Simple Ways to Enable & Disable the Chrome PDF Viewer on PC and Mac

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.

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This wikiHow teaches you how to turn the Google Chrome built-in PDF reader on or off on your computer, as well as how to change your default PDF viewer in Windows or macOS.

Turning Chrome's PDF Viewer On and Off

In Chrome, click the three-dot menu and go to Settings >Advanced >Content Settings >PDF documents.
Use the toggle switch to enable or disable Chrome's built-in PDF viewer.
You can also change your computer's default PDF viewer in your Windows or Mac settings.

Method 1 of 4:

Enabling Chrome PDF Viewer

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Open Google Chrome on your computer. It's in the Applications folder on macOS, and the All Apps area of the Start menu on Windows.

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\n"> Click ⁝ . It's near the top-right corner of Chrome. Advertisement

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\n"> Click Settings .

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\n"> Scroll down and click Advanced . It's at the bottom of the page.

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Scroll down and click Content settings . It's in the “Privacy and security” section, toward the bottom of the list.

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\n"> Scroll down and click PDF documents . It's near the bottom of the list.

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\n"> Slide the switch to OFF

. As long as this switch is off/gray, Chrome will automatically display the contents of PDF files instead of downloading them to your computer.

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Disabling Chrome PDF Viewer

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Open Google Chrome on your computer. It's in the Applications folder on macOS, and the All Apps area of the Start menu on Windows.

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\n"> Click ⁝ . It's near the top-right corner of Chrome.

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\n"> Click Settings .

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\n"> Scroll down and click Advanced . It's at the bottom of the page.

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Scroll down and click Content settings . It's in the “Privacy and security” section, toward the bottom of the list.

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\n"> Scroll down and click PDF documents . It's near the bottom of the list.

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\n"> Slide the switch to ON

. As long as this switch is on/blue, Chrome prompt you to download PDF files instead of displaying them automatically.

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Changing the Default PDF Viewer in Windows

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menu. It's usually at the bottom-left corner of the screen.

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. It's on the left side of the menu.

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\n"> Click Apps .

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\n"> Click Default apps . It's in the left column.

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Scroll down and click Choose default apps by file type . A list of file types will appear along the left side of the window, with each associated app on the right. [1] X Research source

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\n"> Scroll down to “.pdf.” The current default viewer appears to the right of this entry.

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Click the default PDF reader. For example, if it's currently set to Google Chrome, click Google Chrome. A list of apps that can read PDFs will appear.

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\n"> Click the app you want to use. The selected app will now open PDFs on your PC by default. Advertisement Method 4 of 4:

Changing the Default PDF Viewer on macOS

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\n"> Press Control as you click a PDF file on your Mac. This opens the menu. [2] X Research source

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For example, if Preview is set to open PDFs by default, that's what you'll see here.

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\n"> Click the drop-down menu next to “Open With.” A list of alternatives will appear.

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Click your preferred app. If you want to use Chrome, select Google Chrome. Or, to change it from Chrome, choose another option.

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\n"> Click Change All . A confirmation message will appear.

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\n"> Click Continue . The selected application will now open PDFs on your Mac by default. Advertisement

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