Trouble viewing PDFs in Chrome? Here is the solution.

I’ve recently had issues viewing PDFs in Chrome and thought it was something only I was experiencing. However, at a meeting today, I noticed another co-worker was having the same issue.  I thought I should share the quick solution.

 

Starting in Chrome 42, NPAPI plugins like Adobe Reader have begun the final phase of removal, and will no longer work be shown in the chrome://plugins page. Therefore, Google recommends that users ensure the built-in “Chrome PDF Viewer” is enabled on their browser.

Follow these steps to ensure the plugin is enabled:

1. Type chrome://plugins in Chrome address bar and press Enter.
2. Scroll down to Chrome PDF Viewer.
3. Enable Type: BROWSER PLUGIN  and PPAPI if currently disabled.
   1. In this image, the BROWSER PLUGIN and PPAPI are currently enabled.
   2. 
   3. If you want PDFs to open in the default program (e.g., Adobe Acrobat or Reader), disable the BROWSER PLUGIN type by clicking Disable.
4. Disable any other PDF Viewer plugins (there will probably not be any others, though).

NOTE: If you choose to open PDFs in the default program (step 3.c.), you can stop here. If you want to open PDFs in the browser still, continue on. 

Open a PDF link in Chrome to see if the issue is fixed. However, following the steps above, did not fix the issue for me. Instead, I needed to add an extension.

1. Click this link (or copy and paste this link into Chrome) to open the extension pdf.js page: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pdf-viewer/oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm?hl=en-US.
2. Click the ADD TO CHROME button in the upper right corner of the window.

Additionally, I needed to disable an extension. 

1. In Chrome, click the hamburger icon and click Settings.
   1. 
2. Click Extensions, and uncheck the Enabled box for Adobe Acrobat – Create PDF (or other Adobe extensions).
   1. 

You should now be able to open PDFs in Chrome. 

I hope this helps! Cheers!