by David R. Mankin
I've received panicked calls from dozens of Acrobat customers over the years who are certain they broke their installation of Acrobat.
"What is specifically wrong with Acrobat on your machine?" I would ask.
"It doesn't look right," they would say. "There's something missing from the top or the side."
We use programs for hours a day, and click on things over and over again without even knowing what they're called. It's not important to know what something's called to use it effectively, but when you call for tech support, the person who wants to help you needs to know what's broken!
Here are three things that appear to frequently "break" in Acrobat, and aren't really broken at all–they're just hidden and need to be restored.
- If you are viewing a PDF file, and you don't see the main menu (File, Edit, View, Document, etc.) across the top of your Acrobat interface, you are missing your Menu Bar (that's its official name). The keyboard shortcut used to toggle showing and hiding the Menu Bar is the F9 key. Odds are good that if you press F9, your missing Menu Bar will quickly come back to its rightful place at the top of your Acrobat window.
- If you attempt to click on a tool like the Save button or the Print button, and there are no tools to be found, you may want to try pressing the F8 on your keyboard (this key is a toggle that shows and hides toolbars).
- Some folks have been puzzled by missing Navigation Panels, like the Pages Panel, Bookmarks, etc. They don't even see little icons on the left side that, when clicked, spring the panels open. The easy solution to this problem is to press the F4 key on your keyboard (this displays and hides the Navigation Panel).
Knowing the correct terminology and these quick and simple keyboard shortcuts will possibly get you out of trouble, and perhaps make you look like an Acrobat wizard with your colleagues.
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Want to learn more about Adobe Acrobat? Attend Dave's live, 2-day online Acrobat class. Click here for more details.
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David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. He is an Adobe-Certified Expert in Acrobat.
Thank you very much for this post and I know it’s a temporary solution since acrobat users never want to click the shortcut key every single time in order to see the Menu Bar after opening the acorbat. My question is, what is the permanent fix for this issue, and why does it happen when I’ve never met it before.
Thank you very much for this post and I know it’s a temporary solution since acrobat users never want to click the shortcut key every single time in order to see the Menu Bar after opening the acorbat. My question is, what is the permanent fix for this issue, and why does it happen when I’ve never met it before.
Thank you very much for this post and I know it’s a temporary solution since acrobat users never want to click the shortcut key every single time in order to see the Menu Bar after opening the acorbat. My question is, what is the permanent fix for this issue, and why does it happen when I’ve never met it before.
The F9 key didn’t work for me, on my MacBook Pro. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a Mac or because it’s a laptop. Anyway, I found the answer on another forum: Command-Shift-M. Hope this helps others.
The F9 key didn’t work for me, on my MacBook Pro. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a Mac or because it’s a laptop. Anyway, I found the answer on another forum: Command-Shift-M. Hope this helps others.
The F9 key didn’t work for me, on my MacBook Pro. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a Mac or because it’s a laptop. Anyway, I found the answer on another forum: Command-Shift-M. Hope this helps others.
Perfect! Just what I was looking for (F9).
Perfect! Just what I was looking for (F9).
Perfect! Just what I was looking for (F9).
I know it’s a temporary solution since acrobat users never want to click the shortcut key every single time in order to see the Menu Bar after opening the acrobat.
I know it’s a temporary solution since acrobat users never want to click the shortcut key every single time in order to see the Menu Bar after opening the acrobat.
I know it’s a temporary solution since acrobat users never want to click the shortcut key every single time in order to see the Menu Bar after opening the acrobat.
F9! Thanks!
F9! Thanks!
F9! Thanks!
F9 key worked a treat!! Thanks for saving me untold hours of frustration when nothing else worked.
F9 key worked a treat!! Thanks for saving me untold hours of frustration when nothing else worked.
F9 key worked a treat!! Thanks for saving me untold hours of frustration when nothing else worked.
F9 didn’t work for me. I have the Open Save Print in a tool bar not in the menu bar and when I press F9 the menu bar doesn’t come back. This happened after an update. HELP!
F9 didn’t work for me. I have the Open Save Print in a tool bar not in the menu bar and when I press F9 the menu bar doesn’t come back. This happened after an update. HELP!
F9 didn’t work for me. I have the Open Save Print in a tool bar not in the menu bar and when I press F9 the menu bar doesn’t come back. This happened after an update. HELP!
Alt F8 will reset your toolbars to the install default. This should get you to a point from which you can customize your tools of you wish. If a keyboard shortcut doesn’t work, often times it’s because the proper segment of your interface is not ‘in focus’. Click with the hand too right on your pdf page. Then try the keyboard shortcuts.
Good Luck,
David
Alt F8 will reset your toolbars to the install default. This should get you to a point from which you can customize your tools of you wish. If a keyboard shortcut doesn’t work, often times it’s because the proper segment of your interface is not ‘in focus’. Click with the hand too right on your pdf page. Then try the keyboard shortcuts.
Good Luck,
David
Alt F8 will reset your toolbars to the install default. This should get you to a point from which you can customize your tools of you wish. If a keyboard shortcut doesn’t work, often times it’s because the proper segment of your interface is not ‘in focus’. Click with the hand too right on your pdf page. Then try the keyboard shortcuts.
Good Luck,
David
Shift + Command + M worked for me. This is the quick key to show/hide the menu bar.
Shift + Command + M worked for me. This is the quick key to show/hide the menu bar.
Shift + Command + M worked for me. This is the quick key to show/hide the menu bar.