How to Remove Tools Pane Sidebar from Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

Tired of removing the Tools Pane from Acrobat Reader DC every time you open PDF documents? Here's how to remove the Tools Pane permanently.

Removing Tools Pane from Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

Acrobat Reader DC is an official software from Adobe that provides the best support for viewing PDF documents. It’s the most popular free PDF reader app, but Adobe has to promote its premium features directly into the software’s interface. One of the most annoying ones is the Tools Pane, which takes up so much space from the right sidebar of the app. When you remove or collapse the pane, it keeps showing up whenever you restart the program.

To permanently remove the Tools Pane sidebar from the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, open the program or any PDF document, go to Edit > Preferences > Documents, check the “Remember current state of Tools Pane.”, and click OK. You will need to restart the program to save the preferences. Now when you minimize or remove the Tools Pane, it will remember it and keep it minimized or removed unless you expand it again.

For more detailed directions, check the following step-by-step guides.

How to Permanently Close the Tools Pane in Acrobat Reader

To permanently remove the Tools Pane from the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC app on Windows 10 or Windows 11:

  1. Open Acrobat Reader by clicking on the app icon pinned to the Taskbar or the Desktop.Win11 - Open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
  2. Open any documents and go to Edit > Preferences, or you can press Ctrl + K.
    Acrobat Reader: Edit - Preferences
  3. Go to the “Document” section, check on the “Remember current state of Tools Pane” check box, and click “OK”.
    Adobe Reader Preferences: Documents - Remember current state of Tools Pane
  4. Restart the program to save the preferences by exiting the program and reopening it.
    Exit Acrobat Reader to Save the Preferences
  5. Now you can minimize or collapse the Tools Pane.
    Acrobat Reader: Minimizing Tools Pane
  6. When you collapsed it, restart the program again to check the result.
    Exit Acrobat Reader to Save current state of the Tools Pane
  7. When you open any PDF documents, the Tools Pane will remember its last state. It will remain collapsed or removed when you restart the program.

Now you know how to permanently collapse or remove the Tools Pane from the Acrobat Reader DC app. You will have more space to view your document without having to minimize the Tool Pane every time you open a document.

I hope it helps! If you have any questions or problems with the steps detailed in this tutorial, please let me know in the comment below.