Recycle your Computers & Technology with us.

Stop PDFs from Opening in IE

Posted By : Chad of Data Doctors on October 13, 2006

Follow us on Facebook   Follow us on Twitter   Follow us on LinkedIn

Let Data Doctors be your personal IT department today

How can I stop PDFs from opening in my web browser?

This question was answered on October 13, 2006. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.


When you install Acrobat or Adobe Reader on a system that includes a browser, you automatically configure the browser to open PDF files within the browser window Acrobat and Adobe Reader install ActiveX plug-in files that allow you to use Internet Explorer or AOL to open PDF files However, with the growing concern of browser vulnerabilities (many of which stem from ActiveX controls), setting Acrobat to open PDFs externally may be advantageous Click here to learn how.

To configure the browser to use Acrobat or Adobe Reader to open PDF files:

1 Quit Internet Explorer.

2 Start Acrobat or Adobe Reader.

3 Choose Edit > Preferences.

4 Select Internet in the list on the left.

5 Deselect Display PDF in Browser, and click OK.

6 Restart Internet Explorer.

Note: The next time you select a link to a PDF file, the browser may prompt you to open or save the file If you choose to open the file, the browser opens the file in the helper application that you specified If you choose to save the file, the browser downloads the file to the hard disk.

About the author

Posted by Chad of Data Doctors on October 13, 2006

Need Help with this Issue?

We help people with technology! It's what we do.
Contact or Schedule an Appointment with a location for help!