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A step-by-step guide to turn on and off the PDF viewer in Chrome
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This wikiHow teaches you how to turn the Google Chrome built-in PDF reader on or off on your computer, as well as how to change your default PDF viewer in Windows or macOS.
Turning Chrome's PDF Viewer On and Off
- In Chrome, click the three-dot menu and go to Settings > Advanced > Content Settings > PDF documents .
- Use the toggle switch to enable or disable Chrome's built-in PDF viewer.
- You can also change your computer's default PDF viewer in your Windows or Mac settings.
Steps
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Open Google Chrome on your computer. It's in the Applications folder on macOS, and the All Apps area of the Start menu on Windows.
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Click ⁝ . It's near the top-right corner of Chrome.Advertisement
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Click Settings .
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Scroll down and click Advanced . It's at the bottom of the page.
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Scroll down and click Content settings . It's in the “Privacy and security” section, toward the bottom of the list.
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Scroll down and click PDF documents . It's near the bottom of the list.
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Slide the switch to OFF . As long as this switch is off/gray, Chrome will automatically display the contents of PDF files instead of downloading them to your computer.
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Open Google Chrome on your computer. It's in the Applications folder on macOS, and the All Apps area of the Start menu on Windows.
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Click ⁝ . It's near the top-right corner of Chrome.
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Click Settings .
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Scroll down and click Advanced . It's at the bottom of the page.
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Scroll down and click Content settings . It's in the “Privacy and security” section, toward the bottom of the list.
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Scroll down and click PDF documents . It's near the bottom of the list.
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Slide the switch to ON . As long as this switch is on/blue, Chrome prompt you to download PDF files instead of displaying them automatically.
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Click the menu. It's usually at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
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Click Apps .
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Click Default apps . It's in the left column.
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Scroll down and click Choose default apps by file type . A list of file types will appear along the left side of the window, with each associated app on the right. [1] X Research source
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Scroll down to “.pdf.” The current default viewer appears to the right of this entry.
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Click the default PDF reader. For example, if it's currently set to Google Chrome, click Google Chrome . A list of apps that can read PDFs will appear.
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Click the app you want to use. The selected app will now open PDFs on your PC by default.
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Click Get Info . The current default PDF reader appears next to “Open With” on this screen.
- For example, if Preview is set to open PDFs by default, that's what you'll see here.
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Click the drop-down menu next to “Open With.” A list of alternatives will appear.
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Click your preferred app. If you want to use Chrome, select Google Chrome . Or, to change it from Chrome, choose another option.
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Click Change All . A confirmation message will appear.
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Click Continue . The selected application will now open PDFs on your Mac by default.
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