As of the Google Chrome release from October 2018, the browser handles PDF's differently by default. The default setting is to download the PDF document instead of opening it using your default PDF handler.

This has caused some users in web programs (such as Phoenix) to mistakenly think their PDF (such as an event or IEP) did not open when clicked on (because the PDF went to their downloads instead of opening and the user forgot to check there or did not know to look in downloads). This article describes how to change the settings so PDFs are opened (instead of downloaded) by default in Google Chrome.

Instructions

1. Launch Google Chrome and Click the three dots in the top right corner to open the Chrome menu
   
   

   Open

   

    

2. Click on Settings

   Open

   

    

3. From Chrome settings, Click Advanced

4. In the Advanced section, Click on Content Settings

5. Scroll down within Content settings and Click on PDF documents

6. Click the Blue toggle control to change from the default (Blue dot) to (Gray dot) for the option that reads: "Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome". Blue=download PDF document when a PDF link is clicked , Gray=open PDF document when a PDF link is clicked

7. If nothing happens when you click on the link for a PDF, check to make sure you have pop-up blocker turned off, or that pop-ups are allowed for the site you are on.

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