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In Chrome, when I enter a URL to a PDF file, usually the browser's Save dialog opens to save the PDF file to my hard disk, for example:

http://www.pdf995.com/samples/pdf.pdf

Now I have found a PDF URL where this, unfortunately, does not work:

https://formulare.bmf.gv.at/service/formulare/inter-Steuern/pdfd/2015/U1a.pdf

With this PDF URL, no Save dialog is opened and the binary text of this PDF is shown in the browser:

enter image description here

Why is this and how can I make it download automatically when I click the URL?

OS: Windows 7 x64 SP1

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2 Answers 2

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Why is this and how can I download this PDF file?

The website is broken and is not serving PDF files correctly. Contact [email protected].

Using the Firefox developer tools (press f12, select "Net", then select "All" we can see the response and request headers:

enter image description here

Content-Disposition inline;filename=U1a.pdf

The above tells the browser to serve the page content inline:

In a regular HTTP response, the Content-Disposition response header is a header indicating if the content is expected to be displayed inline in the browser, that is, as a Web page or as part of a Web page, or as an attachment, that is downloaded and saved locally.

You can open the PDF by saving the page locally and opening the PDF:

  1. Right click on the page and select "Save as" (or press ctrls)

    enter image description here

  2. Choose a directory and click "Save".

  3. Navigate to the chosen directory in Explorer.

  4. Double click U1a.pdf.

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14
  • Thank you. How is the website not serving PDF files correctly? Can you please explain the technical details?
    – user1580348
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 11:41
  • @user1580348 There are many different possibilities ...
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 11:49
  • For example? Can you name some, please?
    – user1580348
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 11:51
  • 2
    @user1580348 The most likely is that the web server is serving the wrong mime type for pdf files and is serving it as html. See Properly Configuring Server MIME Types
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 11:54
  • IMO, this cannot be, as Firefox shows a correct MIME type for the PDF URL: http://i.imgur.com/iPoybDn.png (application/pdf).
    – user1580348
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 12:31
0

the easiest way out here which is mention in this link is

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. Go to chrome://plugins.
  3. Under "Chrome PDF Viewer," click Enable PDF viewing.
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9
  • Did you actually try this? It doesn't work. The website is not serving PDF files correctly. See my answer.
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 11:33
  • Thank you. But I don't want to view the PDF in the browser, I just want to download the PDF when I click on the URL.
    – user1580348
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 11:39
  • Strange: When I enter the PDF URL https://formulare.bmf.gv.at/service/formulare/inter-Steuern/pdfd/2015/U1a.pdf in Firefox, the PDF is displayed correctly as PDF in Firefox (without downloading).
    – user1580348
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 11:50
  • Ok sorry I missunderstood. and did not read your question thoroughly.
    – Devidas
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 12:00
  • I have now activated Chrome PDF Viewer in chrome://plugins, but Chrome still displays the PDF as binary text. So why this (displaying the PDF in the browser) is working in Firefox and not in Chrome?
    – user1580348
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 12:01

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