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

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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
    2021-06-15T18:51:04+00:00

    There is no fix for this. I purchased the latest version of Acrobat Pro. You can get a non-subscription version, but the purchase page is buried deep deep deep within their website. But, after spending a half day to find it, the new version did not fix the problem. It still happens. The problem is not Acrobat! Microsoft will not let you delete Edge from your computer. Microsoft makes it look like you have uninstalled Edge, but it is still there, and it will still keep stealing PDF's. Microsoft could give a damn about how you want to do your work. You do it the way that they tell you to, or tough s*%t.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-06-14T18:01:05+00:00

    I hear you. this makes me very unhappy, looks like I shall keep Chrome and Firefox a lot longer.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-06-14T17:11:54+00:00

    Hello,

    Not only does Edge keep hijacking PDFs but, when it tries to open them the pages are often blank.

    I have tried the steps above and it doesn't work.

    We can't keep resetting the default app every time. Is there a permanent fix for this?

    thanks

    Paul

    No, there is no fix, and there will not be a fix. This has been going on for around 6 years now, since Edge was first released in 2015. MS does not have anything against Acrobat. They don't even really want Edge to be a PDF reader, or they would have made it a much better PDF reader than it is. What they want is for people to start using Edge as a browser, because that is where the real money is. Unfortunately they have come up with several incredibly stupid and self destructive ways to get people into Edge. They somehow think that by stealing the PDF association and forcing Edge to open your document, that you will suddenly fall in love with Edge and start using it, and they will make billions of dollars in ad revenues. They don't realize, that taking away people's choice to use the programs that they want, is not going to endear anyone to Edge. That is why, after 6 years, Edge only has 3% of the market. People don't like being strong armed into using a program.

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