Are you frustrated that links in your PDF documents always open in Internet Explorer, even though you’ve set Firefox or Chrome as your default browser? This is a common issue, particularly with Adobe Reader, and it can be quite annoying. You might have tried setting your preferred browser as default through your operating system settings, but still, Adobe Reader stubbornly launches links in Internet Explorer. Let’s explore why this happens and how you can effectively change the default browser for PDF links.
Many users have encountered this problem, and online forums are filled with discussions about Adobe Reader consistently ignoring the system’s default browser settings. Even Adobe’s own support documents have acknowledged this as a persistent, albeit “rare,” issue without a straightforward solution. Common suggestions like using the “Set Program Access and Defaults” in Windows or forcing Firefox to be the default often prove ineffective when it comes to PDF links opened within Adobe Reader.
You might even delve into browser-specific settings, such as manually setting file type associations within Firefox, hoping to force PDF links to respect your browser choice. However, these methods often fail to override Adobe Reader’s behavior.
So, what’s a reliable way to ensure PDF links open in your preferred browser? One effective solution is to switch from Adobe Reader to a lightweight and efficient alternative like Foxit Reader. Foxit Reader is known for being faster and less resource-intensive than Adobe Reader, and it offers a simple setting to control how PDF links are handled.
To make Foxit Reader open PDF links in your default browser, follow these steps:
- Download and Install Foxit Reader: If you haven’t already, download Foxit Reader from the official website and install it on your computer.
- Access Preferences: Once installed, open Foxit Reader. Navigate to the “Edit” menu in the Foxit Reader interface and select “Preferences.”
- Enable “Create links from URLs”: In the Preferences dialog box, go to the “General” section. Look for the option labeled “Create links from URLs” and ensure that the checkbox next to it is ticked. This setting ensures that Foxit Reader correctly recognizes and handles URLs within PDF documents.
By enabling this simple setting in Foxit Reader, you can reliably ensure that URL links within your PDFs will now open in your system’s default web browser, whether it’s Chrome, Firefox, or any other browser you prefer.
While we’ve provided a practical workaround using Foxit Reader, it’s still worth noting that a direct fix for this issue within Adobe Reader itself would be ideal. Hopefully, Adobe will address this persistent problem in future updates to provide a more seamless user experience. In the meantime, switching to Foxit Reader offers a quick and effective way to regain control over how PDF links are opened and ensure they respect your default browser settings.
