QuireChrome downloads PDFs instead of opening them: how to fix it
Short answer: Chrome has a setting for this. Go to Settings › Privacy and security › Site settings › Additional content settings › PDF documents and choose Open PDFs in Chrome. Or paste chrome://settings/content/pdfDocuments into the address bar.
If PDFs from one website still download, the site is probably telling the browser to download the file. Open the downloaded file in Chrome instead.
Updated 15 October 2026. Steps follow Google’s Chrome help; the tools you see depend on your Chrome version.
Change Chrome’s PDF setting
- Open Chrome’s settings
At the top right, select More (the three dots), then Settings.
- Go to the PDF setting
Select Privacy and security, then Site settings, then Additional content settings, then PDF documents. Or type chrome://settings/content/pdfDocuments in the address bar.
- Choose Open PDFs in Chrome
Select Open PDFs in Chrome instead of Download PDFs.
- Try the link again
Reload the page and click the PDF link. It should now open in a tab.
If it still downloads
- The website forces a download. Some sites send PDFs as attachments, which browsers save instead of showing. Open the file from Chrome’s downloads list, or drag it from your Downloads folder into a Chrome window.
- A work or school computer. Your organisation can manage Chrome’s settings. If the PDF option is greyed out or switches back, ask your IT team.
- The download opens in another app. A downloaded PDF opens in your computer’s default PDF app, Edge on Windows or Preview on a Mac. To use Chrome for one file, right-click it and choose Open with (Open With on a Mac) › Google Chrome, or press Ctrl+O (⌘+O) in Chrome and pick the file.
- A Chromebook. PDFs you open from the Files app go to the Gallery app. See how to edit a PDF on a Chromebook to change that.
Once the PDF opens in Chrome
Chrome’s viewer can do more than show the file. On a computer you can highlight and draw, add text, fill in form fields and sign, then choose Download › With your changes. See how to annotate a PDF in Chrome and how to fill a PDF form in Chrome.
Open PDF links in Quire PDF
Quire PDF is our Chrome extension. It adds Open PDF in Quire to the menu when you right-click a PDF link, so you can open a PDF in the editor straight from a web page, whatever your download setting.
- Right-click the PDF link
Choose Open PDF in Quire.
- Allow access to that site
The first time, Quire asks Chrome for access to that one website so it can fetch the file. It doesn’t send that site’s cookies.
- Read, mark up or fill it in
The PDF opens in Quire with its tools for highlights, notes, text, signatures and page changes. Save a copy downloads your edited version.
If the site needs a sign-in, redirects the link, or doesn’t return a PDF, Quire can’t fetch it. Download the file normally and open it with the Quire PDF toolbar icon instead.
Questions
How do I make Chrome download PDFs instead?
Use the same setting and choose Download PDFs. That suits people who always open PDFs in a desktop app.
Why does a PDF open as a blank page or a “Please wait” message?
A blank page can be a slow or broken download; try again. A “Please wait” message means an XFA form; see what the “Please wait” PDF message means.