How to open a PDF with Acrobat that is on Google Drive without having to download

[photo_jon]

I store may PDF in Google Drive (cloud not desktop) and would like to view them in acrobat.  When I try to open the PDF, I am presented with a number of options to open the PDF but none of them are with Acrobat.  Google drive provides an option to "connect more apps" however I can't seem to find any information on how to do this with Acrobat.  As popular as Acrobat is, I would think that many others have tried to do this as well.  I see several people posting questions on other forums but the only answers I've seen is to download which isn't really a solution.    Thanks in advance for the help.

[try67]

If you want to view the file in Acrobat it has to be downloaded first, even

if just as a temporary file.

[Test Screen Name · Accepted solution]

Looks like Open With > Apps On Your Computer is the way to go, but it wants to install something first which I don't want.

[photo_jon]

I wouldn't mind installing the app but I don't know which "App" to install.  There doesn't appear to be an Acrobat "exchange"/"thin client" to make this happen.  Do you have a recommendation of which App to install?

[Test Screen Name]

According to  (strange page name!)

storybreak stars');background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center}.editor .editor-inner div....

you can use the apps on your computer, like Acrobat Reader.

[photo_jon]

Thanks.  The challenge with this solution is that is requires you to install Google Drive Sync which effectively copies all your files from drive to your computer which negates a lot of the value of drive.  I wish Adobe had an App like other PDF solutions have created to work directly from within Google Drive without having to have the document local.

[45235542]

Did you ever find a solution? I have the same need.

[konradm21996633]

No,  no solution

⁣Sent from BlueMail ​

[rogerb37776669]

If you install the Chrome extension, "Application Launcher for Drive" and have Acrobat Reader DC installed, when you right click > "Open with" on a pdf in your GDrive you will be offered the option to open the file with Acrobat Reader DC and this works fine.

However, as far as I can see it only works in my default GDrive on my pdfs, so not in shared drives or those belonging to other accounts and not on pdfs shared with me. It would be great to overcome these limitations and be able to edit any pdf in any GDrive to which I have access.

[MamaD79]

But what about Firefox? I don't use chrome anymore,after it allowed one of the worst viruses in history to almost destroy my computer. Not to mention, it's a "space hog", so do you know if the same can be done with Firefox?

• Thanks D

[Alex28298448drqu]

"Application Launcher for Drive" is what I was missing. Added that , restarted chrome, and now I can open in acrobat DC. Graci.

[Test Screen Name]

That would need to be a cloud-based app. Adobe don't seem to be doing that sort of thing at the moment. It's a very different sort of thing, even if it looks similar to the end user.  But still, Google Drive has a PDF viewer already, doesn't it? Is there something missing from it?

[konradm21996633]

No "Find" function

No highlighting of text

The google viewer is nothing more than just that

[jamesh71612495]

This forum says the issue is "answered", but the "answer" is NO SOLUTION. The original post still applies. In my case, I SOMETIMES have the "Open with Adobe Acrobat" button appear at the top of Google Drive (when accessed in a Chrome Browser) and then SOMETIMES have "Open with..." and then I click "Open with..." and it gives me this option for some crappy "Lumin PDF" which is HORRIBLE.

WHY? WHYYYy!!???

WHY IS THERE NO SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM???

[try67]

This is an issue of your browser. It has nothing to do with Adobe.

[jamesh71612495]

I don't really care if its Google Drive, Adobe, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari or Google Chrome, the ISSUE REMAINS UNRESOLVED, and the original post is correct in pointing out that a seemingly ubiquitous software like Adobe Acrobat CAN'T FIND A SOLUTION and WORK WITH GOOGLE who has a seemingly ubiquitous Cloud/Browser Solution.

Same applies to Google in not figuring out Adobe, but, seriously, don't bother posting an insubstantial response like "It has nothing to do with Adobe" when it does.

KEY POINT:  If Adobe wants it to work, ADOBE will figure it out, so FIGURE IT OUT.

[try67]

No, that's not how it works. It's like asking Ford to fix a broken traffic light in your neighborhood. You drive a Ford car on the road, after all... Why can't they just fix it?!

[jamesh71612495]

You analogy does not apply here. The light is not integrated into the engine.

An applicable analogy would be a Ford mechanic plugging in an OEM powertrain control module ("PCM") into a Ford engine and then expecting the Ford engine to run just fine after the PCM is plugged in. Any customer who buys that vehicle would expect the PCM to work just fine (and Ford would, too). If it only worked half the time, do you really think Ford would keep that supplier around? Would the supplier expect Ford to change its engine to accommodate the suppliers PCM? Of course not! 

Applied to this issue, the engine is a Search Engine or Google Drive. Either one, it doesn't matter. The plugin is Adobe in both cases. Adobe is the after-market company making the plug-in for that engine. If it t doesn't "plug-in" properly, Adobe needs to fix it.

[try67]

Google Drive doesn't use the Adobe plugin to display PDF files, nor does Chrome. In fact, it explicitly stops it from working.

See: Configure browser to use the Adobe PDF plug-in to open online PDF files

Your issue is with Google.

[jamesh71612495]

Again, NOT A SOLUTION. Search engines are clearly evolving, Adobe has not. Somehow, "Lumin PDF" has an answer. Why is that?

Please post with a SOLUTION. I would be happy with an answer to, "WHEN IS ADOBE GOING TO UPGRADE ITS PLUGINS FOR SEARCH ENGINES"?

[try67]

"Search Engines"? What are you talking about? No search engine has a built-in PDF viewer... Google Drive might have one, but it's not a search engine. It's a cloud-based storage and file-sharing service. And if they allow "Lumin PDF" to handle PDFs on their site it's because they did a deal with them. They're not going to allow a competitor to also fill in that position...

And it's true, Adobe could adjust their plugin to conform with the demands of the browsers, but many of the latter seem to enforce all kinds of arbitrary restrictions on the plugins they allow (in favor of their own versions) so why spend money on something that could become obsolete very easily, and that you have no say over? I'm guessing they did their cost/benefit analysis and decided it's not worth it. That's their decision to make, even if you don't like it.

[CaufEBean]

You and I think a lot alike; here it is 2 years later and this is still a daily problem for me.  Someone one one side or the other is not being a good neighbor and thinking about the customer experience.  Sad that big companies get into these tiffs and don't consider the impact to the end user.  And since I actually pay Adobe a tidy some every month to have access to their tools beyond their free ones (and also I pay Google, too), I'm even more miffed at them for not getting this resolved.

[CaufEBean]

And no way to edit posts after their posted?  That's amateur ship there, that is.  Come on Adobe - get with the digital transformation movement, would ya?

*I meant to say "Someone on one side or another" - not one one another.

[CarlosN32]

Update on this. I just noticed that Adobe and Google may have created a solution.

Open PDFs in Acrobat Reader from Chrome

When running Chrome on Windows and when you have Acrobat XI or later, you can open .pdfs right from Google Drive without downloading them.

[try67]

Even when the Adobe plugin worked in Chrome you had to download the file to view it. It's impossible to do it otherwise.

It might have been downloaded as a temporary file behind the scenes, but it was downloaded.