I would like to report a minor issue I encountered with the tab order of form fields in PDF-XChange Editor.
[Issue Description]
When multiple form fields on the same page have exactly the same field name, pressing the Tab key moves the focus only to the first field. The subsequent fields with the same name are skipped entirely.
The same behavior occurs regardless of the selected Tab Order setting. However, it is especially noticeable when "Use Widget Order" or "Use Annotations' Array Order" is selected in the Page Properties, because in those modes I would expect the tab focus to follow the individual widgets or annotations on the page, rather than skipping visible fields only because they share the same field name.
[Comparison with Adobe Acrobat]
In Adobe Acrobat, the tab focus moves correctly through all fields on the page according to the configured tab order, regardless of whether the field names are unique or identical.
[Expected Behavior]
When navigating a page with the Tab key, I would expect the focus to move through each visible form field widget that is reachable according to the selected Tab Order setting. This should also apply when multiple visible widgets share the same field name.
In particular, with "Use Widget Order" or "Use Annotations' Array Order", the current behavior seems difficult to reconcile with the fact that the skipped controls are separate visible widgets or annotations on the page. From a user's perspective, they appear to be distinct tab targets, so skipping the second and subsequent widgets with the same field name makes keyboard navigation unreliable for forms that intentionally use duplicated field names.
[Steps to Reproduce]
- Create a text field on a page.
- Open the "Create Multiple Copies of Fields" dialog, select "Use the same names," and create several copies of the field with the same field name.
- Test the Tab Order options in the Page Properties, including "Use Widget Order" and "Use Annotations' Array Order."
- For each setting, open the PDF in PDF-XChange Editor and navigate through the fields using the Tab key.
- Observe that the focus skips the second and subsequent fields with the same name.
- Save the file in PDF-XChange Editor.
- Open the PDF saved in Step 6 in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Press the Tab key in Acrobat Reader and confirm that the focus moves through the duplicate fields correctly.
Thank you for your hard work on this great software.
Best regards,
rakunavi
- PDF-XChange Editor PRO Version: 11.0.1
- Adobe Acrobat Reader Continuous Release Version 2026.001.21691
- OS Version: Windows 11 Pro / Home 25H2 Build 26200.8875
- PC Model: GMKtec Nucbox M7 Pro with HUION Kamvas Pro 19 / Lenovo IdeaPad C340-15IWL