Choosing between a PDF viewer installed locally on your computer or one integrated into your web browser is a matter of taste. By default, when you click on a PDF while browsing online, it opens in your browser's reader… but maybe you don't like that and would prefer to open it on your computer with programs like Acrobat Reader for example.
Fortunately, the setting is fairly easy to accomplish on most popular browsers.
Chrome
To open PDFs locally with Chrome, you must make the following settings:
- Click on the menu at the top right of Chrome
- Go to Settings > advanced settings > Content settings
- Go down to the section PDF documents and click on it
- Activate the option Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome
From then on, PDFs will open in your computer's default viewer.
Firefox
- Click on the menu at the top right of Firefox
- Go to Options > Applications
- To go faster, type “PDF” in the search bar
- Click on the drop-down menu in the column Action
- And choose the option or program of your choice
By default, PDFs open in Firefox's built-in viewer, but you can also have Firefox ask you what to do every time you open one. PDF file, save the PDF or choose a software to open your file.
Internet Explorer
For Internet Explorer, the manipulation is a little more complicated since you will have to deactivate the Adobe add-on of the browser.
- Go to Tools (the little wheel at the top right)
- Accounts Manager Manage Add-ons
- In the drop-down menu, bottom left, select All add-ons
- Then search for the module Adobe PDF Reader
- And press the button deactivate
What is your favorite way to view PDFs online? Let us know in the comments.
Article updated on May 12, 2022 by Byothe
