How-To

How to Fix PDFs Not Opening in Google Chrome

By Brian Burgess

Published January 15, 2024

You can use Chrome to view PDFs but if it isn’t working, you need to fix PDFs not opening in Google Chrome. Here’s how to do it.

It can be frustrating when you have Google Chrome set as your default browser, but it doesn’t open PDFs. There are different reasons for the problem, but there are ways to fix PDFs not opening in Google Chrome.

When you have Chrome set as your default browser, it will usually take over as the default PDF viewer. However, that isn’t always the case, and you may need to allow PDF files to open in the browser.

Other steps you may need to take are clearing the browsing cache, disabling problematic extensions, reenabling hardware acceleration, or resetting Chrome settings. Regardless of the reason, we’ll look at fixing problems with PDFs opening in Chrome.

Set Chrome to Open PDF Files

Google Chrome has built-in PDF management capabilities, but you may need to enable it in settings. If you enable the setting to download PDFs, the browser will download them instead of opening them in preview mode.

To Allow PDFs to Open in Chrome

1. Launch Google Chrome on your computer and click the three-dot menu button in the top right corner of the browser.
2. Scroll down the menu and click Settings.
3. Click Privacy and security in the left column.
4. Scroll down the left side of the screen and click Site settings.
5. Expand the Additional content settings menu on the right side of the menu.
6. Scroll down the menu on the right side of the screen and click the PDF documents setting from the menu.
7. Select Open PDFs in Chrome.
8. Restart Google Chrome and see if you can open PDFs in the browser.

Clear Browsing History, Cookies, and Cached Data

Like other browsers, Chrome stores browsing history, cookies, and cache data to optimize browsing performance. However, over time, this cache can become overloaded and corrupt. That can cause a problem opening PDFs in the browsers. So, clearing history, cookies, and cached data can fix the issue.

To Clear Chrome’s History the Easy Way

1. Launch Google Chrome on your computer.
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete on your keyboard to bring up the Clear browsing data screen.
3. Set the Time range to All time, check all items, and click the Clear data button.

Disable or Remove Problematic Extensions

Shoddily coded or other extensions that conflict with PDF viewing could also be at fault. To narrow down the problem, you can disable all your extensions and reenable them one at a time until you find the culprit. If you can get by without a problematic extension, it’s possible to uninstall it.

To Disable or Remove Extensions from Chrome

1. Click the menu button in the top right corner.
2. Select Extensions > Manage Extensions from the menu that appears.
3. Toggle off the extensions you suspect are causing PDFs to not open in Chrome. To uninstall an extension, click the Remove button twice to confirm.
4. Once extensions are disabled or removed, restart Chrome and see if PDFs open.

Reenable Hardware Acceleration

The hardware acceleration feature in Chrome could cause PDFs not to open. There could be a compatibility issue with Chrome’s PDF viewer and your system’s hardware driver. You can turn off hardware acceleration and reenable it to fix the issue.

To Reenable Chrome’s Hardware Acceleration

1. Open Settings and select System from the left column.
2. Toggle off Use hardware acceleration when available and click the Relaunch button.
3. Once Chrome restarts, toggle the Use hardware acceleration when available switch back on, and click the Relaunch button.
4. Once hardware acceleration is reenabled, see if you can open PDFs in Chrome.

Reset Google Chrome

If you have exhausted the previous steps and PDFs aren’t opening in Chrome, you can reset it to default settings. The reset action resets all settings and shortcuts, disables extensions, and deletes cookies and cached data.

However, it’s important to note that a Chrome reset doesn’t affect bookmarks, history, or saved passwords. A reset of Chrome resets the browser to default settings without reinstalling it.

To Reset Google Chrome

1. Launch Google Chrome and open Settings.
2. Click the Reset settings button in the left column.
3. Select the Restore settings to their original defaults button on the left side of the screen.
4. Click the Reset settings button when the dialog appears, letting you know what a Chrome reset does.
5. The reset should only take a moment, and once it is complete, restart Chrome for good measure. You should then be able to use it to open PDFs.

Fixing PDFs Not Opening in Google Chrome

Google Chrome is a fantastic web browser that can do more than get you to websites. Opening PDFs is one of the browser’s capabilities, but it can be irksome when it doesn’t work.

Remember, if you use the Chrome reset process, it disables all extensions. So, you will need to reenable the ones you want to use after the reset. Also, it’s a best practice to reenable them one at a time in case an extension is causing problems with PDFs not opening. Furthermore, a reset should be an option of last resort to fix PDFs not opening in Google Chrome.