General

By Cynthia, 11 November, 2025

General

The General Preferences setting provides options on Basic Tools, Tab Bar, Status Bar, and Application Startup, etc. 

  • Basic Tools

  1. Use single-key accelerators to access tools – Enable single-key accelerators to select some commands and perform some actions with single-key shortcuts. Please refer to Single-Key Accelerators for more details.
  2. Use fixed resolution for snapshots - Sets the resolution used to copy the image captured with the Snapshot command. Automatically uses 72 pixels as default resolution.
  3. Create links from URLs - Detects the text links in PDF documents and change the non-clickable links into clickable ones.
  4. Minimize to system tray - You can save space on your task bar by minimizing Foxit PDF Editor to the system tray. Check this selection to minimize Foxit PDF Editor to the system tray when clicking the Minimize button.
  5. Screen word-capturing - Check it to turn on this function that enables you to use your mouse to capture words inside a PDF file and have it translated if you are using dictionary software.
  6. Make Hand Tool select text - Check it to enable the Hand command to become text selection tool when moving it to the selectable content.
  7. Make Hand Tool read articles – Check it to enable the navigation of an article with the help of the pointer. After you start the article viewing mode, with the Hand tool selected, the pointer will automatically change to a Hand tool with an arrow in it when over an article thread. Then the clicks with the pointer will follow the article thread, making the article navigation effective. See also View articles. The option is checked by default. 
  8. Make Hand Tool use mouse–wheel zooming – Select this option to zoom through documents while scrolling using the mouse wheel. This option is useful for users to browse large drawings.  
  9. Enable middle mouse button to auto scroll – This option is checked by default, which allows you to activate the auto-scroll feature by pressing the middle mouse button. If you have assigned the middle mouse button for other functions, uncheck this option to disable the feature.
  10. Collapse the Search box by default: Check this option to collapse the Search box on the title bar and display it as a Search icon at the top right corner of the application window.
  11. Show floating bar when selecting text – Enable this option to show the floating toolbar when selecting text in PDFs. The toolbar provides quick access to functions like copying text, adding text markup, creating bookmarks, and more. 

  • Tab Bar

  1. Max tab size: Allows you to specify a maximum tab size.

  2. Double-click to close Tab: Checking this option allows you to close tabs by double-clicking. 

  3. Use recent order when switching tabs with Ctrl + Tab: In multi-tab reading, use Ctrl + Tab to switch through open tabs in recent order you viewed them. With the option unselected, using Ctrl + Tab to switch the tabs in the order they appear in the application window.

  4. Quickly switch between tabs by using mouse wheel: In multi-tab reading, switch through open tabs by scrolling the mouse in the tab bar. Scroll up to the previous tab, and down to the next tab.

  • Status Bar

  1. Auto-hide Status Bar – Hides the status bar when opening a PDF, and enables it to float at the bottom of the page only when the cursor is moved to the bottom.

  2. Show scroll lock button: Displays the scroll lock icons in the status bar. 

  • Notification Messages

    Notification messages appear at the top right corner of the document pane when you work with interactive PDF forms, PDF/A files, or PDF files under shared review or email review, etc. You can configure the notification message settings as required: 

  1. Show the message which affects the next step: Specify whether or not to show the procedure-related notification messages which usually contain action buttons for you to move forward to the next step. This option is checked by default. And it is recommended to keep the option checked so that you can work on documents during OCR, Shared Review, or Email Review normally. 

  2. Show the notification related message: Specify whether or not to show the notification related messages which inform you that a PDF file contains such elements as interactive form fields, 3D contents, etc. 

  3. Show PDF/A message again: Specify whether or not to show the message when opening a PDF/A document. 

Tip: You can also change the notification message settings by clicking the gear icon   on the message shown on the document pane. The changes of settings you made in the notification message will be applied accordingly in the Notification Message preferences. 

  • User Experience Improvement 

    You can select or deselect the Help improve user experience option to turn on or off data collection. The collected data will be used solely for the purpose of enhancing user experiences and improving services. Selecting or deselecting this option will not affect any functions in Foxit PDF Editor.

  • Features which Require Internet Connection

    Specify whether to disable all features that require an Internet connection. The setting will take effect after you restart the application.

  • Application Startup

  1. Show Start page: Check this option to show the start page when running Foxit PDF Editor.

  2. Show Advertisement: Check this option to show the latest promotion offering from Foxit. 

  3. Launch in debug mode: This option is unchecked by default. Checking this option will enable Foxit PDF Editor to be launched in debug mode and a log file will be generated during your operation. The log file will be saved in “%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Foxit Software\Continuous\Foxit PDF Editor\Log”. (For Foxit PDF Editor Perpetual Release, the log file will be saved in “%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Foxit Software\Classic\Foxit PDF Editor\Log”.) When you encounter issues while using Foxit PDF Editor, you can send the log file to Foxit and the log file will be used for checking and solving your issues only.

  4. Hide My Apps: Check this option to hide the My Apps button shown at the top right corner of Foxit PDF Editor.

  5. Automatically restart the application with all tabs restored: Specify whether to restart the application automatically with all tabs restored on the next startup of your system if the application has been closed unexpectedly in the last session. This option is checked by default.

  6. Disable AI Assistant: The AI Assistant within Foxit PDF Editor offers the AI-driven features that help increase productivity and streamline document processing. You can easily toggle the AI Assistant feature on or off by deselecting or selecting the Disable AI Assistant option. (Available in Subscription Releases)

  7. Disable Support Center: The Support Center within Foxit PDF Editor functions as an AI-powered support tool and can provide answers to user queries and offer instructions on various application features based on Foxit resources, such as Foxit Knowledge Base. To deactivate this tool, select the Disable Support Center option.

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