Prevent PDFs from Opening in Chrome: How to Disable Chrome PDF Viewer

Google Chrome is undeniably one of the most common and most powerful web browsers out there. It offers a multitude of features and functionalities, including the Chrome PDF Viewer. This is an integrated tool that allows users to view PDF files directly within the Chrome browser window, without opening any other software or a secondary app. While this feature can be seen as convenient for quick access to PDF files, it may not always provide the level of control and editing possibilities that users require and only provides basic editing features when it comes to working with PDF documents. In this article, we will explore how you can disable the Chrome PDF Viewer to make way for a more innovative PDF viewer, and we'll also discuss alternative solutions for managing PDF files in Chrome.

Method 1. How to Disable Chrome PDF Viewer from Opening PDFs

There are several reasons that you may want to deactivate the Chrome PDF viewer from being the default option for opening this type of document. Disabling the Chrome PDF Viewer is a relatively straightforward process, which can be done via the browser settings in Google Chrome itself. Here's how you can disable Chrome's PDF viewer on your device:

• First, you'll need to open the Google Chrome browser and then go to the settings menu. (Do this by clicking on the three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the browser window)

• From the dropdown menu that will then appear, select "Settings" to access the Chrome settings page.

• Go to the left-hand menu and then click on "Privacy and Security".

• Next, in the centre of the main page menu, click on "Site settings" to access more options.

• Scroll down, then click on "Additional content settings" before selecting "PDF documents" to view all available options related to PDF handling.

• Finally, disable the "Open PDFs in Chrome" option by selecting the "Download PDFs" option. This will then prompt you to download your PDF files directly to your device in future, as opposed to automatically opening them in the Chrome browser.

Method 2. How to Stop PDFs from Opening in Chrome

If what you need is to stop your local PDF files from opening in Chrome, you need to change the default PDF viewer of your system from Google Chrome to an alternative PDF viewer, here I recommend UPDF.

Here's how you can easily disable Chrome PDF viewer and set UPDF as your default PDF viewer on both Windows and Mac operating systems: You can download UPDF from the button below firstly, and follow the instructions:

Stop PDFs from Opening in Chrome on Windows

• If you are using a Windows device, first of all, go to the "Settings" of Windows.
• After opening the settings pop-up, click the "Apps" option on the left panel.
• Type ".pdf" in the "Set defaults for file types", and you can see the default PDF viewer you set. In this case, it may be Google Chrome.
• Now click the icon on the Google Chrome toolbar and this will give you all the options for the default PDF viewer on Windows.
• Choose the UPDF application and click the "Set default" button.

After the steps above, you can stop PDFs from opening in Chrome on Windows. Plus, there is another method to help you change default PDF viewer on Windows. Follow the guide below:

• Right-click on any PDF file that you have stored on your Windows device, and select "Open with" from the dropdown menu.
• Click on "Choose another app" to open the application selection menu.
• Select UPDF from the list of available applications and make sure to check the box that says "Always use this app to open .pdf files." This will then change your default PDF viewer to UPDF.

Stop PDFs from Opening in Chrome on Mac

• Right-click on any PDF file on your Mac device, and select "Get Info" from the dropdown menu.
• In the "Open with" section of the "Get Info" window, select UPDF from the list of available applications.

• Click on the "Change All" button below the application selection to set UPDF as the default PDF viewer for all PDF files on your Mac. Learn more about changing default PDF viewer on Mac.

Why Should You Stop PDFs from Opening in Chrome?

Opening PDF files within the Google Chrome browser does initially seem convenient to those who just want to open up a PDF file for viewing, as it's easy and it doesn't involve any other software or external applications. There are, however, several limitations to having the Chrome browser as your default PDF viewer.

One potential reason that you may want to stop opening your PDF files in the Google Chrome browser is due to the fact that its features are relatively limited compared to applications that are dedicated to PDF management. While you can quickly view your PDF files in Google Chrome, zoom in and out of the document, and search for text within your files, you can't make significant edits to your document such as adding or deleting text, modifying images, or rearranging its pages.

The Google Chrome PDF Viewer lacks the more advanced features and editing capabilities that are available in dedicated PDF viewer applications, such as UPDF. Chrome's PDF viewer also does not currently have the ability to support digital document signing, OCR (optical character recognition), and document conversion.

Another possible reason for wanting to switch up your PDF viewer is that Google Chrome's PDF viewer requires an active internet connection to be able to work properly.

It's also possible that some users could encounter compatibility issues in Chrome with certain types of PDF files, as more complex documents can cause the software to freeze or load very slowly. For people who rely on Chrome for browsing as well as viewing PDFs, this can be very inconvenient as the whole browser could crash pr become unresponsive if it gets overloaded.

What You Can Do with UPDF PDF Viewer

Once you have successfully disabled the Chrome PDF Viewer, you may want to set up an alternative, more capable PDF viewer as your default application for opening PDF files. UPDF is a versatile and powerful PDF viewer that offers a wide range of features to enhance your PDF viewing and editing experience.

UPDF offers an impressive set of features and functionalities which empower its users with greater control of their document management and more flexibility when working with PDF files. Download UPDF now and try all the stand-out features below:

• Compress PDF Size: Easily compress the PDF sizes to suit the specific needs. You can compress it to four levels, such as maximum, high, medium, and low, and save the changes.
• Built-In AI Tools: Make PDFs more manageable using the built-in AI features. Summarize lengthy PDFs, get explanations for complex terms, and translate PDFs for better knowledge comprehension.
• Organize and Crop PDFs: Set the customized margin controls while cropping the PDFs and disable the option to constrain properties. Also, insert, replace, extract, or split PDF pages while organizing.
• PDF Editing and Annotation: Edit the text within PDFs to change font style, color, or alignment. Moreover, add any images and links to your PDFs along with signatures, stamps, and 100+ stickers.

UPDF offers many more features to the user too, including seamless document sharing, printing and file compression. Download UPDF today and find out why it's the most innovative PDF editing tool on the market.

Conclusion

Disabling the Google Chrome PDF Viewer and setting up an alternative PDF viewer in its place - such as UPDF - can drastically improve your PDF viewing and editing experience, as well as enhance the quality of the documents you produce. By taking advantage of the advanced features and functionalities that are offered in the UPDF interface, you can streamline your workflow and document management processes, access innovative editing tools, increase productivity, and gain greater control over your PDF documents.

Whether you're editing text, annotating documents, converting files to different formats, or even encrypting or protecting important documents, UPDF provides the tools you need to get the job done efficiently and effectively. So, why wait? Download UPDF today and unlock the full potential of your PDF files.