How to control PDF behavior in Quick Links web part?

Question

Hi there,

we are trying to open PDF link via quick link webpart in new page, and without go back to PDF library option.

But it seems the SPO can recognize PDF file, when update a PDF, it gives the file a PDF icon automatically, and force to open in SharePoint viewer, regardless what URL I put in Quick Link webpart. (unlike other sites, it will give a global icon, and it will treat PDF link like a normally hyperlink)

we need the file closed without send user to PDF folder.

Can you please help?

Please find the screenshot, and URL I put in the webpart.

https://cytiva663.sharepoint.com/Shared%20Documents/Test.pdf?CT=1768795002772&OR=ItemsView

Behavior expected:

with go back to PDF folder close icon, which we want to avoid.

Thank you so much,

Eric

Answer 1

Dear @Eric Zhang,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your description, you wonder if the Quick Links web part forces PDFs to open in the SharePoint viewer by design, with no configuration to change this behavior.

This behavior is expected and by design in SharePoint Online.

When a PDF file is added to the Quick Links web part, SharePoint always opens the file in the built‑in PDF viewer and shows the “Back to document library” option. Even if you paste the direct file URL or add query string parameters, Quick Links still treats the target as a document and enforces the default viewer experience.

At the moment, there is no supported setting or configuration in the Quick Links web part to change how PDFs open or to suppress the “back to library” behavior.

Here are some workarounds you can try:

By selecting Open link in new tab, the PDF opens separately without disrupting the current page. This can reduce the need to use the “Back to document library” navigation and provides a smoother user experience.

To help improve this experience, we strongly encourage you to submit feedback directly to Microsoft so it can be reviewed by the SharePoint product team. I encourage you to submit feedback through the Microsoft Ideas Community at Ideas · Community so that the product team can review user preferences.  

Our product team is in charge of the site, and they constantly check customer reviews and feedback, The higher votes, the more attention the related team will pay on. And a lot of the features are developed and improved based on customer feedback. 

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.