Google Chrome is fully-featured web browser. One of the best feature of the Chrome browser is its ability to open and view PDF within the browser. With every stable release, the browser is improving in both the area of functionality and security.
There are many times when different issue can arise in any web browser. You don’t need to switch the browser. Instead try to fix the issue.
Chrome allows you to view the PDF even before downloading. That’s really cool. Some time its built-in PDF viewer do not works smoothly.
So what should be the solution of the issue of Chrome PDF Viewer not opening.
You don’t need to worry as we will provide the best solution of this issue.
Tips To Fix If Chrome PDF Viewer Not Working
1. Disable PDF Downloads
Google Chrome has a setting for downloading the PDF file before opening them. The setting is disabled by default. But by mistake you may have turned it on or sometimes a third-party extension can do it.
If this setting is enabled, you should disable it to open the PDF in Chrome.
To check it:
Step 1. In Chrome, click on the Menu. It is the three vertical dots on the upper right side of the browser.
Step 2. Now click on Setting in the menu and click on Privacy and Security.
Step 3: Under Privacy and Security, click on Site Settings.
Step 4. Scroll down to the bottom and click on Additional content settings.
Step 5: Click on PDF documents and disable the switch to automatically open the PDF files in chrome.
Now the PDF File will get opened in the Chrome instead of getting downloaded automatically.
Still some of PDF file will be get downloaded automatically even if the Chrome configured to not download it. Its because such PDFs are instructed from its servers to be downloaded instead of getting opened in the browser.
2. Disable Extensions
If PDF Viewer open the PDF file but fails to fully load the file then browser extensions or poor internet connection can be the cause for this.
If your internet connection is working properly then you need to look out for the extension glitch. To know whether the extensions are causing problem or not, try to open the PDF file web page in Chrome’s incognito mode.
All you need is to open the incognito mode of Chrome by going in its menu. If the PDF file opens in incognito mode then there are high chances that the issue is caused by one of the extension.
To fix the issue, you need to disable all the Google Chrome’s extensions. To do this, go to Menu > More tools > Extensions. Now turn off all the extensions.
Now try to open the PDF web page in normal browser windows. After it, Turn on one extension at a time and view PDF file. Repeat the process. The extension which causes the PDF file to not load will be reason of this.
Once you find the problem-causing extension, consider disabling it or removing it to ensure proper fix of Chrome PDF Viewer Not Working issue.
3. Remove Malware
If you find that even after performing above steps, Chrome fails to load PDF document then you need to check for malware that interfering with functions of the system’s browser. In such cases, you can use Chrome’s built-in malware detection and removal tool.
To use the Chrome’s clean up tool, type chrome://settings/cleanup in the URL bar and press Enter.
Click on Find next to the Find harmful software. It will start the scanning process. Once the scanning process is completed, you will likely to find Chrome’s PDF viewer loading your PDFs without any issue.
4. Update Chrome
It is always best to run the latest version of the browser. If you are experiencing any issue in the Chrome then it may be due any bug or glitch. Google is always in charge to keep its Chrome browser with top-notch performance.
Although Chrome automatically gets updated to the latest version. But some times the update gets failed in the background. So it is better to manual update your browser.
To do this, click on Chrome’ menu, point to Help and click on About Google Chrome.
If there is an update, Chrome will automatically detect and install it.
After updating your browser, you need to check whether Chrome is able to open the PDF file or not. .
5. Clear Browsing Data
After following all the steps, if the issue do not gets fixed then proceed with Clearing Browsing Data. To do this, open the Google Chrome and press Ctrl + Shift + Delete on your keyboard. Now Chrome’s Clear Browsing Data panel will get opened.
Under Basic Tab, select All time in time range. Make sure, cookies and cached images section are checked. Now click on CLEAR DATA.
At this step, most probably the issue of Chrome Chrome PDF Viewer Not Working will get solved.
6. Reset Chrome
The last resort to solve the problem of Chrome failed to load PDF document is to reset the Chrome browser. To proceed with it, go to Advanced under Chrome Settings. After it scroll down to the bottom.
Under the Reset and clean up section, Click on Restore settings to their original defaults and in the pop-up, select Reset Settings.
It will also delete all your pinned tabs, cookies and browsing data.
We hope, by now your problem of Chrome PDF viewer not working is resolved. Probably now you can use Chrome smoothly without any issue.