How to Fix PDF Document Not Opening in Google Chrome

Google Chrome is one of the most popular browsers that almost everyone uses. Not only on PC, but most of them also use it on their smartphones. Moreover, most of the office work files are saved in PDF format and view such files. There is an in-built PDF viewer in the Chrome browser.

PDF Viewer can open all types of files, but sometimes it gives your a problem. As nothing is hundred percent perfect, even this browser gets some problem while opening a PDF document. There might be different reasons for trouble opening PDF Files, like the latest operating system update might have brought errors, or there is a damaged PDF file, a file with malicious data, or any other reason.

But you don’t have to worry, as there are many ways to troubleshoot this problem. First, let us check out methods to solve the PDF Document not opening in the Chrome browser.

Also Read: How to Fix Skype Not Opening on Windows 10

2 Methods to Fix PDF Document Not Opening in Chrome

Follow the given methods and fix the pdf file not opening in Chrome browser.

Method 1: Enable or Disable the Chrome PDF Viewer

You can fix the issue by enabling or disabling the PDF viewer. This can be done on almost all operating systems like macOS, Windows, and Linux. Follow the steps to enable or disable the pdf viewer.

  1. First, open your Chrome Browser and click on the three vertical dots at the top right corner of the screen.
  2. From the drop-down menu, select Settings
  3. Now, select the Privacy and Security option from the left-hand side menu
  4. On the right side of the pane, select the Site Settings option
    Site settings
  5. Next, select, Additional document settings and expand it
  6. Look for PDF Documents and click on the arrow
    Addiitonal content settings
  7. Now, turn ON or OFF the slider option Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome.
    PDF Documents
  8. Check the settings; if you have enabled the option, select a pdf document file, it will automatically be downloaded. But if you have disabled the option, then the file will be opened in a new tab.

Once the settings have been changed, exit the browser and restart chrome to check the changes.

NOTE: If you have enabled then the toggle should show blue color, and if it’s turned off, it will show a grey color.

Method 2: Update the Chrome Browser

Try to update the chrome browser to solve the issue. Then, follow the steps and update the browser.

  1. Click on the three vertical dots at the top right corner of your browser.
  2. From the menu, select Help and click on the About Google Chrome option
    Update Chrome
  3. Chrome will automatically start updating. Click on the relaunch button to restart the browser.

Chrome PDF Viewer not opening

Method 3:  Clear Web Browser and Cookies

This is one of the common reasons for PDFs not opening. If the cache gets corrupted or is outdated, you might face a problem. So, try to clean out the cached data of the browser and solve the issue.

  1. Click on three dots and click on History.
  2. History window will open; there on the left-hand side, click on clear browsing data.
  3. Under the Basic tab, select the Time range, all time
  4. Now, Check the boxes next to Cookies, and cached images
  5. Click on Clear Data.

Clear browsing data

This can solve your problem. Once completed, try to open PDF Document.

Hopefully, these methods will solve your problem of PDF not opening in the Chrome browser. We hope this article was helpful to you. Stay tuned for more updates.

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