How to use google chrome as your default pdf reader (the easy way)
By Christopher Ramos
Lowell is the founder and CEO of How-To Geek. He’s been running the show since creating the site back in 2006. Over the last decade, Lowell has personally written more than 1000 articles which have been viewed by over 250 million people. Prior to starting How-To Geek, Lowell spent 15 years working in IT doing consulting, cybersecurity, database management, and programming work. Read more.
If you’re anything like 99% of everybody, you have some sort of PDF viewing software installed on your PC—but did you realize that you can use Google Chrome to view PDFs from your PC? It’s easy!
We’re showing off how to do this in Windows, but theoretically it would work for OS X or Linux as well. If you’ve tried it, let us know in the comments.
Enabling Google Chrome as Your Default PDF Reader
Start off by right-clicking on any PDF file, and heading to the “Open with” item on the menu. If you don’t see this, you can usually hold Shift and right-click, and it will be there.
This will bring up the Open with dialog, which lets you choose what to open your PDF files with, but sadly Google Chrome isn’t listed—but no matter, you can just click the Browse button.
If you know where Google Chrome was installed, then just browse to that location—otherwise, you can right-click on the Chrome shortcut, head to Properties, and then Shortcut. You’ll see the location in the Target box (best bet is to copy and paste the full path).
Once you’ve selected chrome.exe and clicked the OK button, you’re done. That’s it. Easy, right?
And now when you double-click on your PDF file, it’ll launch straight in Chrome.
Not working? Head to about:plugins in Chrome and make sure that the Chrome PDF Viewer is enabled.
For the purposes of this article, we’re using the dev channel release of Chrome, but it should work in earlier versions as well.
Note: the original idea for this article came from Lee Matthews over at Download Squad, but our method is easier.
某些 Creative Cloud 应用程序、服务和功能在中国不可用。
Adobe bundles the Acrobat Chrome extension with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC so that you can easily open PDFs in Reader while browsing the web. Once installed and enabled, the extension will:
- Open PDF files in the Acrobat Reader desktop app.
- Offer a consistent and reliable PDF viewing experience.
- Provide access to all the tools you need to add comments, fill forms, and sign PDFs.
You can easily disable the extension at any time. The extension does not read the content of your PDFs or any content on the sites you visit.
Install Acrobat Reader Chrome extension
The extension is not installed automatically with Acrobat Reader. If Acrobat Reader is the default PDF owner on your computer, you’re prompted to install the extension when you launch Acrobat Reader. Once the extension is installed, you must activate it before use.
Steps to install and enable Acrobat Reader Chrome extension:
If Acrobat Reader is the default PDF owner on your computer, you’re prompted to install the extension when you launch Acrobat Reader.
Click Continue or Next. The extension is installed and added to Chrome.
Open Google Chrome. You’ll see a prompt as shown in the screenshot below. Click the Enable extension button.
One of the best features of Chrome is the inbuilt PDF viewer. It makes PDF files so light and fast. Sometimes I feel that Chrome handles it better than desktop-based PDF viewer applications.
Do you think Chrome is better than your desktop PDF viewer?
If your answer is yes, here is something really cool you can try. Make all PDFs on your computer open using Chrome.
How to Set This Up
Right-click on your Chrome icon on the desktop, select “Properties” now, from “Target” copy the content from there which ends at “chrome.exe”
Now, you need to head to your Windows file associations panel.
Windows XP: Bring up the Run dialog box (Win+R, or click Start > Run), type control folders, and then press enter. When the folder options window appears, click the file types tab.
Windows 7 and Vista: Click the Windows button and type associations in the search box. By the time you hit ‘asso,’ you’ll see ‘change the file type associated with a file extension. Click it.
In the list, scroll down to the “PDF” file type. Click on the “Change” button, and then paste your path to Google Chrome into the file box. Click OK, and the previous screen should now display Chrome next to “opens with.” Click close, and you are ready to go.
Test this and let me know if you liked it.
About Dinsan Francis
Content Strategist and Digital Minimalist. Loves testing new Chromebook features and writing about them. Favorite Chrome OS Channel is Canary. | Twitter | YouTube.
By: Waseem Patwegar
It is easy to change the default PDF viewer in Google Chrome and make Chrome Open PDF in Adobe Reader, instead of opening them in the browser window.
Make Chrome Open PDF in Adobe Reader
By default, most web browsers including Google Chrome open PDF documents in the browser window and no longer rely on Adobe Acrobat Reader to open PDF Files.
However, people who are used to opening PDF files in Adobe Reader Mode do not like the idea of PDF Files opening in Microsoft Edge or Chrome browser window.
Hence, we are providing below the steps to make Adobe Acrobat Reader as the default PDF viewer in Google Chrome.
1. Make Chrome Open PDF Files in Adobe Reader
Download & Install Adobe Reader on your computer and follow the steps below to make Adobe as the default PDF viewers in Chrome browser.
Open Chrome browser > click on the 3-dots Menu icon and click on Settings in the drop-down menu.
On Chrome Settings screen, scroll down and click on Site Settings tab located under “Privacy & Security” section.
On Site Settings screen, expand Additional content Settings tab (if hidden) and click on PDF Documents .
On PDF Documents screen, move the toggle next to Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome to ON position.
After this, you will always find Chrome opening PDF files in Adobe Acrobat Reader and not in its own browser window.
2. Make Chrome Open PDF in Adobe Reader Using Adobe Settings
If you still find PDF files opening in Chrome or any other application, you may need to follow the steps below to directly change Adobe Reader settings
Open Adobe Reader > select the Edit tab in top-menu bar and click on Preferences in the drop-down menu.
On preferences screen, click on General in the left pane. In the right-pane, scroll down almost to the bottom and click on Select as Default PDF Handler button.
Note: You may be prompted to enter your Admin Password .
On the next screen, click on Continue and follow the onscreen instructions to make PDF Files open in Adobe Reader.
June 3, 2011 Manhattan Tech Support
Many users download Adobe Acrobat Reader to open PDF Documents, but it can be slow to start up and load a file. However, you can use Chrome as your default PDF viewer. It’s really fast and unlike other free PDF viewers it’s a breeze to set up and use.
Simply open Google Chrome and type chrome://plugins in the address field. Make sure “Chrome PDF Viewer” is enabled in the list of plugins. Next, right-click on any PDF file and choose “Open With” and navigate to the “Choose Program” link. Select Google Chrome in the list of applications provided, making sure to check the “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” checkbox. Finally, click on Open. The next time you open a PDF document it will open in Google Chrome.
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2021-06-25 21:42:11 • Filed to: Knowledge of PDF • Proven solutions
PDF documents have increasingly become popular. A broad range of PDF document Readers have been developed but at times you may need to view PDF online using a browser. Many official documents often come in PDF format and may pose a challenge especially when you have not installed a PDF Reader. Going online, Google PDF Viewer, for instance, can help open the document. There are a variety of ways, for example, using the Chrome PDF Viewer or the Firefox PDF Viewer can help you get what you need to be done. Google Drive PDF Viewer, i.e. PDF Viewer, Safari PDF Viewer are also helpful.
How to View PDF in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and IE
1. How to View PDF in Chrome PDF Viewer
This browser always comes with an inbuilt PDF viewer that enables users to open the documents with ease. Replacement of this viewer with Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is possible by the user after disabling the inbuilt PDF viewer. The following are the steps you can follow to view PDF on Chrome:
Step 1: Open the Chrome Browser
Step 2: Navigate to the “Plug-ins”. Select the PDF viewer from the list of options given and that’s “Chrome PDF Viewer”. You can now toggle the given option to enable the viewer. Click “Enable” to set Chrome PDF Viewer as the default PDF viewer on Google Chrome.
Step 3: Right click on your document. Navigate to the “Open With” option and choose “Chrome PDF Viewer” from the drop-down menu. You can also drag a PDF document directly into the browser, and it will open. Using this above outline method, opening a PDF document becomes easy. You can view a downloaded document directly using this method.
2. How to Open and View PDF in Firefox PDF Viewer
Mozilla Firefox is one of the most common browsers in use on virtually every computer. The Firefox PDF Viewer depends on add-ons to accomplish this task. Here is how you can get the add-ons ready to read a PDF.
Step 1: Launch the Firefox browser. Navigate to the “Options” button and choose “Applications” on the top toolbar.
Step 2: You can find the option “Portable Document Format (PDF)” window. From the list that shows up, select “Preview in Firefox”.
Step 3: You can now select a file, right-click and choose Firefox from the option of “Open With”. Your document is now open.
3. How to Read PDF in IE (Internet Explorer)
Among the oldest browsers in use is the internet explorer. The IE PDF Viewer utilizes the Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat, or Foxit Reader add-ons. Activating the add-ons through the following steps can help you get started viewing your documents on the browser.
Step 1: Open the Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on Tools and then select “Manage Add-ons”.
Step 3: When a window on add-on types appears choose toolbars and extensions. Choose the option of all add-ons and then select “Adobe PDF Reader” from the list of add-ons. Select and click the “Enable” button.
Following these simple steps will land you on your document and then you can choose the option of making it a default program in case you always want to open PDF documents using IE.
4. How to Read PDF in Safari
At times it may be challenging when the Adobe Reader you have installed is not the latest. You can install the latest Reader that will automatically integrate its plugin into Safari. The Safari PDF Viewer can be activated through the following steps:
Step 1: Open the Safari browser.
Step 2: Click on the “Preferences”. From the new window that pops up, you can select security before selecting website settings. A list of available plugins appears and you can choose the “Always Allow” option on the Adobe Reader plugin.
Step 3: When these steps are done, the plugin will always be running and so allow you to view your documents using the browser when you want to. Besides the one-time use, you can make the opening direct by making Safari your default program for PDF.
How to View PDF Offline with the Best PDF Viewer
The convenience of reading PDF documents offline is not comparable to any other method. Viewing PDF in a browser may not give as many features as when one uses programs like PDFelement. The broad range of features it offers is unbeatable, combining all the features provided by every other reader into one package. The great interface makes it user-friendly and unique. As an open source software, it gives millions access to quality PDF reading.
Right from the text interface that allows one to focus on the content while highlighting, adding links, bookmarking, and inserting headers and footers to the editing of the images, texts, and pages, Wondershare PDFelement is in a class of its own. Any text document is convertible to PDF and back. The OCR feature allows for the creation of searchable documents from the scanned documents.
To Open, View and Edit a PDF document, you can follow the steps below:
Step 1: Open PDF
Launch the Wondershare PDFelement application. Click “Open files” on the home window and select the file you want to view and click “Open” in the pop-up window.
Step 2: View PDF with 5 Modes
For a better PDF reading experience, you can go to the “View” tab and choose from the five reading modes (single, continuous, facing and facing continuous, full screen) from the top menu.
Clicking on “Zoom in” and “Zoom out” will help you adjust the reading size of the PDF file.
Step 3: Make Comments when Reading PDF
Click on the “Comment” button and start to make annotations on the text and other elements of the open PDF.
You can add “Note”, “Stamps”, “Bookmarks” to the PDF when you are reading.
I’ve been used to downloading PDFs on my phone and have them directly saved on my downloads folder. But just recently, whenever I download PDFs, Google Drive viewer shows up. I know there’s a download option on Google Drive viewer. But when I open the file, it prompts that there’s no app that can read it. I have Acrobat and Drive that I used to read PDFs with.
I think from some of the research I did, the update for Google Drive makes it the default for opening PDFs. I checked the defaults, it did not have one. I just uninstalled the update for Google Drive as a temporary solution.
I think I changed the defaults by accident (I did not assign one before). How do I change that, if ever?
My phone’s a Samsung S5. I’m using Chrome for it.
18 Answers 18
I had the same problem using Firefox on Android – totally maddening – but fixed it.
After installing Google Drive all my links to pdfs would open with Google Drive PDF Viewer.
I fixed it by, in Firefox, going to about:config in the location bar, then finding “ and doing a Reset there.
The next time I clicked on a link to a pdf I got the choice to Download, or use Google Drive PDF Viewer.
Shouldn’t it be there in Chrome, under the hood somewhere ?
Btw, that “ in Firefox only seems to show up after a choice has been made, in this case, forced by the install of Google Drive. Seems redolent of the old browsers wars.
Try clearing the defaults for the Google PDF Viewer app. You can do this on Android 4.x – 5.x by doing the following:
- Go to Settings -> Apps -> All.
- Scroll down to Google PDF Viewer app and tap on it.
- Scroll down to the Launch by default section and tap the “Clear Defaults” button.
Next time you try to open a PDF, a pop-up should present you with options of all the installed apps that handle PDF viewing.
I just had this problem on Android 7.0 Nougat. I on a pdf/drop box link I accidentally clicked set Drive PDF Viewer as default.
Similar to others.. To fix this in Nougat.
You must go to Settings->Apps->All->Drive-Open by default (little bit tricky)
“Clear Defaults” might be disabled, however the first entry “Open supported links”. Will be set to some value, set it to something other than “Open in this app”. I set it as “Ask every time”.
Hope this helps.
I went to Settings > Apps and Notifications > See all apps > Drive > Open by default > Clear default. This worked for me. Now I’m once again prompted on which app I want to use in opening PDFs.
I’m using a Google Pixel 2
I believe you will have to clear the defaults for Google Drive. Have you installed the PDF viewer from the play store? If you have you should clear its defaults for sure.
- Go to settings
- Then Default Applications
- Then click on the Google Drive app and the Google Drive PDF Viewer app clear button to the right of the names
This video may be of use to follow along.
If you couldn’t find the default applications settings it may be because you are on a different version of android if that’s the case you may also be able to find under just “Applications” in the settings menu
You can also just uninstall the update of Google drive from application settings.
Install Firefox and download a PDF file, I’ll ask you to choose a default app to open it, after that all PDFs will open on the app you select
This is what worked for me. None of the other well meant suggestions worked.
In my case these instructions meant that I reverted to the older version of chrome that came with my tablet. When I clicked on a PDF file within that old version of chrome and was asked for my choice of viewer, I emphatically chose something non-Google, to be used every time. I was able to view the PDF file within my viewer of choice and got a PDF file in my download folder.
The step that I have to add to those instructions is that after following them I tried updating chrome to the latest version. The new choice of PDF viewer is still in place. So long as I never return to the Google viewer I should be able to change my default viewer again.
Drive pdf viewer cannot be seen in apps > go >allapps> drive> afte doing all necessary clear defaults and set open links to ask all time
Disable drive and restart phone When you start all defaults will be gone and re enable drive
Go to Settings –> Apps
Select the app which uses Drive pdf viewer for PDFs by default. For example: ES File Explorer
Go to storage then tap on clear data. This has worked for me.
Go to Settings→Apps→ Drive→Permissions→Storage
Grant storage permission for Google drive.
I solved my issue of not opening pdf.
Android 7.0 on Asus tablet.
I tried a number of options previously used but none worked on getting chrome to use the default pdf viewer previously set on the device (in my case, Foxit . highly recommended for any small screen because it offers “word reflow”)
I finally tried enough guesses and experiments that I think I got it.
- Open the “default” android file manager named “File Manager” (which I had never used before)
- Find a previously downloaded PDF file on your device and click to open it.
- Choose your default reader in “File Manager”
- Remember to tap “Always” before clicking the desired PDF reader icon
- Subsequently, Chrome will open PDF files in your default PDF reader
Note, other File Managers such as ESFileExplorer offer the option to set “open with” but, while the ES setting worked for opening pdf files with most other apps, it did not work when Chrome opened a PDF file.
To test this, I went into;
apps/Foxit/OpenByDefault/Other/ClearDefaults
and following that downloaded a file using chrome and observed that chrome had elected to use it’s default PDF viewer after clearing the foxit default/
Then, opened file manager again, completed the process again and it worked to set Foxit as the default PDF app as far a chrome was concerned.
Hope that this information is helpful to others as frustrated as this made it here.
Google seems to have a thing for PDF files. From converting PDF files to merge multiple PDF files, Google products usually have built-in support to manage PDF files. And similar to other Google products, Chrome also supports opening PDF files by default. However, did you know Chrome can also remove password from PDF files? Well, I didn’t until last week when I had to remove password from my bank statement to submit it to a company for verification and Adobe Acrobat Reader didn’t help.
If you are also looking to remove password from a PDF file, then Google Chrome is all you’ll need. Today, I’ll show you how to remove password protection from PDF using Google Chrome.
Note: You can only remove password from a PDF file if you already know the password. If you don’t know the password, then you won’t be able to open it to follow the procedure.
Remove Password From PDF Using Chrome
First, make sure you have Chrome installed and the password protected PDF file downloaded on your PC. Afterward, follow the below steps to remove password from the PDF file:
1. Right-click on the PDF file and select “Google Chrome” from the “Open with” menu.
2. You’ll be prompted to provide the password. Enter the correct password to open up the PDF in Chrome.
3. Afterward, click on the “Print” button at the top-right corner.
4. In the left panel, click on the “Change” button under the “Destination” section.
5. Here select “Save as PDF” from the list of destinations.
6. Now just click on the blue “Save” button and save the new PDF file on your PC.
This new PDF file will not be password protected while still saving the PDF data in its original form. However, do keep in mind that this method will not work if the PDF file is not allowed to be printed. In most cases, people don’t prevent printing rights (especially official companies), so this method should work in most cases.
Tip: You can follow the same steps in Opera and Microsoft Edge browser as well to remove password from a PDF file.
Wrapping up
Honestly, I found this method to be much easier than using a dedicated PDF reader. It’s especially useful if you don’t interact with PDF files often, and therefore, you don’t have a dedicated PDF Reader or a PDF password remover tool installed.
If you know any other way to remove password from PDF files, do share with us in the comments.
If you are using Google Classroom you can use the Texthelp PDF Reader to turn in an assigned. To use this feature, teachers and students must have the Classroom integration option selected.
Domain administrators
Enable Classroom Integration
To enable Classroom integration with the Texthelp PDF Reader, right click on the PDF Reader extension icon and select Options.
In Options tick Enable Classroom Integration
The Open Classroom PDFs Directly option should also be selected
Click the X button to close the Options window
The next time a PDF is opened with the PDF Reader you’ll be prompted to grant permissions.
Teachers
To assign a PDF in Classroom, open a PDF and you’ll see the Classroom button on the right side of the Texthelp PDF Reader toolbar.
Click the Classroom button and choose the class that you’d like to assign the PDF to.
Then select from the Choose action dropdown:
- Create assignment
- Ask question
- Make an announcement
- Create material
Once your selection is made, click the Go button
After creating a title and adding instructions, select Make a copy for each student if you want students to turn in the assignment directly using the PDF Reader.
Click the Assign button.
Students will be notified about the assignment through Classroom.
Opening PDFs with Texthelp PDF Reader in Classroom Student Work Window
When assigned PDFs are annotated and returned by students they will appear in the Classroom Student Work window
To open PDFs with the Texthelp PDF Reader, click on a PDF that has been turned in for the assignment
It will then open a new tab in the PDF Reader
Students
Once Classroom Integration is selected, students can then open PDFs that are assigned through Classroom using the Texthelp PDF Reader.
Click Open to view the assignment.
Click on the file name to open the PDF.
Handing in an assignment with the PDF Reader
When finished with the assignment, click the Hand in button on the right side of the Texthelp PDF Reader toolbar.
Then click the Turn In button in Classroom to send the assignment to your teacher.
