How to Enable and Disable the Chrome PDF Viewer

This article explains how to enable or disable the Chrome PDF viewer. It includes reasons you might want to turn the feature on or off.

How to Turn the Chrome PDF Viewer On and Off

Google Chrome's built-in PDF file viewer is turned on by default. It's convenient if you want to view PDFs as quickly as possible, but if you prefer to download copies of PDF files, you can turn off the Chrome PDF viewer to make those downloads happen automatically.

1. Open your Chrome web browser and select the three vertical dots (More icon) in the upper-right corner.

   You can do this from an already open Chrome window. Don't worry, you won't lose the webpage you're on—everything will open in a new tab.

   

2. Select Settings from the drop-down list.

   

3. Select Privacy and security from the submenu that opens.

   

4. Select Site Settings.

   

5. Scroll down to the Content section > select Additional content settings > PDF documents.

   

6. Select the radio button beside Download PDF files to turn the feature off.

   

   To turn it back on, select the radio button next to Open PDFs in Chrome.

7. To test the setting change, select a PDF document file in Chrome. If you turned on the setting, you should see the file download to your computer. If you turned off the setting, the PDF should open in a new tab Chrome.

   It's not necessary to close and reopen your Chrome browser for the setting change to work, but if you experience problems, restart the browser. If you still experience problems, make sure you've updated to the latest version of Chrome.

8. If you turned off the setting so you download the PDF file instead of opening it in Chrome, the file will open in your default PDF program.

   If you'd like to change your default PDF program, check out the best free PDF readers for Windows and Mac.

Reasons to Turn On the Chrome PDF Viewer

• You want fast and instant access to PDF files.
• You don't always necessarily want to download every PDF file that you click on to view.
• You don't plan on editing any of the PDF files you open and only need access to the basic options (download, print, zoom in, zoom out, etc.)
• You don't favor any other PDF programs over Chrome's PDF viewer.
  

Reasons to Turn off the Chrome PDF Viewer

• You want a saved copy of the PDF files you open in Chrome.
• You often forget to download PDF files after opening them in Chrome, then find yourself having to relocate PDF file links later.
• You want to eliminate the step of having to view the PDF file in Chrome first.
• You want to automate the download process.
• You prefer to use a different PDF program to view files and/or edit them.