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Why can I not change my default .pdf app to anything other than Microsoft Edge?

Anonymous
2024-04-29T11:48:46+00:00

I follow the steps (via Settings) and no change. I try to open Adobe Reader and it will not open on my PC. I see from a search that this is not a new issue and it's frustrating. This feels predatory and proprietary - forcing us to use Microsoft products. I'm thinking of stopping my personal subscription and moving to another option.

Microsoft Edge | Read PDFs | Windows 11

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-04-30T13:59:15+00:00

    Yes, so typical of Microsoft. This is no accident -- they do this sort of thing on purpose...which is an undue leveraging of their OS market dominance.

    20+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Paulo GM 63,540 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-04-29T13:00:04+00:00

    Hi Karen, I am Paulo and I'd like to help.

    I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing issues with setting a different default PDF viewer. Have you checked Edge settings if it is configured to open PDF files within the browser?

    Go to Edge Settings > Cookies and site permissions > PDF Documents and ensure "Always download PDF files" is enabled.

    I also suggest checking Edge Settings > Downloads and ensure "Ask me what to do with each download" is enabled.

    Once it is configured, right-click on a PDF file > Properties > Change... > Choose Adobe Acrobat > Set default.

    If in case, Adobe still doesn't open, I recommend reinstalling the app to make sure it is working properly and updated.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2024-04-30T19:43:10+00:00

    I had to kill all msEdge.exe instances from the Task Manager, and it finally let me. Using Edge 124.02478.67 64-bit.

    This was the answer for me.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2024-05-01T14:13:03+00:00

    I had to kill all msEdge.exe instances from the Task Manager, and it finally let me. Using Edge 124.02478.67 64-bit.

    Thanks - this solved my problem :-)

    5 people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2024-05-01T13:26:02+00:00

    Microsoft is now using a Windows driver (c:\windows\system32\drivers\UCPD.sys) to prevent users from changing the configured Windows 10 and Windows 11 default browser through software or by manually modifying the Registry. This driver was introduced as part of the February updates for Windows 10 (KB5034763) and Windows 11 (KB5034765).

    This driver is described as a "User Choice Protection Driver," and when loaded, prevents direct editing of the Registry keys associated with the HTTP and HTTPS URL associations and the .PDF file association.

    The associated registry keys are:

    HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\https\UserChoice
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.pdf\UserChoice

    You cannot unload this driver, but you can disable it with the following PowerShell command:

    New-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UCPD” -Name “Start” -Value 4 -PropertyType DWORD -Force

    You also need to delete/disable the "UCPD velocity" scheduled task under \Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient or else it will be automatically re-enabled.

    Source

    5 people found this answer helpful.
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