The PDF (Portable Document Format) that you download on your Chrome browser will open automatically without any action. There are a few reasons why PDF files open automatically on Chrome. You might have set your Google Chrome as the default application to view the PDF files. To prevent PDFs from opening automatically on Chrome, you have to change the reader settings on your device and the default PDF viewer settings.
Change Chrome Settings to fix PDFs Opening in Chrome
We have used the updated version of the Chrome browser. The steps might vary with the older version of Chrome browser. If you are using the older version, update the browser.
1. Click on the three-dotted option on the top right corner of the page.
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2. Select Settings in the appeared menu.
3. Type PDF in the search field or click on the Privacy and Security option.
4. Choose Site Settings.
5. Click the Additional Content Settings and select the PDF Documents option.
6. In the PDF Documents menu, check Download PDFs. This will stop the downloaded PDF files from opening in the Chrome browser.
By choosing Download PDFs, you will face one major discomfort. When you click any PDF results for your search query, it won’t open on the Chrome browser. Instead, it will be downloaded on your PC. You have to go to the Downloads folder and access the PDF. Also, you can’t Chromecast PDF files to your TV.
Change PDF Viewer Settings
1. Choose any PDF files on your PC that you have downloaded using Google Chrome.
2. Select it and right-click on the PDF file.
3. Choose the Properties option from the menu.
4. You can see Opens With: Google Chrome. Click the Change button.
5. A new window will open on your device, showing all the PDF readers that you have. If you want, you can install PDF viewer apps from the Microsoft Store.
6. Choose any PDF reader other than Google Chrome.
If the PDF still opens in Chrome even after changing the default PDF viewer, you have to modify the settings in the PDF viewer app.
1. Open Adobe Acrobat or any other PDF viewer on your PC.
2. Click on Edit from the taskbar and choose the Preference option.
3. Select General and click on the Select as Default PDF Handler button.
4. Click on OK and restart your device.
Change PDF Reader Settings
1. Open the PDF reader on your PC.
2. On Adobe Acrobat, click on Edit from the taskbar.
3. Click on Preference in the appeared menu.
4. Go to the Internet menu and choose the Internet Settings button.
5. A new window will pop up, and click on the Programs tab.
6. Select Manage add-ons and click on Disable.
7. Click the Apply button to confirm the changes. Then, tap the OK button to close the pop-up.
8. After this, the PDF file won’t open in the Chrome browser.
Best PDF Viewer for PCs
If you don’t want to use the web browser as your PDF viewer, you need to install any third-party PDF Viewer applications on your PC. There are a lot of PDF Viewer apps that are available for both Windows and Mac PCs. Here, we hand-picked some of them.
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is the best PDF management tool for Windows and Mac PCs. In Adobe Acrobat, you can edit PDF files, which is not available in most PDF viewer tools. Apart from the stand-alone application, you can also use the Adobe Acrobat website to read the PDF files. Though all the standard features are available in Adobe Acrobat, it offers a subscription. The pricing starts from $12.99 per month.
Website: Adobe Acrobat
Perfect PDF
Perfect PDF by Soft Xpansion is an advanced PDF editor tool that is available only as a premium version. It costs €24.99 for a year. You can also get the tool for lifetime access at €79.99. With the Perfect PDF tool, you can edit PDFs, scan documents and convert it into PDFs, add signatures to the PDFs, and more.
Website: Perfect PDF
WPS PDF
WPS is a lightweight tool among all PDF editors. You can use the tool for free without any subscription. You can install the WPS suite on your PC and edit the PDF files. In the WPS suite, you can also convert Word or Excel files to PDF. The suite is available for both Windows and Mac PCs. Using WPS, you can access PDF files on iPads and iPhones.
Website: WPS
FAQs
No, Microsoft Office Suite can’t open PDF files directly. It will convert the PDF file into a Word file and run it in Microsoft Word.
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