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
    2021-08-25T20:43:55+00:00

    There is no way to stop this. ... Microsoft has integrated this behavior into the operating system itself, so that no one can change it.

    Firefox have found a way:

    Pushing the blue button circumvents the Windows barrier to an app changing the default. The code is published if someone wants to alert Adobe to it: https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/browser/components/shell/WindowsUserChoice.cpp

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-08-25T19:02:19+00:00

    Is there any way to ensure that Microsoft Edge stop usurping/notifying/informing/suggesting/lying about how it is better than Reader each time I do a Microsoft Update or every time I open a PDF? I can't count how many times I've had to reset Adobe Reader as the default app shortly after I do a Feature update or had to cancel the Microsoft notification about how Microsoft Edge can open PDFs.

    Yes, Microsoft Edge can open PDFs.. but it can't be used with PDF forms.

    Nope! There is no way to stop this. People have been trying for years to stop Microsoft from stealing the pdf extension and assigning it to Edge. Microsoft has integrated this behavior into the operating system itself, so that no one can change it. I have to change the extension back 10 to 20 times a week to keep using Acrobat Professional for developing our corporate reports.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-08-25T17:14:41+00:00

    Is there any way to ensure that Microsoft Edge stop usurping/notifying/informing/suggesting/lying about how it is better than Reader each time I do a Microsoft Update or every time I open a PDF? I can't count how many times I've had to reset Adobe Reader as the default app shortly after I do a Feature update or had to cancel the Microsoft notification about how Microsoft Edge can open PDFs.

    Yes, Microsoft Edge can open PDFs.. but it can't be used with PDF forms.

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