The built-in PDF viewers in browsers are undoubtedly an easy way to view PDF files on the go. It makes the task easier and also brings more accessibility to the browser. If you are using this feature already, you might have noticed that the need to install PDF reader software has diminished. Also, you need not download PDFs anymore since you can directly view them in the browser. But if you are not just a casual PDF reader and you take your PDFs seriously, then you might be using a bit more advanced PDF reader on your computer.
These in-built PDF viewers usually lack features such as highlighting, bookmarks and continuing reading. If you read content like eBooks or any other long PDF files, then you might like to disable Chrome, Firefox or Edge’s PDF Viewer and switch to a better alternative. Although you can save your PDF files using the download icon in the top left corner. This entire process can be made more convenient by making the PDF files directly open in your favorite PDF viewer.
Disable Chrome PDF viewer
If you are using the latest version of Chrome, you can follow these steps and disable the inbuilt PDF viewer. We’ve covered the steps for older versions briefly towards the end of this post. Open Chrome and click on the three dots near the address bar. Now select ‘Settings’ from the menu.
Scroll to the bottom and click on ‘Advanced’. Now under the ‘Privacy and Security’ section look for ‘Content Settings’.
Once you are inside ‘Content Settings’, scroll down to find ‘PDF’. Click it open and then enable the setting that says ‘Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome’.
Once you’ve enabled this setting, Google Chrome will treat the PDF files as regular downloads and you can open them later with any of your favourite PDF viewers.
To change the default PDF viewer on Windows, right click any PDF file and select ‘Open With’ and then ‘Choose another app’. Now select your application from the list of available apps and you are good to go.
Now whenever you stumble upon a PDF file on the internet, Chrome will download it like a regular file. And then you can click to open with your desired PDF viewer/editor like Adobe or etc.
For older versions of Chrome 59 and earlier, the steps are somewhat similar. Go to the Settings and then to the ‘Advanced’ section. Open up ‘Content Settings’ and then under ‘PDF’, check the checkbox saying ‘Open PDF files in the default PDF viewer application’.
Disable PDF viewer in Chrome using Group Policy
To disable PDF viewer in Chrome using Group Policy, you can follow these steps:
- Open the Group Policy Editor.
- Go to: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Google > Google Chrome
- Double-click on the Always Open PDF files externally setting.
- Choose the Enabled option.
- Click the OK button to save the change.
Following that, all the PDF files will be opened externally instead of in the Google Chrome browser. For your information, you can do the same using the Registry Editor as well.
Disable PDF viewer in Chrome using Registry
To disable PDF viewer in Chrome using Registry, follow these steps:
- Open Registry Editor on your computer.
- Go to this path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies - Create a key named Google.
- Create another sub-key named Chrome.
- Right-click on Chrome > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Set the name as AlwaysOpenPdfExternally.
- Double-click on it to set the Value data as 1.
- Click the OK button and restart your computer.
After that, Google Chrome will open PDF files externally.
Read: How to allow or block Google Chrome from opening PDF files externally
Disable PDF viewer in Edge
Like Google Chrome, you can use disable PDF viewer in Edge using the in-built settings, Local Group Policy Editor, and Registry Editor. For that, do the following:
Using in-built settings:
- Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
- Go to Settings.
- Switch to the Cookies and site permissions section.
- Click on the PDF documents option.
- Toggle the Always download PDF files button to turn on.
Using Local Group Policy Editor:
- Open the Local Group Policy Editor.
- Go to: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge
- Double-click on the Always open PDF files externally setting.
- Choose the Enabled option.
- Click the OK button.
Using Registry Editor:
- Open Windows Registry Editor.
- Navigate to this path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge - Right-click on Edge > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Set the name as AlwaysOpenPdfExternally.
- Double-click on it to set the Value data as 1.
- Click the OK
- Close all windows and restart your PC.
Then, Edge will open the PDF file externally instead of in the browser.
Read: How to allow or block Microsoft Edge from opening PDF files externally
Disable PDF viewer in Firefox
To disable PDF viewer in Firefox, follow these steps:
- Open the Firefox browser and go to Settings.
- Head to the Applications section.
- Select the Portable Document Format (PDF) option.
- Expand the drop-down list.
- Choose the Use other option.
- Select another PDF viewer.
- Click the OK button.
Following that, Firefox’s in-built PDF viewer won’t be used anymore.
Read: Download PDF instead of Previewing in Chrome and Firefox
How do I stop my PDFs from opening in Chrome?
To stop PDFs from opening in the Google Chrome browser, there are multiple methods you can follow. For your information, all the tips and tricks are mentioned in this article. For example, you can ask Chrome to download the PDF instead of opening it. It is possible to make that change using the in-built option, Local Group Policy Editor, and Registry Editor.
How do I turn off PDF viewer in Edge?
To turn off the PDF viewer in Edge, you can follow the first method mentioned above. That said, open the Microsoft Edge browser’s Settings panel and switch to the Cookies and site permissions tab. Then, click on the PDF documents option on the right-hand side and toggle the Always download PDF files button. Following that, Edge will download the PDF file instead of opening it.
How do I turn off Firefox PDF viewer?
It is possible to turn off Firefox PDF viewer using the in-built setting. For that, open the Settings panel in the browser and ensure that you are in the General tab. Then, head to the Applications section and expand the Portable Document Format drop-down list. Choose the Use other option and select another app to be used as the PDF viewer.
So this was all about disabling the inbuilt PDF viewer in web browsers. No doubt it is a great extension and lets you view PDFs without actually downloading them. But if you are looking for some more features or if you use some other PDF application, then you might want to disable the inbuilt one. You can follow similar steps to re-enable the PDF viewer.
