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Yann_ROLAND
Yann_ROLAND
Level 2.2: Froyo
September 17, 2026
Question

Pdf reading / openning in Chrome and EDGE

  • September 17, 2026
  • 5 replies
  • 47 views

Hello,


We have some troubles in Chrome when trying to read pdf file on android. In EDGE it works perfectly. Is there someone who can explain how it works and which app (system or not) is rendering the file ? It seems that sometimes it is the device, sometimes it is the website. The behaviour also doesn’t seem to be the same in Android 16 / 17.

In the Android drop last year I find :

  • PDF in Chrome on Android: Revamp workflows with in-browser viewing of linked PDFs, which now open directly within a new Chrome tab.


I’d like to attach a little video but unfortunetly it seems we can’t in the forum (or I don’t find the button :)).
Steps to reproduce (I’m on a Samsung S25 in Android 17 beta)
1 - Drag and drop a pdf file from the “file” app to the “EDGE Browser app”. ==> Sometimes it works, sometimes EDGE is telling it cannot access the file. ==> something not yet “production ready” ?
2 - Right click on the pdf file in the “file” app and select “open with”. A window opens to propose some apps, I see EDGE but not Chrome. ==> Probably Chrome needs to add something on this point.
3 - If I select EDGE, the pdf is correctly opened, I can scroll it with the mouse’s roll and zoom in / out by pressing CTRL + mouse Roll.  ==> Perfect, that’s what we want.
4 - If I open a page with a PDF file, when I click on it the pdf file correctly opens in a new chrome tab. Scroll + Zoom in/ out with the mouse roll also works (Roll orientation is reverted than usual behaviour  but it works :)). ==> ok on Android 17.
5 - The same website on another device in Android 16 with same chrome version (153.0.8010.37) doesn’t behave the same way.

For EDGE it is also working in Android 16 so I suspect EDGE use its own integrated pdf reader and Chrome use the system’s one.

 

To summarize, if I use EDGE, everything is ok, users can read the pdf hosted on a website or on the local disk whatever I’m in Android 16 or 17. If I use Chrome, the behaviour is random in Android 16 and seems ok in android 17. 

 

Does anyone has some feedback / experience on this ?

In my research I see in chrome there is an inline PDF V2 parameter, any info on this is also welcome.

 

Best regards

 

    5 replies

    Michel
    Michel
    Level: 4.1: Jelly bean
    September 18, 2026

    Hi,

     

    You mention drag and drop and right clicks, can we assume that you are working in desktop mode / DEX when doing this? 

     

     

    Yann_ROLAND
    Yann_ROLANDAuthor
    Level 2.2: Froyo
    September 18, 2026

    Yes you can assume :) we use DEX in production since 6 years now so I forget to mention it.

    robthenry
    robthenry
    Level 1.6: Donut
    September 18, 2026

    Having PDFs unexpectedly open in Chrome or Edge can be confusing, especially when users expect them to be handled by a different application. It would be helpful to clarify whether this behavior is controlled by Android Enterprise policies, default app settings, or the browser configuration, and what options administrators have to change it.

    Yann_ROLAND
    Yann_ROLANDAuthor
    Level 2.2: Froyo
    September 18, 2026

    In my case we don’t use adobe reader because it doesn’t integrate the zoom with CTRL + Mouse ROLL so people can’t zoom. If someone has contacts in Adobe so that they can correctly integrate Android Desktop, I’m in ! 😉 Anyhow, now that you can just take a Chrome’s tab and drag and drop it on the desk to see it independently from the first browser, it is usefull and can replace adobe I think. It is also more “straight forward” for the user as you don’t get the “welcome to adobe” landing page of adobe reader and thus gain 1 clic for each file.

    I agree the pdf reader behaviour is not clear and that it would be helpfull to have means to manage it for admins. (not in “chrome://flags” that we block for security reasons).

    robthenry
    robthenry
    Level 1.6: Donut
    September 19, 2026

    Having PDFs unexpectedly open in Chrome or Edge can be confusing, especially when users expect them to be handled by a different application. 

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