PDF Keeps Opening in Chrome: 4 Ways to Stop It

Try making repairs for your default PDF viewer

5 min. read

Updated onApril 12, 2024

updated onApril 12, 2024

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Have you ever encountered a PDF document that you wanted to open while browsing online, and when you clicked on it to view, it opened in Chrome instead of your default PDF reader? This is normal, but what if it keeps opening in Chrome even after some changes?

First, you must install an externalPDF readeron your PC before complaining of PDFs opening in Chrome. If you’re all set but still encounter this issue, this article is for you.

Why do my PDFs keep opening in Chrome?

If you have a PDF file that keeps opening in Chrome but would like this to change, you must understand why this happens before making any changes.

Below are some reasons behind this behavior:

How do I stop PDFs from opening in Chrome?

Perform the following checks before any advanced troubleshooting:

1. Disable Chrome’s default PDF viewer

2. Set your PDF reader as the default PDF viewer

3. Scan for viruses

This method can help you to detect various malware attacks on your PC, but it will not offer advanced virus scanning compared to efficient antivirus software.

We suggest you consider multi-layered antivirus support for detecting new emerging viruses and ransomware threats.

⇒Get ESET HOME Security Essential

4. Repair your PDF viewer

If your PDF viewer was damaged or corrupt, repairing it could help you open your PDF files.

Hopefully, one of these solutions has helped you open your PDF file in your preferred program instead of persisting to open it in Chrome.

With that out of the way, we’d like to direct your attention to another error you may encounter. Some users reported thatPDF thumbnails were not showing, so we came up with an article to help you restore them.

We also have answers to when yourPDF is not saving, so be sure to check out our helpful guide.

It’s a wrap for this article, but keep the conversation interactive in the comment section below with any additional thoughts you may have.

PDF Keeps Opening in Chrome: 4 Ways to Stop It#

Why do my PDFs keep opening in Chrome?#

How do I stop PDFs from opening in Chrome?#

1. Disable Chrome’s default PDF viewer#

2. Set your PDF reader as the default PDF viewer#

3. Scan for viruses#

4. Repair your PDF viewer#