Policy
Last updated on
Oct 1, 2025
Use the browser-managed storage schema to create feature flags that turn on or off features in the Acrobat extension through registry settings.
Adobe Acrobat includes features that improve productivity and user experience. However, enterprise environments often may need more control over feature availability and interface behavior. The administrators configure Group Policies to manage Acrobat settings to ensure a streamlined and compliant deployment across the organization:
Turn off the What’s New auto-open in the Acrobat extension
When the Acrobat extension is updated, the What’s New page may open automatically in users’ browsers, highlighting new features and changes. Administrators can follow step-by-step instructions for disabling the auto-opening of the What’s New page in the Acrobat extension.
Pin the Acrobat extension in the browser toolbar
Chrome provides an admin policy called toolbar_pin that can be set via registry or admin policy. See the table below for details:
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Description |
|---|---|
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toolbar_pin |
Controls if the Acrobat extension icon is pinned to the toolbar.
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For more information, see Google Chrome support.
Configuring Chrome browser policy
To pin the Acrobat extension, apply the toolbar_pin policy in Chrome by adding it to the registry in Windows:
On macOS, add the following to the property list (plist):
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <key>com.google.Chrome.extensions.efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj</key> |
For more information, see Chrome Enterprise Policies.
Turn off generative AI features in Acrobat extension
A system administrator can set up Group Policies to preconfigure the Acrobat extension for all users in an organization. These policies are accessible through the storage.managed API. The Acrobat extension uses the storage.managed_schema property, which points to a file within the extension containing the policy schema.
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{ |
Here’s an example of how to turn off the generative AI features in your organisation.
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{ "type": "object", } |
Turn on or turn off Acrobat extension using Group Policy
An administrator can configure the following policies to turn on or turn off the generative AI features supported in the schema.json file.
Steps for Windows
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Press Windows + R, type regedit, and select OK.
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Navigate to the Registry key specific to your browser:
- For Edge: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\3rdparty\extensions\elhekieabhbkpmcefcoobjddigjcaadp\policy
- For Chrome: HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\3rdparty\extensions\efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj\policy
- For Chromium:
HKLM\Software\Policies\Chromium\3rdparty\extensions\efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj\policy
NoteFor the Chromium browser, you can also use HKEY_CURRENT_USER instead of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive.
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Create a new string key named DisableGenAI and set its value to true.
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Close the registry editor.
Your policy is now configured. You can verify it on the Policies page for Chrome.
Steps for macOS
You can set policies for the extension through MCX preferences, either for the Chrome bundle at com.google.Chrome.extensions.efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj or the Chromium bundle at org.chromium.Chromium.extensions.efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj.
Do the following:
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Create a plist file with the following configuration and import it using dscl:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>com.google.Chrome.extensions.efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj</key>
<dict>
<key>DisableGenAI</key>
<dict>
<key>state</key>
<string>always</string>
<key>value</key>
<string>true</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>
Details:
- The first key identifies the bundle ID for configuration.
- Each policy links to its metadata first, with its setting noted under the "value" key.
- The "state" key in MCX preferences determines the enforcement frequency of the policy; setting this to "always" maintains the policy continuously.
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Import the configuration using the command below. Replace 'admin_username' with a valid administrator username and 'configuration.plist' with the path to your plist file.
$ dscl -u admin_username /Local/Default -mcximport /Computers/local_computer configuration.plist
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(Optional) If you get an "invalid path" error, set up a node for the local computer in dscl before importing. Use the following commands in Terminal:
$ GUID=uuidgen
$ ETHER=$(ifconfig en0 | awk '/ether/ {print $2}')
$ dscl -u admin_username /Local/Default -create /Computers/local_computer
$ dscl -u admin_username /Local/Default -create /Computers/local_computer RealName "Local Computer"
$ dscl -u admin_username /Local/Default -create /Computers/local_computer GeneratedUID $GUID
$ dscl -u admin_username /Local/Default -create /Computers/local_computer ENetAddress $ETHER
After running the commands, re-import the configuration with this command:
$ dscl -u admin_username /Local/Default -mcximport /Computers/local_computer configuration.plist
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Run the command sudo mcxrefresh -n username to apply changes immediately.
Note
For Chrome users, policies like Managed Bookmarks are loaded within 10 seconds or immediately upon selecting Reload policies in chrome://policy/. For detailed setup, visit Chromium Policy Configuration.
Disabling the Acrobat welcome PDF from opening in a new browser tab
After you add the Acrobat extension to the browser, the welcome PDF opens in a new tab. Administrators can use the browser-managed storage schema to create feature flags to turn on or off this feature by setting policies in the Registry. For detailed steps, see Disable the Acrobat welcome PDF from opening in a new browser tab.
