PDF files look funny or don't open in Acrobat Reader - Set Acrobat Reader as default PDF viewer

PDF files look funny or don't open in Acrobat Reader - Set Acrobat Reader as default PDF viewer

  1. Download the PDF to your desktop, and right-click the PDF file 
  2. Click Open with
  3. Click Choose another app
  4. Click ‘Always use this app to open .pdf files
  5. Click Adobe Acrobat Reader

  6. Click OK

If you run into any issues with PDFs opening in the wrong program after that, you may also need to disable the PDF viewer built in to Chrome and Edge:

Estimated time to complete:
6 minutes (T1+)
    • Related Articles

    • Error when opening PDFs (How to disable Chrome/Edge PDF viewer)

      Problem When trying to open or save an Adobe PDF document, one may receive a message like on these this instead of the document: Network Error Couldn't Download - Network Issue "Error opening PDF form "If you are seeing this message, it is because ...
    • Request Signatures with Acrobat Sign & Adobe Acrobat (Pro)

      Note: These steps are only available for staff who are licensed for the paid Adobe Acrobat (Pro). (More details here: Signing & obtaining other's signatures on digital documents) Adobe Acrobat (Pro) Signature Process: 1. Open Adobe Acrobat (Pro) , ...
    • Fill Forms in Adobe Acrobat Reader

      Note: Adobe is testing a new Fill & Sign experience in Acrobat. After updating to the latest release, if the steps and the user interface mentioned in this document don’t match with your version of Acrobat, see Fill and sign PDF forms | New ...
    • Print PDF as image in Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat (Pro)

      Print PDF as image in Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat (Pro) When printing a PDF file, you may encounter problems due to damaged content, such as images or fonts, that Acrobat cannot process correctly during printing. One solution is to print the PDF ...
    • Split a PDF in Adobe Acrobat (Pro)

      This feature requires an Adobe Acrobat (Pro) license. 1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat (Pro). 2. Choose “Organize Pages” > “Split.” 3. Choose how you want to split a single file or multiple files. 4. Name and save: Click “Output Options” to decide ...