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How Do I Stop My PDF Documents From Opening in a New Tab
Google Chrome
- Open Google Chrome
- Click on the Menu icon in the top-right corner of the Window (it will be the button that looks like three vertical dots)
- Click Settings
- Click on the Privacy and security section on the left
- Click Site Settings. Then Additional Content Settings
- Scroll down and click the PDF documents option
- Change the “Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome” option from the off position (grey) to the on position (blue)
- Close the Settings tab and restart your computer
Firefox
- Open Firefox
- Click the menu button (3 horizontal bars) and select Preferences
- Within the Options window, scroll down to Applications
- Under the Content Type column, select the Portable Document Format (PDF) option
- In the Action column, click the down arrow on the right-hand side of the box
- In the drop-down menu that appears, select your new default PDF reading program
Microsoft Edge
- Open Windows Settings
- Click on Apps
- Click on Default apps
- Note: If you’re still running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the path is Settings > System > Default apps
- Click the Choose default apps by file type link
- Scroll down and find .pdf (PDF File), and click the button on the right side, which is likely to read “Microsoft Edge”
- Select your app from the list to set it as the new default
- Click the Switch anyway link to confirm the change
Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer
- Click the Internet Explorer Tools/Cog button and select Manage add-ons
- Under the Toolbars and Extensions option, click on the Show drop-down list and select Run without permissions
- In the displayed list of add-ons and extensions, find Adobe PDF Reader/default PDF reading program
- Select the extension and click the Disable button in the bottom right of the Manage Add-ons window
- Next time you download and open a PDF file, your default program will be used instead of Internet Explorer
Safari
- In Safari, go to menu Safari > Preferences
- Click on the General icon
- Uncheck the checkbox called “Open “safe” files after downloading
Also - Right click on any PDF file
- Click Get Info
- Expand Open with
- Select from the drop-down menu which program you’d like to open the PDF files with by default
- Click Change All