Technical Support - Detail
Short Description
Problem
A pdf document can be viewed within a web browser or other pdf viewing application such as Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. ZoomText, Fusion, and JAWS provide better navigation and reading accessibility when the pdf document is viewed in an Adobe Reader application.
When opening a pdf attachment or a saved pdf file on your computer, it opens in the default application for the pdf file type. On Windows 10, a pdf document will open in Microsoft Edge by default. But this setting can be changed.
When a pdf is accessed from a web page, it typically opens within the current web browser even if the default app for pdf documents is set to Adobe Acrobat Reader.
So what are my options for viewing a pdf document in Adobe Acrobat Reader?
Solution
It is recommended that you change the default program that launches when a pdf attachment or saved pdf document is opened on your computer to "Adobe Acrobat Reader DC". If you do not have this application,, you can download the following free version.
To download Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, go to the following link:
To change the default program that opens pdf files from Microsoft Edge to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC:
- Open the Start Menu and type “Default App Settings”, then press ENTER.
- Press TAB to navigate to the “Choose a default app by file type” link, then press ENTER.
- An alphabetical list of file types and applications is presented, with no search option.
- Press TAB many times to navigate down the list until you hear “dot pdf pdf file Microsoft Edge button”.
- Press ENTER.
- Press TAB to navigate to “Adobe Acrobat Reader DC” button.
- Press ENTER.
- Press ALT+F4 to close Settings.
Now when you select an attachment or a saved file with a file type of .pdf, it will automatically open in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.
If, however, a pdf is accessed from within a web browser, it may open within that web browser, such as Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome. One option is to save the file to your computer and then open the file so that it opens in the default application for the pdf file type. To save a pdf file that is being displayed within a web browser, right-click on the document, then select "Save as".
But if using Internet Explorer 11, you can force the pdf to open in your Adobe Reader application, without having to save the file first, by disabling the "Adobe PDF Reader" add-on.
Tp disable the "Adobe PDF Reader" add-on in Internet Explorer 11:
- Open Internet Explorer 11.
- Navigate to Tools>Manage add-ons>Toolbars and Extensions.
- Press TAB to navigate to the "filter add-ons" combo box and select "all add-ons".
- Press TAB to navigate to the list of add-ons and use the arrow keys to navigate to "Adobe PDF Reader".
- Press TAB to navigate to the "Disable" button and press ENTER.
Applies to: JAWS, ZoomText, Fusion, Optelec and Enhanced Vision