How to Display Hidden Text in Acrobat Comment and Sticky Note Pop-Ups
Question details
The user needs to reveal text within Adobe Acrobat highlights and sticky notes that becomes obscured by overlapping quick-action controls.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Viewing and interacting with text comments, highlights, and sticky notes in a PDF document.
- Observed behavior
- The text associated with a sticky note or highlight is hidden, often failing to appear on hover or being covered by a quick-action trash can icon.
Save your current PDF document to prevent any accidental data loss before modifying your application's core display and commenting preferences.
Adjust Acrobat Commenting Preferences
Modify Acrobat's commenting settings to automatically open pop-ups and copy selected text, ensuring annotation contents are properly displayed on hover.
Acrobat's default settings might not automatically display pop-up notes for highlighted text, causing the content to appear missing.
Launch Adobe Acrobat and navigate to Edit > Preferences from the top menu.
Click on 'Commenting' from the Categories list located on the left pane.
Check the box for 'Automatically open pop-ups on mouse rollover'.
Check the box for 'Copy selected text into Highlight, Strikethrough, Underline, and Replace Text comment pop-ups'.
Click 'OK' to save the settings, then restart Adobe Acrobat and hover over your annotation to test the pop-up.
Disable Quick Actions on Text Selection
Turn off the quick action pop-up to prevent the trash-can icon and other formatting tools from overlapping your sticky note text.
View and Manage PDF Comments Seamlessly with WPS Office
If overlapping pop-ups and hidden text issues in your current PDF reader interrupt your workflow, try WPS Office. Its intuitive PDF reader and editor provide a clean interface for reviewing annotations, highlights, and sticky notes without visual clutter.
- 1. Open your PDF: Launch WPS Office and open your PDF document.
- 2. Access the Comment Tab: Navigate to the 'Comment' tab located on the top ribbon menu.
- 3. View the Comment List: Click the 'Comment List' pane to view all highlights and sticky notes neatly organized on the side, completely avoiding pop-up overlaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a trash can icon cover my PDF comments?
This happens due to Acrobat's 'Quick Actions' feature, which automatically displays formatting and deletion options when you select text or an annotation. You can disable this in the General preferences to stop the overlap.
How do I make my sticky notes stay open permanently in Acrobat?
You can simply double-click the sticky note icon on the PDF page to keep its pop-up window locked open, allowing you to read it without keeping your mouse hovering over it.
Are PDF comments added in Acrobat visible in other PDF readers?
Yes, standard PDF annotations, including highlights and sticky notes, are saved natively within the document structure and can be viewed properly in other compatible PDF software like WPS Office.
