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

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A step-by-step guide to turn on and off the PDF viewer in Chrome

Written by Rain Kengly

Last Updated: November 27, 2024 Fact Checked

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• Enabling Chrome PDF Viewer
|
• Disabling Chrome PDF Viewer
|
• Changing Default PDF Viewer (Windows)
|
• Changing Default PDF Viewer (Mac)

|Show more |Show less

You can view PDF files right from the Chrome browser. However, if you want to use a different PDF viewer, you can disable this feature. 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 ⋮ > Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Additional content settings > PDF documents.
• Select Open PDFs in Chrome to enable Chrome's built-in PDF viewer or Download PDFs to disable it.
• You can also change your computer's default PDF viewer in your Windows or Mac settings.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Enabling Chrome PDF Viewer

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1. 
   1
   Click ⁝. It's near the top-right corner of Chrome.
2. 
   2
   Click Settings. This is near the bottom of the drop-down menu. A new page will open.
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3. 
   3
   Click Privacy and security. You can find this in the left panel.
4. 
   4
   Click Site settings. This is the last option.
5. 
   5
   Scroll down and click Additional content settings. This is underneath the Content header, below Pop-ups and redirects.

   • More options will expand below.
6. 
   6
   Click PDF documents. A new page will open.
7. 
   7
   Select Open PDFs in Chrome. When this option is enabled, Chrome will automatically display the contents of PDF files instead of downloading them to your computer.

   • Restart Chrome to apply changes.
   • If you'd rather use a different PDF viewer, disable Chrome's viewer.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Disabling Chrome PDF Viewer

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1. 
   1
   Click ⁝. It's near the top-right corner of Chrome.
2. 
   2
   Click Settings. This is near the bottom of the drop-down menu. A new page will open.
3. 
   3
   Click Privacy and security. You can find this in the left panel.
4. 
   4
   Click Site settings. This is the last option.
5. 
   5
   Scroll down and click Additional content settings. This is underneath the Content header, below Pop-ups and redirects.

   • More options will expand below.
6. 
   6
   Click PDF documents. A new page will open.
7. 
   7
   Select Download PDFs. When this option is enabled, any PDF file you click will be downloaded to your computer. When you open the downloaded PDF, it will open in your computer's default PDF viewer instead of Chrome.

   • If you want to change your default PDF viewer, you can do so on Windows or on Mac.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Changing the Default PDF Viewer in Windows

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1. 
   1
   Click the

   

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

   • You can quickly change the default viewer by right-clicking any PDF and selecting Properties. Click Change… next to Open with. Click a new app, and then click OK.
2. 
   2
   Click

   

   . It's on the left side of the menu.
3. 
   3
   Click Apps. This is towards the middle of the window.
4. 
   4
   Click Default apps. It's in the left column.
5. 
   5
   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.
6. 
   6
   Scroll down to “.pdf.” The current default viewer appears to the right of this entry.
7. 
   7
   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.
8. 
   8
   Click the app you want to use. The selected app will now open PDFs on your PC by default.
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Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Changing the Default PDF Viewer on macOS

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1. 
   1
   Press Control as you click a PDF file on your Mac. This opens the menu.
2. 
   2
   Click Get Info. The current default PDF reader appears next to “Open With” on this screen.

   • For example, if Preview is set to open PDFs by default, that's what you'll see here.
3. 
   3
   Click the drop-down menu next to “Open With.” A list of alternatives will appear.
4. 
   4
   Click your preferred app. If you want to use Chrome, select Google Chrome. Or, to change it from Chrome, choose another option.
5. 
   5
   Click Change All. A confirmation message will appear.
6. 
   6
   Click Continue. The selected application will now open PDFs on your Mac by default.
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