Scrollbars missing in Adobe Acrobat Reader (version XI version 11, Acrobat Reader DC). Vertical scroll bar missing.
Problem:
Vertical scrollbars missing when viewing a multi-paged PDF file.
Reason:
Adobe is by default assuming you have a touch-device but I have no idea why Adobe would set this as a default. Regardless of a touch-screen, a scroll-bar is useful on any device, no matter what method is used for scrolling.
Quick Solution for current Document:
This change only affects the current viewed document. See Permanent Solution, below, for a better method.
A. Acrobat Version 11 and older:
Within Reader, top-menu, choose "View", Show-Hide,
Uncheck [ ] Touch Mode
If the top-menu is not visible, press F9.
If the "Touch Mode" option is not available, especially in newer version of
Reader (DC), see the preference setting, below.
Permanent Solution - All Documents, All Versions of Acrobat Reader:
1. Within Acrobat Reader, select Top-menu "Edit", Preferences
If the top-menu is not visible, press F9.
2. In the Left-Nav Categories section,
Choose [General]
3. In the Basic Tools detail section,
Change "Touch Mode" from "Auto Detect" to "Never"
4. In the Left-Nav, [Documents] section,
Uncheck [ ] "Allow documents to hide the menu bar, toolbars and windows controls"
Close Acrobat Reader, and re-open a pdf to test.
Other Recommended Acrobat Reader Options:
I recommend making these additional changes to Acrobat's default settings.
a. In Left-Nav [Page Display],
Set Page Layout to "Single Page".
Set Zoom to a default value, such as "85%"
(literally type the value, even if not on the pull-down selection list)
b. In [Forms], set "Auto-Complete" to "Off".
This is a security measure.
c. In [JavaScript], uncheck [ ] Enable Acrobat JavaScript.
This is a security measure and I doubt any documents you read will be impacted.
d. In [Search], change "Maximum Cache Size" from 100MB to 10MB,
Then click "Purge Cache Contents".
The default value is obscenely large.
e. In [Usage Information], consider turning off 'Yes, I would like to share anonymous..."
Hiding the Annoyingly Stupid Right-Pane tools bar:
For Acrobat versions 11 and older (this does not work for Reader DC)
1. Confirm Windows Explorer (File Explorer) shows hidden and system files
(steps not detailed here).
2. Tunnel to C:\Program
Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\Services
3. Delete
these 2 files:
DEXShare.spi
DEXEchoSign.spi
If these files are not visible, confirm Step 1.
For Acrobat Reader DC, there does not appear to be a way to hide the right navigation bar. Perhaps it is time to consider the Foxit Reader?
Related:
Keyliner Article: Time to remove Adobe Acrobat Reader
With all of the problems with Acrobat Reader, I made the change.
Absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much for your help!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Adobe should be fined by the government for these stupid design decisions.
ReplyDeleteThank you, touch mode was selected
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! This has been so frustrating!
ReplyDeleteMy thanks as well, ridiculous design.
ReplyDeleteThanks, hidden settings. grrr
ReplyDeleteThanks, as another guy said, that's a ridiculous design
ReplyDeletePerfect ! worked 100%
ReplyDeleteThis was very helpful. I appreciate the information and easy-to-follow instructions.
ReplyDeleteThanks, that was frustrating!
ReplyDeleteso easy, Thank you too
ReplyDeleteThank you! But Adobe, why the h... did you do this to me? Grrr
ReplyDeleteThanks! You explained that so effectively and simply and it worked!
ReplyDeletethanks so much, ou have done good in the world.
ReplyDeleteADOBE you have done evil.
perfect thanks! Finally my bar ia back!!
ReplyDeleteThanks it really helped.
ReplyDeleteEdit => Preferences
In the Left-Nav, [Documents] section, uncheck [ ] "Allow documents to hide the menu bar, toolbars and windows controls"
Hurray it works again!!! That was dumb of Adobe to make the vertical scrollbar disappear. Thanks for the help!!!
ReplyDeleteWorked a treat! Thankyou for taking the time to share this :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, it worked great. That was so annoying...
ReplyDeleteI want to have scroll bar permanantely like I used to have i. ... I updated adobe XI and now my scroll bar when viewing a pdf is gone on right side of doc? ...
ReplyDeleteExcellent, thank you. The adobe help was worthless on this (I searched and got nowhere), and it was driving me crazy. In retrospect it's obvious, I'm on a laptop which has a touch screen, but I would never think to use Acrobat that way, so it never would have occurred to me that this is why the scroll bar was missing. You just made my day less bad. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, good sir. Easy to do, great instructions.
ReplyDeleteWhat UX designer thought "oh, people only ever view two or three-page documents, teh scroll bar is obsolete!"... I reagularly work with documents with hundreds of pages. Thanks, you saved me exactly 20 vertical pixels by hiding the scroll bar, yet by default you insist on showing a 200+ pixel sidebar with export and comment functions that I do not need with 95 percent of documents I open.. :D
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful.. Thank you so much for this detailed info.
ReplyDeleteThank you - fixed the problem for me. Got scrollbar back! (Win7, x64bit)
ReplyDeleteWonderful. Just what the doctor ordered. Thank you so much for your clear explanation. Now Adobe and I are friends again.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the clear solution steps. It solved the problem.
ReplyDelete