User Guide Cancel

Navigating PDF pages

  1. Acrobat User Guide
  2. Introduction to Acrobat
    1. Access Acrobat from desktop, mobile, web
    2. Introducing the new Acrobat experience
    3. What's new in Acrobat
    4. Keyboard shortcuts
    5. System Requirements
  3. Workspace
    1. Workspace basics
    2. Opening and viewing PDFs
      1. Opening PDFs
      2. Navigating PDF pages
      3. Viewing PDF preferences
      4. Adjusting PDF views
      5. Enable thumbnail preview of PDFs
      6. Display PDF in browser
    3. Working with online storage accounts
      1. Access files from Box
      2. Access files from Dropbox
      3. Access files from OneDrive
      4. Access files from SharePoint
      5. Access files from Google Drive
    4. Acrobat and macOS
    5. Acrobat notifications
    6. Grids, guides, and measurements in PDFs
    7. Asian, Cyrillic, and right-to-left text in PDFs
  4. Creating PDFs
    1. Overview of PDF creation
    2. Create PDFs with Acrobat
    3. Create PDFs with PDFMaker
    4. Using the Adobe PDF printer
    5. Converting web pages to PDF
    6. Creating PDFs with Acrobat Distiller
    7. Adobe PDF conversion settings
    8. PDF fonts
  5. Editing PDFs
    1. Edit text in PDFs
    2. Edit images or objects in a PDF
    3. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
    4. Edit scanned PDFs
    5. Enhance document photos captured using a mobile camera
    6. Optimizing PDFs
    7. PDF properties and metadata
    8. Links and attachments in PDFs
    9. PDF layers
    10. Page thumbnails and bookmarks in PDFs
    11. PDFs converted to web pages
    12. Setting up PDFs for a presentation
    13. PDF articles
    14. Geospatial PDFs
    15. Applying actions and scripts to PDFs
    16. Change the default font for adding text
    17. Delete pages from a PDF
  6. Scan and OCR
    1. Scan documents to PDF
    2. Enhance document photos
    3. Troubleshoot scanner issues when scanning using Acrobat
  7. Forms
    1. PDF forms basics
    2. Create a form from scratch in Acrobat
    3. Create and distribute PDF forms
    4. Fill in PDF forms
    5. PDF form field properties
    6. Fill and sign PDF forms
    7. Setting action buttons in PDF forms
    8. Publishing interactive PDF web forms
    9. PDF form field basics
    10. PDF barcode form fields
    11. Collect and manage PDF form data
    12. About forms tracker
    13. PDF forms help
    14. Send PDF forms to recipients using email or an internal server
  8. Combining files
    1. Combine or merge files into single PDF
    2. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
    3. Add headers, footers, and Bates numbering to PDFs
    4. Crop PDF pages
    5. Add watermarks to PDFs
    6. Add backgrounds to PDFs
    7. Working with component files in a PDF Portfolio
    8. Publish and share PDF Portfolios
    9. Overview of PDF Portfolios
    10. Create and customize PDF Portfolios
  9. Sharing, reviews, and commenting
    1. Share and track PDFs online
    2. Mark up text with edits
    3. Preparing for a PDF review
    4. Starting a PDF review
    5. Hosting shared reviews on SharePoint or Office 365 sites
    6. Participating in a PDF review
    7. Add comments to PDFs
    8. Adding a stamp to a PDF
    9. Approval workflows
    10. Managing comments | view, reply, print
    11. Importing and exporting comments
    12. Tracking and managing PDF reviews
  10. Saving and exporting PDFs
    1. Saving PDFs
    2. Convert PDF to Word
    3. Convert PDF to PPTX
    4. Convert PDF to XLSX or XML
    5. Convert PDF to JPG
    6. Convert PDF to PNG
    7. Convert or export PDFs to other file formats
    8. File format options for PDF export
    9. Reusing PDF content
  11. Security
    1. Enhanced security setting for PDFs
    2. Securing PDFs with passwords
    3. Manage Digital IDs
    4. Securing PDFs with certificates
    5. Opening secured PDFs
    6. Removing sensitive content from PDFs
    7. Setting up security policies for PDFs
    8. Choosing a security method for PDFs
    9. Security warnings when a PDF opens
    10. Securing PDFs with Adobe Experience Manager
    11. Protected View feature for PDFs
    12. Overview of security in Acrobat and PDFs
    13. JavaScripts in PDFs as a security risk
    14. Attachments as security risks
    15. Allow or block links in PDFs
  12. Electronic signatures
    1. Sign PDF documents
    2. Capture your signature on mobile and use it everywhere
    3. Send documents for e-signatures
    4. Create a web form
    5. Request e-signatures in bulk
    6. Collect online payments
    7. Brand your account
    8. About certificate signatures
    9. Certificate-based signatures
    10. Validating digital signatures
    11. Adobe Approved Trust List
    12. Manage trusted identities
  13. Printing
    1. Basic PDF printing tasks
    2. Print Booklets and PDF Portfolios
    3. Advanced PDF print settings
    4. Print to PDF
    5. Printing color PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
    6. Printing PDFs in custom sizes
  14. Accessibility, tags, and reflow
    1. Create and verify PDF accessibility
    2. Accessibility features in PDFs
    3. Reading Order tool for PDFs
    4. Reading PDFs with reflow and accessibility features
    5. Edit document structure with the Content and Tags panels
    6. Creating accessible PDFs
    7. Cloud-based auto-tagging
  15. Searching and indexing
    1. Creating PDF indexes
    2. Searching PDFs
  16. Multimedia and 3D models
    1. Add audio, video, and interactive objects to PDFs
    2. Adding 3D models to PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
    3. Displaying 3D models in PDFs
    4. Interacting with 3D models
    5. Measuring 3D objects in PDFs
    6. Setting 3D views in PDFs
    7. Enable 3D content in PDF
    8. Adding multimedia to PDFs
    9. Commenting on 3D designs in PDFs
    10. Playing video, audio, and multimedia formats in PDFs
    11. Add comments to videos
  17. Print production tools (Acrobat Pro)
    1. Print production tools overview
    2. Printer marks and hairlines
    3. Previewing output
    4. Transparency flattening
    5. Color conversion and ink management
    6. Trapping color
  18. Preflight (Acrobat Pro)
    1. PDF/X-, PDF/A-, and PDF/E-compliant files
    2. Preflight profiles
    3. Advanced preflight inspections
    4. Preflight reports
    5. Viewing preflight results, objects, and resources
    6. Output intents in PDFs
    7. Correcting problem areas with the Preflight tool
    8. Automating document analysis with droplets or preflight actions
    9. Analyzing documents with the Preflight tool
    10. Additional checks in the Preflight tool
    11. Preflight libraries
    12. Preflight variables
  19. Color management
    1. Keeping colors consistent
    2. Color settings
    3. Color-managing documents
    4. Working with color profiles
    5. Understanding color management

Before you begin

We're rolling out a new, more intuitive product experience. If the screen shown here doesn’t match your product interface, select help for your current experience.

In the new experience, the tools appear on the left side of the screen.

Navigate through pages

To navigate efficiently through a PDF document in Acrobat Reader, you have various options. Here are the commonly used methods:

  1. Next and Previous: The Page Navigation toolbar includes the Up and Down arrows to navigate through the pages. You can also type a page number in the interactive text box to go directly to that page.

  2. Scroll bars: Vertical and horizontal scroll bars appear on the document pane when the entire document isn't visible. You can use the arrows or drag the scroll bars to view different pages or areas of the page.

  3. Select & zoom toolbar: This toolbar contains buttons and controls for changing the page magnification. It allows you to adjust the zoom level for better readability.

  4. Page thumbnails panel: To display the page thumbnails panel, select the Page Thumbnails button from the right toolbar By selecting a page thumbnail, you can jump to that page in the document pane.

Note:

If you don't see these items, select the hamburger menu  > View (Windows), or View (macOS), then select Show/Hide > Side panels.

Use additional navigation methods

You may also navigate via the following navigation methods:

  • Select the Previous Page or Next Page buttons in the toolbar.
  • Select the hamburger menu  > View (Windows) or View (macOS), then select Navigation > [location].
  • Select the hamburger menu  > View (Windows) or View (macOS), then select > Navigation > Go to page, enter the page number in the Go To Page dialog box, and select OK.
  • Use the Page Up and Page Down keys on the keyboard.

Navigate bookmarked pages

To retrace your viewing path or jump to bookmarked pages, you can:

  • Use the Previous View and Next View options in the hamburger menu  > View (Windows) or View (macOS), then select
    > Page navigation.
  • From the right panel, select the Bookmark button and then select the desired bookmark.

Note: If you don't see the bookmarks icon in the right panel, go to the hamburger menu  > View (Windows) or View (macOS), then select > Show/Hide > Side panels. Then, select Bookmarks to access bookmarks and navigate through them.

Depending on the PDF you open, you have to move forward through multiple pages, see different parts of the page, or change the magnification. There are many ways to navigate, but the following items are commonly used:

view-menu

Automatically scroll through a document

Automatic scrolling advances your view of the PDF at a steady rate, moving vertically down the document. If you interrupt the process by using the scroll bars to move back or forward to another page or position, automatic scrolling continues from that point forward. At the end of the PDF, automatic scrolling stops and doesn’t begin again until you choose automatic scrolling again.

To automatically scroll through a document, follow these steps:

  1. Select the hamburger menu   > View (Windows) or View (macOS), then select > Page display > Automatically scroll.
  2. Press Esc to stop scrolling.

Retrace your viewing path

You can find PDF pages that you viewed earlier by retracing your viewing path. It’s helpful to understand the difference between previous and next pages and previous and next views.

  • Previous and next pages refer to two adjacent pages, before and after the currently active page.
  • Previous and next views refer to your viewing history. For example, if you jump forward and backward in a document, your viewing history retraces those steps, showing you the pages you viewed in the reverse order that you viewed them.
  1. Select up and down arrows from the bottom toolbars in the right panel.

    Or, select the hamburger menu  > View (Windows) or View (macOS), then select > Page navigation > Previous view.

  2. To continue on your navigation path, select the hamburger menu  > View (Windows) or View (macOS), then select > Page navigation > Next view.

Navigate with links

Links can take you to another location in the current document, to other PDF documents, or to websites. Clicking a link can also open file attachments and play 3D content, movies, and sound clips. To play these media clips, you must have the appropriate hardware and software installed.

The person who created the PDF document determines what links look like in the PDF.

Note:

Unless a link was created in Acrobat using the Link tool, you must have the Create Links From URLs option selected in the General preferences for a link to work correctly.

  1. Choose the Select tool.
  2. Position the pointer over the linked area on the page until the pointer changes to the hand with a pointing finger. A plus sign (+) or a w appears within the hand if the link points to the web. Then click the link.

Open PDFs with file attachments

If you open a PDF that has one or more attached files, the Attachments panel automatically opens, listing the attached files. You can open these files for viewing, edit the attachments, and save your changes, as permitted by the document authors.

If you move the PDF to a new location, the attachments automatically move with it.

Open and navigate an article thread

In PDFs, articles are optional electronic threads that the PDF author defines within that PDF. Articles lead readers through the PDF content, jumping over pages or areas of the page that are not included in the article. It’s the same way that you skim through a traditional newspaper or magazine, following one specific story and ignoring the rest. When you read an article, the page view zooms in or out so that the current part of the article fills the screen.

When reading an article thread within a PDF, you can:

  1. Select the Hand tool on the Common Tools toolbar.
  2. To display the Articles button in the right panel, select the hamburger menu  > View (Windows) or View (macOS), then select > Show/Hide > Side panels > Articles.
  3. Double-click the Article icon to begin reading the article.
  4. To navigate the article thread, use Enter, Shift-click, Shift+Enter, or Ctrl-click .
  5. To exit the article thread before reaching the end, ensure that the Hand tool is selected and then press Shift+Ctrl-click on the keyboard. It restores the previous page view.

By utilizing these navigation features in Acrobat Reader, you can easily move through pages, access bookmarks, use page thumbnails, enable automatic scrolling, and follow article threads to enhance your reading experience.

 Adobe

Get help faster and easier

New user?

Adobe MAX 2024

Adobe MAX
The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Adobe MAX

The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Adobe MAX 2024

Adobe MAX
The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Adobe MAX

The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online