How to make Preview the default PDF viewer for Safari?

Gordon Werner · 11-17-2007, 11:46 AM

Good morning.

I am using Leopard and recently installed Adobe CS3 on my Mac.

In the process, it added Adobe Acrobat and now whenever I click on a link to a PDF it tries to load the PDF in Acrobat and not Preview (like it used to).

Can anyone tell me how I can change it so that it uses Preview again?

thanks

Gordon

solipsism · 11-17-2007, 12:36 PM

Locate a PDF and from the Finder Menu Bar choose File => Get Info. Then change the Open With info to use Preview and then click the Change All button.

Gordon Werner · 11-17-2007, 06:59 PM

no ... that is how you force the OS to open PDFs when you click on them ... I am talking about ones online.

The ones on my computer are already set to open in Preview ... but the online ones try opening in Acrobat

chabig · 11-17-2007, 07:08 PM

Launch Adobe Reader 8, then open the Preferences. Select the Internet category...the top option is the one you want. Uncheck the box to make sure Adobe doesn't keep making itself the default reader.

You might also need to open /Library/Internet Plug-Ins and delete Adobe's PDF viewer plug-in.

Chris

fazzig · 04-07-2009, 11:41 AM

Yes, deleting the plug-in works. Thank you!

robleach · 01-14-2013, 10:20 AM

The adobe preference is grayed out for me.

benwiggy · 01-14-2013, 11:41 AM

As ever, the way to stop Adobe from handling PDFs in the browser is to delete the Adobe PDF plug-in in /Library/Internet Plug-ins.

It is called "AdobePDF.plug-in", or something similarly obvious. (I've also deleted it!)

There's generally not much point in using Adobe's Reader in preference to Preview. Possibly it handles forms better, I'm not sure. But Preview is faster, displays PDFs better and is more secure. Adobe's own preference is permanently greyed out, and is claimed to be a bug.

You may also need to type/copy the following command into the Terminal, to set Safari's preference for handling PDFs itself:

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitOmitPDFSupport -bool false

11-17-2007, 11:46 AM	#1
Gordon Werner Prospect Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 19	How to make Preview the default PDF viewer for Safari? Good morning. I am using Leopard and recently installed Adobe CS3 on my Mac. In the process, it added Adobe Acrobat and now whenever I click on a link to a PDF it tries to load the PDF in Acrobat and not Preview (like it used to). Can anyone tell me how I can change it so that it uses Preview again? thanks Gordon __________________ G<W There exists, but you can't get there from here. Last edited by Gordon Werner; 11-17-2007 at 11:50 AM.

11-17-2007, 06:59 PM	#3
Gordon Werner Prospect Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 19	no ... that is how you force the OS to open PDFs when you click on them ... I am talking about ones online. The ones on my computer are already set to open in Preview ... but the online ones try opening in Acrobat __________________ G<W There exists, but you can't get there from here.

11-17-2007, 07:08 PM	#4
chabig Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,933	Launch Adobe Reader 8, then open the Preferences. Select the Internet category...the top option is the one you want. Uncheck the box to make sure Adobe doesn't keep making itself the default reader. You might also need to open /Library/Internet Plug-Ins and delete Adobe's PDF viewer plug-in. Chris Last edited by chabig; 11-17-2007 at 07:10 PM.

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11-17-2007, 12:36 PM	#2
solipsism MVP Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,949	Locate a PDF and from the Finder Menu Bar choose File => Get Info. Then change the Open With info to use Preview and then click the Change All button.

04-07-2009, 11:41 AM	#5
fazzig Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 1	Yes, deleting the plug-in works. Thank you!

01-14-2013, 10:20 AM	#6
robleach Prospect Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 31	The adobe preference is grayed out for me.

01-14-2013, 11:41 AM	#7
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,040	As ever, the way to stop Adobe from handling PDFs in the browser is to delete the Adobe PDF plug-in in /Library/Internet Plug-ins. It is called "AdobePDF.plug-in", or something similarly obvious. (I've also deleted it!) There's generally not much point in using Adobe's Reader in preference to Preview. Possibly it handles forms better, I'm not sure. But Preview is faster, displays PDFs better and is more secure. Adobe's own preference is permanently greyed out, and is claimed to be a bug. You may also need to type/copy the following command into the Terminal, to set Safari's preference for handling PDFs itself: defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitOmitPDFSupport -bool false