Why does google chrome automatically download pdf file

When you click on the little arrow icon next to the downloaded pdf file, you get a context menu with the following options:. If you download pdfs occasionally, you can use the context menu to open it in your default program. If you do so regularly, you may not like the fact that Google has hijacked pdfs on your system. Google states -- through Francois Beaufort -- that this is done for security reasons as it is safer to open pdf files in Chrome than in third party programs.

While it may be safer depending on which program you use, it may also be less compatible in comparison. It is possible to disable that feature, but only by disabling the Chrome PDF viewer.

If you are using the application as well, you have no option right now to modify this on your system. But what do I know…? Since I decided to use portable versions of both firefox and foxit, I could only preview pdf in firefox using the nasty windows 8 reader. How can I change this? I feel bad for the inexperienced users. They will not see this change coming… Confusion ensured. This will indeed confuse many inexperienced users as they will think that their computers are infected.

You have to download them, open the download directory, and then drag them onto a new tab in Chrome. Be much simpler if Chrome could auto-open them. My beef with Adobe is after each update it always insist on leaving a pre-launcher loaded into memory. Once after giving the file name a name in the Windows dialogue, and when the PDF creator launches, it asks for the file name again plus a lot more information some of which is already filled in with the current date or embedded info from the file or site you are printing from.

And it will likely be improved. How many answers to the question in the title do you need? As I understand it users have the option to open the downloaded PDFs using whatever they want and as the author pointed out this can be reverted. Note that this is only lit up in Chrome Canary now. If I have to revert anything it will be of my own doing not someone elses.

Perhaps this is a test of sorts. I think the threat of viruses to regular people and organizations is hard to overstate. Microsoft is catching onto this too.

Doug, I have not heard anything new about that. It is unclear whether WebP will be implemented or not, and when it is going to happen if. So if you just click the file as most do it should display in browser. In my corporate environment, we use Acrobat Professional, not some little third-party app. My workflow is such that there are many corporate PDFs that I want to view quickly in the browser. If I like what I see, then I download it, and often immediately open it back up.

I want the downloaded file to open in Acrobat, because it is more convenient for extended viewing, for comparing with other PDFs, and for editing or marking up. When I publish PDFs using our internal network tools, successive iterations of the file are all published to the same instance or location, so when I am making changes and testing things, previous iterations are overwritten, so I like to download them for comparison.

But it changes an established way of working that has been very convenient and provides me no advantage. At the least, I should be allowed to choose whether I want the new behavior or the old behavior. The point is, the engineers made a change that is good for some people that choose not to be responsible for their own security, but they decided that they would not provide a way to offer the old behavior.

And anyway, what business is it of theirs if I choose to engage in unsafe behavior with a third-party app, which is what they are saving me from? I strongly second this, its a hassle to have to go though extra steps in order to view the PDF in the system viewer. Also I was able to drag a downloaded PDF from the download bar at the bottom of the chrome browser directly into an email being composed in outlook. Now when I do that I get a file path reference link in the email, not an attachment.

Wish I could revert back to the older chrome. The button in Chrome for a downloaded file acts like a standard button and can be operated with one click at least in Windows. Imagine doing this several times a day. And as a sign that I really care, my smartphone is running firefox os.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Please click on the following link to open the newsletter signup page: Ghacks Newsletter Sign up. Ghacks is a technology news blog that was founded in by Martin Brinkmann. It has since then become one of the most popular tech news sites on the Internet with five authors and regular contributions from freelance writers. Search for:. This page will outline how to make the browser download PDF files automatically, rather than open them in a new tab.

To proceed, select your browser from the list below and follow the instructions. To change the name of a PDF file you want to download, right-click the download link and select Save As. However, downloading a PDF is still possible. By default, Google Chrome opens a PDF file in the browser window instead of saving it to the downloads folder. To have PDF files open in the browser again, repeat these steps and select the Preview in Firefox option or Use other option to choose another program.