Fix Adobe Acrobat Square Comment Tool Disappearing or Not Drawing
Question details
The user is unable to draw rectangle annotations because the Square comment tool becomes invisible on hover and the cursor disappears.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
- Device & OS
- Windows, macOS
- Scenario
- Attempting to add a square or rectangle comment to highlight or annotate a section within a PDF document.
- Observed behavior
- When hovering over the Square tool in the comment toolbar, the icon becomes invisible. Furthermore, when trying to draw on the document, the cursor completely disappears, preventing the creation of the shape.
Make sure your current PDF file is not restricted by security settings that prevent commenting, and save any unsaved work before proceeding with application repairs.
Update and Repair Adobe Acrobat Installation
Installing the latest patches and running the built-in repair tool can fix rendering glitches and restore missing toolbars.
Software bugs related to UI elements disappearing are frequently patched in routine updates. Repairing the installation ensures no core application files are missing or corrupted.
Open Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, navigate to the 'Help' menu at the top, and select 'Check for Updates'. Follow the on-screen prompts to install the latest version.
If updating doesn't fix the issue, go back to the 'Help' menu and click 'Repair Installation'. Wait for the process to complete.
Close Adobe Acrobat completely and restart your computer to ensure the repaired registry keys and updated files take effect.
Reset Acrobat Preferences to Default
Resetting the preference files resolves issues caused by corrupted user settings that make tools invisible.
Test with a New User Profile
Creating a clean system profile isolates the issue to determine if deeper OS-level account corruption is interfering with Acrobat.
Draw Square Comments Easily in WPS PDF
If Adobe Acrobat keeps hiding your tools or experiencing cursor glitches, WPS Office offers a highly stable, free PDF editor. You can easily add shapes, text boxes, and highlights to your PDF documents without facing display errors.
- 1. Open Your PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and click 'Open' to select the PDF document you wish to annotate.
- 2. Navigate to Comment Tools: Click on the 'Comment' tab located in the top navigation ribbon to reveal the annotation toolbar.
- 3. Select the Shape Tool: Click the 'Shapes' dropdown icon and choose the Rectangle or Square shape.
- 4. Draw on Your Document: Click and drag across your document to seamlessly draw the square. You can adjust the border color, fill, and opacity from the properties panel on the right.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my cursor disappear when I select the Square tool in Acrobat?
This is typically caused by a corrupted user preference file or a display rendering glitch in an outdated version of Adobe Acrobat. Resetting preferences or updating the app usually resolves it.
Does the 'Repair Installation' option delete my PDF files?
No. The 'Repair Installation' feature only scans and fixes corrupted application files and missing registry entries for Adobe Acrobat. Your personal PDF documents and data will remain completely untouched.
How do I draw a perfect square instead of a rectangle in a PDF?
In most PDF editors, including Adobe Acrobat and WPS Office, you can draw a perfect square by holding down the 'Shift' key on your keyboard while clicking and dragging the rectangle shape tool.
Can I use an alternative software if Acrobat tools remain invisible?
Yes. If Acrobat continues to experience profile-specific errors, you can open your PDF in alternative software like WPS Office, which provides a full suite of shape and commenting tools that are highly compatible with standard PDF files.
