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Quick Tips: How to Disable PDF Viewer in Google Chrome

By Damien Oh

Google Chrome comes with an inbuilt PDF viewer that allows you to view PDF files right in the browser. Some people will love it and some don’t. If you belong to the latter camp and wish to turn off the PDF feature for good. Here’s how you can do it.

Open your Google Chrome and type “about:plugins” in the URL bar.

Scroll down the list until you see the option “Chrome PDF Viewer”.

Click the “disable” link beneath it.

chrome-disable-pdf-viewer

That’s it. From now on, whenever you click on a PDF link, it will prompt you to download the file instead of displaying it in the browser.

To restore the PDF Viewer feature, just follow the same steps and click the “Enable” link.

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Damien Oh Avatar
Damien Oh
Damien Oh started writing tech articles since 2007 and has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry. He is proficient in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS, and worked as a part-time WordPress Developer. He is currently the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Make Tech Easier.

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