How do I stop Edge from opening PDF files?

Anonymous
2020-04-16T12:40:17+00:00

How do I stop Microsoft edge from opening? everytime I do the system performance check from dell it sets up Microsoft edge to open PDF files and I have my own program I use, however I cant set it as my default program.... 

* Original title: Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge | Read PDFs | Windows 10

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2020-04-17T08:41:58+00:00

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

We understand your concern as you would like to change the default app for PDF file from Edge to Adobe.

In this scenario, we would suggest you to perform these methods and check.

Method 1: Change the setting for Apps

  1. Press Windows + I key to launch Windows Settings.
  2. Click on Apps and select Default apps from the left pane.
  3. Now scroll down and click on Choose default apps by file type.
  4. Scroll and look for .pdf, .pdxml, and .pdx file type, then click on the + sign to change it to Adobe Reader.

Method 2: Stop opening PDF file if you are using New Edge Chromium.

  1. Open Microsoft Edge
  2. Click on the three dots (…) from the right top corner.
  3. Select Settings from the drop down and click on Site permissions from the left pane.
  4. Scroll down and click on PDF documents, Toggle the switch to On for Always open PDF files externally.

Notes: If the Always open PDF files externally is on then if you try to open any online PDF document, it will prompt you to download and later you can use Adobe Reader to view.

Regards,

Aditya Roy

Microsoft Community – Moderator

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Anonymous
2020-08-14T08:06:25+00:00

Adobe Acrobat professional is not changing the default app.  

It was in 2018 that Windows tightened up the file association protection measures that you seem to be running into. I can't find documentation for this, but versions newer than Acrobat Pro DC 18 shouldn't be doing this. It's likely that Acrobat Pro 2017 writes to registry keys that only users are allowed to change (by using the default apps settings available).

Could it be that you're using an older version of Acrobat?

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-12-09T14:19:34+00:00

    This is not an Adobe problem. This is a Microsoft problem. Unfortunately, it's in Microsoft's best interest for people to use Edge as their browser of choice. This is another underhanded way of forcing it upon the user. This is similar to what Microsoft did in Windows 11 - forcing the user to manually change every single web based file association instead of allowing the user to change a single setting. After much outcry, they finally gave in and made it easier to switch off of Edge. I have no doubts this is intentional and on purpose. It's frankly disgusting.

    Source https://www.theverge.com/22630319/microsoft-windows-11-default-browser-changes

    Lastly, I feel sorry for all of you moderators and MVPs who put a lot of work into helping others on these forums. It puts you between a rock and a hard place when Microsoft performs stunts like this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-11-30T16:12:11+00:00

    How do I stop Microsoft edge from opening? everytime I do the system performance check from dell it sets up Microsoft edge to open PDF files and I have my own program I use, however I cant set it as my default program.... 

    * Original title: Microsoft Edge

    The only way to fix this problem is to have Microsoft remove the hard-coded calls for MS Edge to be the default PDF reader in the OEMDefaultAssociations.DLL and XML files.

    This is what it should show (my default PDF app is Foxit PhantomPDF):

    <Association Identifier=".pdf" ProgId="FoxitPhantomPDF.Document" ApplicationName="Foxit PhantomPDF 9.7" />

    However, this is Microsoft's default code that is used to continuously overwrite the XML file(s), forcing the end user to either give in and accept Microsoft's default PDF app, or to also continuously change the default PDF BACK to their choice of default PDF app:

    <Association Identifier=".pdf" ProgId="AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723" NewBrowserProgId="MSEdgePDF" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" ApplyOnUpgrade="true" OverwriteIfProgIdIs="AppXk660crfh0gw7gd9swc1nws708mn7qjr1;AppX86746z2101ayy2ygv3g96e4eqdf8r99j" />

    The issue has been reported to Microsoft many many times, using the Feedback hub and more - to no avail. MS continues to push its browser onto end users, forcing them to deal with MS Edge and its promotion to PDF app by Microsoft. And now, with latest updates, you can't uninstall MS Edge.

    Does this sound like something Microsoft did to all Windows users in the past? Say, 'United States v. Microsoft Corporation, 234 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),[1] was a noted American antitrust law case in which the U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally maintaining its monopoly position in the PC market primarily through the legal and technical restrictions it put on the abilities of PC manufacturers (OEMs) and users to uninstall Internet Explorer and use other programs such as Netscape and Java...The plaintiffs alleged that Microsoft had abused monopoly power on Intel-based personal computers in its handling of operating system and web browser integration. '  Courtesy Wikipedia

    Nineteen years later, and Microsoft is again interfering with end user's ability to use the programs they want to use.

    Microsoft folks - please change or remove the corrupted DLL that you've installed on our computers, which forces the default apps for PDF and Photos to use Microsoft-inspired and promoted apps instead.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-07-28T22:18:07+00:00

    There is not a Site Permissions option on the left pane, see the screenshot below.  

    Just FYI, this thread (and this forum) is about the new version of Microsoft Edge. Your screenshot shows that you still have the old version, at this site referred to as Microsoft Edge Legacy. Not much of what you find here will apply to your version, which has its own forum. 

    The new version has a different logo to help with identification: 

         

    New Edge and old Edge

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