PDF downloaded from Chrome automatically opening in Acrobat Reader

[michaelr73758304]

We had a user report an issue to our helpdesk yesterday, she was downloading a PDF document via Chrome, and the document was opening up in Adobe Reader automatically.

We checked the settings in Chrome and it was not set to automatically open Adobe Reader after downloading the PDF, and the Adobe Reader extension was not installed, so we weren't sure why this was happening.

On further investigation we found a setting in the Preferences - General tab called "Open PDFs automatically in Reader when they are downloaded in Chrome browser". Initially when we tried to turn this setting off it would re-enable itself when we closed and reopened Adobe Reader, however clearing the user's preferences from the registry and trying again worked for us. The setting is under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\AutoDocOpen - bIsAutoDocOpenFeatureEnabled dWord 1.

The user is on the current DC build 2003.006.20360.

Has anybody else experienced this, and is there any further documentation available about this feature?

[Nigel_WFP]

Yes this is only the Chrome half of the solution. Katya's solution seems to have worked for the Adobe half, although I also uninstalled and reinstalled adobe so it's unclear what role both those actions played.

"Preferences> Internet > unclick the "display in read mode by default," save changes, and restart your adobe"

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi Nigel_WFP,

Thank you for reaching out and reporting this.

The team is aware of the issue and currently investigating this behavior. Would you mind confirming if you experienced this behavior in Acrobat or the Acrobat Reader application? 

Please check your inbox. We have shared some information in private messages. 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Nigel_WFP]

This is in Acrobat Pro, not reader.

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi Nigel_WFP,

Thank you for the confirmation.

Please check the inbox and share the required information.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Arnas23116236874m]

This is the case also on Standard DC.

[nicoled71703808]

Hello, I have unchecked "Display in read mode by default" saved, and restarted Adobe, but it still automatically opens PDFs when I download them. I have Adobe Acrobat Pro Version 2024.002.20895.

[Katya38116196120n]

Ok, It is adobe issue and not Chrome. Try this, It worked for me.

Open adobe and go to the menue button on top left corner. Preferences> Internet > unclick the "display in read mode by default"   
save changes and restart your adobe 

[Kushagr34821132dlrv]

@Katya38116196120n Are you facing this issue on Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader?

[Nigel_WFP]

A 2-step process solved this for me since I didn’t have the “Open PDFs Automatically…” setting, nor adobe extension on my Chrome.
1) chrome://settings/content/pdfDocuments
Enter that into a URL and check “open PDFs in Chrome” rather than “Download PDFs.”
This solves the automatic downloading problem but does not stop downloaded PDFs from opening automatically.
2) In adobe "Preferences> Internet > unclick the "display in read mode by default," save changes, and restart your adobe"
This solves the downloaded PDFs opening automatically.

[Eric363331879j2f]

I had the same issue with a user here. None of the suggested fixes worked. The user did not have "Always open in system viewer" enabled for PDFs in Chrome. I enabled/disabled this setting and it stopped.

[Sheryl38573157j58a]

I do not have the the option to uncheck anything in the general settings of adobe and my Chrome settings are correct.  It is still auto opening and it is insanely annoying.  How do I stop this?  Why did adobe have to do this?

[Kushagr34821132dlrv]

Could you please update to the latest version and check if the issue persists?

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi All,

Thank you for your patience.

The issue has been resolved in the July update released today. Please try updating the application to the latest version. In Acrobat, go to Menu > Help > Check for updates.

For more information on the update, refer to the following page: https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotesDC/continuous/dccontinuousjuly2024.ht....

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Corinne38766440d7l1]

This worked!!

[Ajay32641618r4n3]

For Users Who use recent versions (2024) 
its hidden in the preferences tab
1.Click Your Profile on the Right upper corner
2.select Preferences
3.Select General
4.Turn Of the feature Open PDFs automatically in Reader when they are downloaded in chrome browser

[default7j6uz9r5ayks]

It is true, this is malware like behavior. I may have to uninstall and end my subscription. 

[Kushagr34821132dlrv]

@default7j6uz9r5ayks Could you please update to the latest version and check if the issue persists?

[L43544]

I found that on the last adobe update, a browser extension was automatically installed. I tried doing what many of the above had posted, changing to New Adobe with no luch. I also did not have the box to check to disable auto opening from chrome. Deleting the browser extension was the only fix for me.

[Kushagr34821132dlrv]

Hi @L43544 

Please share the following details:

1.  What product do you have? Acrobat or Adobe Reader?
2.  What is the exact version of your product?
3.  I am not sure about the browser extension being installed automatically and deleting it fixing the issue for you. I will have to take a closer look.

Please share above details and if we need more info we can maybe setup a call to resolve this for you.

+ @MeenakshiNegi to help @L43544 in collecting above info.