Microsoft Edge keeps making itself the default PDF viewer instead of acrobat

When I had problems with MS Excel changing the default app in which hyperlinks to local PDF files open, it was caused by installing and resolved by uninstalling Adobe Acrobrat. In my case, my default app was Chrome, which was switched to Edge by Acrobrat. Somehow this was able to override my actual defaults.

I am guessing this is a problem with Adobe Acrobat Reader, not Edge. At least this was the case for me.

"Setting the PDF handler, exporting the associations using DISM, and reimporting them with my admin account seemed to fix it for all users on subsequent logins. Edge no longer takes over the association on each login."

Is this still working for you?

Edge continues to set itself as the default pdf viewer. In my case, we are using BlueBeam, not Adobe. Regardless, it switches itself back daily, if not more often, not just during major updates.

I agree. Insufferable.

Come on, @Microsoft, do you need to be so petty? If you want me to use Edge as the default, please provide a tool as robust as BlueBeam's Revu. Thank you.

Temporary Solution for Adobe PDF Default Issue on PC:

EDGE high-jacking PDFs upon Reboot

Currently, there's an unresolved issue where Adobe PDF defaults are not persisting on our company PCs.

To temporarily resolve this, I performed a factory reset on the affected PC and reinstalled all necessary applications, including setting Adobe as the default for PDFs. After rebooting the PC multiple times (approximately 10-20 times), Adobe PDFs remained defaulted as expected. Additionally, the PC is running the latest updates.

Please note that while this method has proven effective for now, it's highly important to recognize that it is NOT a permanent fix. There appears to be a persistent bug either within the file path or the operating system causing the default settings issue.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME on the following:

• Rolling back Webview2/3
• Editing the REGISTRY
• PowerShell Commands
• CMD Commands
• Rebooting PC
• Setting up Task Schedular
• Installing Adobe Extension
• Defaulting application, the reboot will just REVERT it back to EDGE
• Installing 3rd party apps
• DO NOT GIVE UP!!!
• DO NOT STRESS!!!
• Apologies, but MS reps are not helpful at all, but they are doing their job
• Be UPSET with the engineers of Quality Assurance - you let the BUG pass by
• It has NOTHING to do with EDGE Experience
• It's an update that broke the setting and can't say which one it is

Steps Taken:

1. Factory reset the PC.
2. Reinstall all required applications.
3. Set Adobe as the default application for PDFs.
4. Reboot the PC multiple times to ensure settings persist.
5. Confirm PC is up to date with the latest software updates.

If you encounter similar issues or have found an alternative solution, please share your experience. We are awaiting a permanent fix from Microsoft engineers to address this ongoing issue.

**Work Email - ****@falveyins.com

Job Title - Infrastructure Services - Team Lead

This solution worked for a few weeks and looked very promising at first but then Edge took over again.. I'm not sure if it was an update that broke my setting or something else.

All the useless MS offered solutions last for an hour at most!

MS have to fix this. It is not acceptable for software, especially a program that you can't get rid of or disable, to override user set preferences like this.