Disable the built-in pdf viewer in firefox,Disable the Default Built-In PDF Viewer in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari.
Every major web browser, be it Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari, has a built-in PDF viewer that automatically opens the PDF documents you discover. While this is a quick and easy way to get started reading them, you are likely to miss out on the advanced features in your preferred PDF reader or editor. Hence, you may prefer direct download of PDFs.
The instructions below show you what you should do to disable the default built-in PDF viewer in Chrome, Firefox and Edge. This forces your browser to download PDFs to local storage. Unfortunately, you cannot do the same in Safari, but there is a useful workaround that allows you to download PDFs without opening them.
Disable the Built-In PDF Viewer in Chrome
In Google Chrome, you have the option to download PDFs instead of opening them. This also disables the browser’s built-in PDF viewer.
1. Open the Chrome menu (select the three-dot icon in the upper right corner of the window) and select Preferences.
2. Select “Privacy & Security” from the sidebar.
3. Select “Site Settings”.
4. Scroll down and select “More Content Settings”.
5. Select PDF documents.
6. Click the radio button next to Download PDFs.
This should disable the PDF viewer in Chrome. If you want to re-enable it later, repeat the steps above, but select “Open PDFs in Chrome” in step 6.
Disable the Built-in PDF Viewer in Firefox
Mozilla Firefox not only lets you turn off the built-in PDF viewer, it also lets you choose between downloading documents and automatically opening them in the default PDF viewer on your computer.
1. Open the Firefox menu (select the icon with three rows of lines in the upper right corner of the screen) and select Preferences.
2. On the General tab, scroll down to Files and Applications> Applications.
3. Select Portable Document Format (PDF) and set the action to Save File or Use default application for macOS / Windows.
You have disabled the PDF viewer in Firefox, and any PDF documents will download or run in the default PDF viewer on your PC or Mac (depending on the settings you choose).
If you want to re-enable the PDF viewer in Firefox, repeat the steps above, but select “Open in Firefox” in step 3.
Disable the Built-in PDF Viewer in Edge
As with Chrome, you can configure Microsoft Edge to upload PDFs to local storage. All it takes is a short visit to the browser settings page.
1. Open the Edge menu (select the three-dot icon in the upper right corner of the screen) and select Settings.
2. In the sidebar, select Site Cookies and Permissions.
3. Scroll down the screen and select PDF Documents.
4. Set the radio button to “Always download PDF files”.
You have disabled the default PDF viewer in Edge. If you want to turn it back on later, repeat the steps above, but turn off the switch next to Always download PDFs in step 4.
Bypass the PDF Viewer and Force-Download PDFs in Safari
Unlike other browsers, you don’t have the option to turn off the PDF viewer in the native Safari browser on Mac. But you can download the PDF without opening it.
To do this, simply hold down the Option key while selecting the link that points to the PDF file. Practice here.
However, if your Mac has an older version of macOS (such as macOS 10.13 High Sierra or earlier), running the following command in Terminal will disable Safari’s built-in PDF viewer:
by default write com.apple.Safari WebKitOmitPDFSupport -bool YES
Note. If you want to reactivate the PDF viewer later, repeat the same command replacing YES with NO.
Change the Default Download Location in Your Web Browser
By default, every web browser saves PDFs (and other downloads) to the Downloads folder on your PC or Mac. Here’s a quick rundown on changing the download location in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. For more information, check out our guide to changing the download location in any browser.
Google Chrome
Go to the Chrome Settings page and select More> Downloads from the sidebar. Then use the Change button next to the Location field to specify a different directory.
Mozilla Firefox
Open the Firefox settings page and scroll down to the Files and Applications section. In the “Downloads” section, click the “Select” button to select a different download directory.
Microsoft Edge
Open the Settings page again in Edge and select Downloads from the sidebar. Then select Change next to the Location field to switch download directories.
Apple Safari
Choose Safari> Preferences from the menu bar. Then, on the General tab, open the drop-down menu next to File Download Location and select Other to change the download directory.
Change the Default PDF Viewer in Windows and macOS
After downloading a PDF file to your computer, double-clicking it will open the file in the default PDF viewer on your computer (Microsoft Edge on Windows and Preview on macOS).
If you prefer that your PDFs always open in another program, you need to change the default PDF viewer.
Windows
1. Right-click any PDF file and choose Open With> Choose Another Application.
2. Select a program to view or edit PDF files from the list of programs.
3. Select the “Always use this application to open .pdf files” checkbox and click “OK”.
macOS
1. Control-click any PDF file, or right-click and select Get Info.
2. Open the drop-down menu under “Open With” and select your preferred PDF viewer or editor.
3. Select “Replace All”.
Note. If you are unable to make any changes, try clicking the lock icon in the lower left corner of the information window.
Direct Downloads Help Save Time
You can always download PDFs by opening them in your browser’s built-in PDF viewer, but automating the procedure saves a lot of clicks in the long run. Don’t forget to try out these top PDF viewing and editing utilities.
Disable the Default Built-In PDF Viewer in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari
Disable the Default Built-In PDF Viewer in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari