Why can I not change my default .pdf app to anything other than Microsoft Edge?

Anonymous
2024-04-29T11:48:46+00:00

I follow the steps (via Settings) and no change. I try to open Adobe Reader and it will not open on my PC. I see from a search that this is not a new issue and it's frustrating. This feels predatory and proprietary - forcing us to use Microsoft products. I'm thinking of stopping my personal subscription and moving to another option.

Microsoft Edge | Read PDFs | Windows 11

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-05-03T18:36:32+00:00

    this is junk

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-05-03T19:17:31+00:00

    Hi Karen,

    I had the same issue until someone for the community sent me the following fix.

    It worked for me. Edge is no longer the default viewer.

    1. Go to Settings > Apps > Default Apps > Choose default apps by file type
    2. Scroll down to pdf
    3. Open Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Look up Microsoft Edge > Click Modify > Click Repair
    4. Go back to pdf > change to desired program
    5. Cancel the Edge repair process
    6. The default app for pdf is now changed

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-05-03T19:27:36+00:00

    Yeah, this work. I think someone's angling for an EU billion dollar fine here, but not saying who...

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-05-03T20:04:45+00:00

    Confirmed. I had to kill all instances of Edge to allow me to select the default app to open my PDF files. This better be fixed in a hotfix patch for Edge Quickley. this is affecting a lot of users.

    Unlikely. This is being caused by a filter driver that Microsoft added in the February updates. It was intentional. While not yet confirmed (that I know of), many seem to think that this was a result of Microsoft complying with certain regulations from the EU.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-05-03T20:15:24+00:00

    this is junk

    Your elaboration is welcomed. Did you attempt the method they suggested? The post details the root cause and resolution, complete with a citation. Previously, we adhered to the advice of terminating all msEdge.exe instances via Task Manager in our environment. The outcome? The problem reemerged within days. It's not a permanent fix, merely a temporary remedy.

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