you name your documents Pile1, Pile2, etc...  Absolutely needs to be configurable.

[UptownKeith]

Hello from August 2020! We would still like this default option turned off

[UncleRicky58]

Wow. FOUR YEARS since parallelidentity's original post and still this issue remains. I, too, find it incredibly annoying. Why did anybody think making "append to existing file" the unchangeable default was a good idea? Is there ANY CHANCE we'll get this fixed any time soon? I'm beginning to doubt it.

[Claudia5C87]

Here, here! Same issue. Over 4 years to not address an issue? Why can't the user decide what the default is? I also do not want to constantly append - just the opposite in fact!

[default95r029773ri0]

Working in an accounting office it is a Major Issue! Miss the append just one time and a client has just received

another client's income tax file.

Fix it please!

[JEAN-PHILIPPE15A8]

HI,

Why are you guys ignoring the wishes of your users? This minor fix would make so many peoples lives less stressful. Five and a half years on since the original post is not good.

Please give us the option to change the default.

[AlexJQ]

6 years since this was posted.  Still irritating users.  This is why Adobe needs plenty of strong competition.

[slncpa]

I am searching for the same answer.  It's incredible that this has not been resolved.   Plenty of other settings that I am willing to be 99% of users don't use, but this one doesn't exist.

[parallelidentity]

I'm the one who wrote the initial post seven years ago, and I see that my co-complainers haven't complained in the last year or so. Having had a couple of very annoying encounters recently with the faulty default setting, I think it's time to rouse our supporters to again request ("demand" is such a negative word in this context) that someone fix this easily fixable (but irritatingly inconvenient) bug. And, by any definition of the word, it is a bug. Leaving out something so simple and basic is pretty amazing in this day and age. It's so simple and basic that it's almost embarrassing to call it a feature. And leaving it out certainly doesn't qualify as a feature. Did someone intentionally make this an unchangeable default? I hope no one at Adobe is that incompetent (or nasty). Does anyone's reputation or career rest on the maintenance of this inconvenient silliness?  If so, they need to get a public relations manager or and/or a new career.

I'm wasting a lot of time here, just like I do on a regular basis because of this silly, useless, poorly designed, indefensible, bit of non-programming. Adobe invented the PDF, but that doesn't mean they're not subject to criticism, and it doesn't mean they can rest on their laurels. Being on top of the software world just makes you a a more visible target for the next generation of developers. Is Adobe (the software) like adobe (the building material)? Is everything baked in and unchangeable? That's going to be a problem down the road. This particular issue is not going to destroy Adobe, but the attitude behind it might. Get your act together, or someone is going to eat your lunch (and dinner, and the next day's breakfast).

Thank you for letting me vent. This was almost fun. Certainly more fun than fixing the mistake I made this morning because of the mistake Adobe made way back when and refuses to correct.

[Dave.Cox]

I agree. I also reported this issue in 2018, and here we are, still with no solution, even though nearly everything else in the interface has changed and been moved all around.

[Dave.Cox]

I believe that I've finally found what, for me at least, is a solution to this issue.

1. At the top of the page, click "Create A PDF"
2. From the Create a PDF page, click "Scanner"
3. Click the Gear icon next to "My Custom Settings"
4. You can change any settings that you like, or just use the current settings and then click "Scan"
5. When the page is scanned, the new document will open in a new tab. From here you can either save the document, or insert new pages to add pages and then save.
6. Close the tab for the document that you just saved. The New document tag remains open, and all you have to do to start a new scan is click the "Scan" button at the bottom. You may keep or change any of the settings. Keep doing this until you've scanned all of the documents that you need to scan.