How To › Windows Prevent Adobe Reader From Opening PDFs in the Browser Disable one setting to stop this behavior Share Pin Email Print Windows Guides & Tutorials File & Folder Management Customizing Users & Accounts Drivers & Hardware Drive Management System & Security Basics Installing & Upgrading Tips & Tricks Key Concepts by Mary Landesman Mary Landesman is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire and a security expert. She was named as one of the women to watch in IT security. Updated November 12, 2019 By default, Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat integrate with Internet Explorer and cause PDF files to open automatically in the browser. This confirmation-less rendering of PDF files has enabled attackers to deliver Adobe Reader and Acrobat exploits via the internet automatically. The result is surreptitious malware that downloads to your computer. Fortunately, there's an easy way to prevent Adobe Reader and Acrobat from automatically rendering PDF files in your browser. If you make this one small tweak, you'll be notified if a website tries to open a PDF in your browser. This guide applies to Internet Explorer 8 and later. How to Prevent Opening PDFs in Internet Explorer With Adobe Reader Follow these steps to prevent Adobe Reader or Acrobat from opening PDFs within your web browser. Open Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat. Open the Edit > Preferences... menu from the menu bar or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + K to get there even quicker. From the left pane, select Internet > Internet Settings > Programs > Manage Add-ons. Select Adobe PDF Reader in the list of add-ons. If you don't see Adobe PDF Reader listed, try selecting Run Without Permission from the Show: drop-down menu. Select the Disable button so the PDF Reader won't open PDFs in the browser. Continue Reading