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Hobbes0022
Known Participant
November 3, 2020
Answered

FrameMaker 2020: can't get rid of welcome screen

  • November 3, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 3176 views

I don't like visual noise, so I want to disable the welcome screen. I found this post which outlines an addition to the maker.ini file to disable the welcome screen.

 

But it doesn't seem to be working: every time I open FrameMaker, the Welcome Screen is displayed. Even when I double-click a .fm file to open Frame, an extra tab is added for the welcome screen.

 

Preferences->Global->General contains a setting "show tabbed welcome screen". I've unchecked this, but the next time I start Frame this preference is checked again.

 

I cannot emphasize this enough: I don't use the welcome screen. I don't want to see the welcome screen.

FM version 16.0.0.754

      Correct answer Stefan Gentz

      Why do you not want to see the welcome screen? It provides a lot of functionality, some of them not being available otherwise (like "Restore Last Session") or showing if a FrameMaker Update is available. 

       

      The "ShowTabbedWelcomeScreen" flag in the maker.ini only controls, if the Welcome Screen also shows up as a file tab if a document is open.

       

      If you want to completely hide the welcome screen, do the following:

      1. Close FrameMaker, and then open the maker.ini located in your user profile:
        %appdata%\Adobe\FrameMaker\16\maker.ini
      2. Add DontShowWelcomeScreen=On in the [Preferences] section.
      3. Save the maker.ini file.
      4. Restart FrameMaker.

      FrameMaker will not show the Welcome screen now.

       

      Note, that FrameMaker saves all current session settings in the user maker.ini when you close FrameMaker. Therefore, make sure to edit it after you have closed FrameMaker. 

      3 replies

      L
      lesliec14995818
      Participant
      August 5, 2025

      The easiest way by far and you don't need admin rights; open framemaker, go to the Edit tab and click on Preferences. Uncheck the Show Tabbed welcome screen. Close the preference screen and now open your FM files or books.

      NO welcome screen! Easy peasy.

        A
        amol_9723
        Participant
        August 5, 2025

        It is very helpful for bypassing admin process 

        S
        Community Manager
        Stefan GentzCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
        Community Manager
        November 3, 2020

        Why do you not want to see the welcome screen? It provides a lot of functionality, some of them not being available otherwise (like "Restore Last Session") or showing if a FrameMaker Update is available. 

         

        The "ShowTabbedWelcomeScreen" flag in the maker.ini only controls, if the Welcome Screen also shows up as a file tab if a document is open.

         

        If you want to completely hide the welcome screen, do the following:

        1. Close FrameMaker, and then open the maker.ini located in your user profile:
          %appdata%\Adobe\FrameMaker\16\maker.ini
        2. Add DontShowWelcomeScreen=On in the [Preferences] section.
        3. Save the maker.ini file.
        4. Restart FrameMaker.

        FrameMaker will not show the Welcome screen now.

         

        Note, that FrameMaker saves all current session settings in the user maker.ini when you close FrameMaker. Therefore, make sure to edit it after you have closed FrameMaker. 

          R
          Russ Ward
          Legend
          March 19, 2021

          Hi Stefan, you didn't ask for my opinion, but I wanted to add that I dislike the welcome screen too. It has nothing of value to me and it just takes up a tab space where a document could be. And it always comes back during a session. I appreciate the instructions on how to disable it.

           

          Russ

            4everJang
            4everJang
            Legend
            December 14, 2021

            Our content creators actually like the WelcomeScreen. Granted, in our case, we've modified the welcomescreen.html file to remove all the Adobe 'fluff' and replaced the content with stuff that's relevant/useful for our content creators:

            This saves them from having to search for the specific FM template they need to use to create content.


            With a bit of extra coding (ExtendScript, Javascript and HTML), I created a welcome screen that lists the documents to be edited by the authors. Once a document is marked as done, it will no longer show up. All of the entires are handled by a database somewhere on the intranet. Of course this takes more than just a couple of entries in the maker.ini or a fixed HTML page to replace the existing welcome screen, but it does make the screen into an asset rather than a nuisance.

              Jeff_Coatsworth
              Community Expert
              Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              November 3, 2020

              Check both maker.ini files to see if the entry is present in both - the User profile one should override the Program Files one if the line is present in both.
              But the fact that your preferences aren't being saved indicates that you may have a rights issue to be able to write the changes. Check your access & make sure you have full admin rights. 

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