How to Customize a PDF's Default View in Acrobat Pro

Written by Rain Kengly

Last Updated: October 25, 2022

Do you want Adobe Acrobat Professional to open PDFs in your desired layout, size, and zoom level? You can easily do this by customizing the opening view. You'll be able to change your Preferences within the application to open all PDF files with a custom page size and zoom percentage. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat as your default PDF viewer, you can easily do so in a few simple steps. This wikiHow will show you how to change the opening view of PDF documents and how to set Acrobat as the default PDF viewer on your Windows and Mac computer.

Things You Should Know

To set the opening view, click "Edit", then "Preferences". Use the "Page Display" tab to input your settings.
When setting Acrobat as the default program on Windows, right-click a PDF, click "Properties", then "Change".
On Mac, control-click a PDF, then click "Get Info" and "Open With".

Section 1 of 3:

Set Default Opening View

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1
Open Adobe Acrobat. You can also open any PDF document as long as your default PDF program is Adobe Acrobat.^{[1]
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- If needed, you can install Adobe Acrobat.
2
Click Edit on the top toolbar. This will open a drop-down menu.
- You can also use the toolbar to activate the dark theme.
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You can find this on the bottom of the drop-down menu, underneath Manage Tools. A new window will open.
4
Navigate to the Page Display tab. Page Display will be in the left toolbar, underneath Categories.
- This page may be open by default.
5
Customize the "Default Layout and Zoom". You can change the Page Layout and Zoom.^{[2]
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- To customize the Page Layout, click the drop-down menu and select between Automatic, Single Page, Single Page Continuous, Two-Up, or Two-Up Continuous.
- To customize the Zoom, click the drop-down menu and select a percentage from 0% to 6400%.
  - Alternatively, double-click the percentage and manually input the Zoom percentage you'd like.
6
Continue to customize. This is optional.
- You can customize Resolution, Rendering, Page Content and Information, and Reference XObjects View Mode.
- You can also rotate pages in a PDF.
7
Click OK. This will save your settings.
- When you use Acrobat Reader to open PDFs, your default preferences will be in effect.
- Adobe Acrobat can be used to edit text in PDFs.

Section 2 of 3:

Make Acrobat the Default PDF App (Windows)

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1
Right-click the thumbnail of a PDF file. This can be any PDF file you have.^{[3]
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- A new menu will open.
This will be located at the bottom of the menu.
3
Click Change. You will see Opens with: with the default program. In most cases, the default will be Microsoft Edge.
- You must be using an administrator account to change these settings.
4
Select Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader. This depends on your applications.
- If you have both Acrobat and Acrobat Reader, select Adobe Acrobat.
- If you only have Acrobat Reader, select Adobe Acrobat Reader.
You will be returned to the Properties window.
6
Click OK on the "Properties" window.
- PDF files will now open in Acrobat Reader or Acrobat.

Section 3 of 3:

Make Acrobat the Default PDF App (Mac)

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This can be any PDF file you have.
This will open a menu.
A new window will open with more information.
You will see a list of all supported applications.
5
Select Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader. This depends on your applications.
- If you have both Acrobat and Acrobat Reader, select Adobe Acrobat.
- If you only have Acrobat Reader, select Adobe Acrobat Reader.
6
Click Change All…. You can find this below the Open with… drop-down menu, but above Preview:.
- A dialogue box will appear.
This will confirm that you want to open PDF documents using Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Community Q&A

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Question

Why doesn't my PDF viewer have an "Initial View" tab?

Community Answer

You are probably using PDF reader, you need to use Adobe Acrobat Pro.

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Can I make it also open in a specific part of the page?

Community Answer

Yes. When you are creating the bookmark, have the page positioned where you want it to show, then just save it.

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Tips

To resize the page to fit in the document pane, click View → Zoom → Zoom To Fit Page.

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To show the actual size for a PDF page, click View → Zoom → Actual Size.

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To hide all toolbars and task panes when viewing a PDF, open Read Mode with View → Read Mode.

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