Tools on the Select & Zoom toolbar can change the magnification of PDF documents. Only some of these tools appear on the default view of the toolbar. You can see all the tools by right-clicking the Select & Zoom toolbar and choosing either individual tools, Show All Select & Zoom Tools.

A. Marquee Zoom tool B. Continuous Zoom tool C. Zoom Out button D. Zoom In button E. Zoom Value menu button F. Actual Size button G. Fit Width button H. Zoom To Page Level button I. Pan & Zoom tool J. Loupe tool
- The Marquee Zoom tool works in a few different ways. You can use it to drag a rectangle around a portion of the page that you want to fill the viewing area. Or, simply clicking the Marquee Zoom tool increases the magnification by one preset level, centering on the point where you clicked. To decrease the magnification by one preset level, Ctrl-click the Marquee Zoom tool.
- The Continuous Zoom or Dynamic tool zooms in when you drag it up the page and it zooms out when you drag down. If you use a mouse wheel, this tool zooms in when you roll forward and zooms out when you roll backward.
- Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons change the document magnification by preset levels.
- The Zoom Value option changes the page view according to a percentage you type in or select from a pop-up menu.
- Actual Size displays the page at 100% magnification.
- Fit Width adjusts the magnification so that the PDF fills the document pane horizontally.
- Zoom To Page Level adjusts the magnification so that one page fills the document pane vertically.
- The Pan & Zoom tool adjusts the magnification and position of the view area to match the area in an adjustable rectangle in the Pan & Zoom window’s thumbnail view of the page.
- The Loupe Tool window displays a magnified portion of the PDF that matches the area in an adjustable rectangle on the document pane.
- To resize the page to fit entirely in the document pane, choose View > Zoom > Zoom To Page Level.
- To resize the page to fit the width of the window, choose View > Zoom > Fit Width. Part of the page may be out of view.
- To resize the page to fit the height of the window, choose View > Zoom > Fit Height. Part of the page may be out of view.
- To resize the page so that its text and images fit the width of the window, choose View > Zoom >Fit Visible. Part of the page may be out of view.
Note:
To see keyboard shortcuts for resizing the document, open the View > Zoom menu.
-
Click the Zoom In button
or the Zoom Out button
in the toolbar.
Enter a magnification percentage in the Common Tools toolbar, either by typing or choosing from the pop-up menu.
Drag the Marquee Zoom tool
to define the area of the page that you want to fill the document pane. (View > Zoom > Marquee Zoom)
Drag the Continuous Zoom tool (also called Dynamic Zoom)
up to increase the magnification and down to decrease magnification. (View > Show/Hide > Toolbar Items > Select & Zoom > Dynamic Zoom)
Note:
When the Marquee Zoom tool is selected, you can Ctrl-click or Ctrl-drag to zoom out. Holding down Shift switches temporarily from the Marquee Zoom tool to the Dynamic Zoom tool.
-
Drag the handles of the box in the Pan & Zoom window to change the document magnification.
Drag the center of the box to pan across the area you want to see.
Click the navigation buttons to move to a different page.
Enter a value in the zoom text box, or click the plus
or minus
buttons to increase or decrease the magnification by preset levels.
-
Use the Loupe tool to view a magnified area of the document.
Note:
You can change the color of the Loupe tool rectangle. Click the Line Color pop-up menu in the lower-right corner of the Loupe Tool window, and select a new color.
When you zoom in to a high magnification, you may be able to see only part of a page. You can shift the view to show other areas of the page without changing the magnification level.
Changing the page layout is especially useful when you want to zoom out to get an overview of the document layout. Choose View > Page Display, and select any of the following page layouts:
Note:
If a document has more than two pages, you can ensure that the first page appears alone on the right side of the document pane. Select either Two Page View or Two Page Scrolling. Also select View > Page Display > Show Cover Page In Two Page View.

You can also display buttons for each of these options in the Quick Tools toolbar by choosing View > > Show/Hide > Toolbar Items > Page Display, and selecting them in the menu.
Note:
In Single Page View, choosing Edit >Select All selects all text on the current page. In other layouts,Select All selects all text in the PDF.
You can change the view of a page in 90-degree increments. This changes the view of the page, not its actual orientation.
To temporarily rotate the page view, choose View > Rotate View > Clockwise or Counterclockwise. You can’t save this change.
To save the rotation with the document, click the Rotate Page button
in the Quick Tools toolbar, or choose Tools > Pages > Rotate.
You specify the default initial view settings in the Preferences dialog box. (See Set preferences.)
Note:
The PDF opens with the page layout specified in Preferences unless a different page layout is specified in Document Properties (File > Properties > Initial View). The Document Properties setting overrides the Preferences setting. If using Document Properties, be sure to save and close the document for the change to take effect. Acrobat users can change the initial view, unless security settings prevent changes. Reader users cannot change the initial view.
You can view a PDF with the document pane divided into two panes (Split command) or four panes (Spreadsheet Split command).
With Split view, you can scroll, change the magnification level, or turn to a different page in the active pane without affecting the other pane.
The Spreadsheet Split view is useful if you want to keep column headings and row labels visible while scrolling through a large spreadsheet or table. In this mode, changing the magnification in one pane changes the magnification in all panes. Also, scrolling is coordinated between the panes. Scrolling a pane horizontally also scrolls the pane above or below it. Scrolling vertically also scrolls the pane to the left or right of that pane.
You can create multiple windows for the same document using the New Window command. New windows have the same size, magnification, and layout as the original window and open at the same page and on top of the original window. When you open a new window, Acrobat adds the suffix 1 to the original filename and assigns the suffix 2 to the new window. You can open multiple windows with the suffix incrementing with each new window. Closing a window causes the remaining open windows to be renumbered sequentially; that is, if you have five windows open and you close the third window that you opened, the windows are renumbered with the suffixes 1 to 4.
Note:
This feature is not available when PDFs are viewed in a browser.