how to fix my word to not convert my PDF to an editable document

Question

so the last few days when i try to open something that i am downloading from a page etc. its not letting me as i get a pop up that says that my doc. is going to convert to a pdf to an editable document but i do not want this on my word account as i am not trying to edit them . and it messes up where i am trying to click on it to go to a web page!

Answer 1

Word is not a PDF viewer app, this is most likely caused by a file association error, if you download a PDF file and it automatically opens in Word, Word will always convert a PDF to an editable document when it is set as the default for PDF files.

Right click a PDF file and select 'Open With', then choose Edge or your preferred app to open PDF documents, and ensure you select 'Always open PDF files with this app', that will reset the file associations on PDF documents to that app.

Answer 2

Word converts a PDF to an editable Word document whenever the PDF is opened in Word. That behavior is expected, because Word does not directly edit PDF format.

To stop this from happening, stop opening .pdf files with Word as the default app:

1. In Windows, right-click a PDF file.
2. Select Open with.
3. Select Choose another app.
4. Pick a PDF reader instead of Word.
5. Select Always so PDFs open with that app by default.

If a PDF is already opening in Word, that usually means Word was set as the default app for PDF files.

If the goal is only to view or click links in the PDF as intended, open the file directly in a PDF program instead of Word. Opening a PDF in Word can change the layout, and links or clickable areas may no longer line up correctly after conversion.

If a file opens as view-only or read-only in Word, that can also be caused by Protected View or a read-only setting, but that is separate from PDF conversion.

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References:

• Opening PDFs in Word
• Why is Word now converting EVERY PDF into an editable file? It never used to do this and now I can't print off the existing file as it was intended? - Microsoft Q&A
• Please call me at ********* to assist me in opening PDF documents w/o having to have them converted each time - Microsoft Q&A
• Microsoft 365 issue opening .pdf - Microsoft Q&A
• Why did my file open read-only?