# How do I stop Chrome opening PDFs and make it download them? — DocFind Last reviewed: October 10, 2026. HTML version: https://docfindapp.com/answers/stop-chrome-opening-pdfs-instead-of-downloading **On a computer, change one setting: in Chrome go to Settings, then Privacy and security, Site Settings, Additional content settings, PDF documents, and pick Download PDFs.** From then on a PDF link saves the file instead of showing it in a tab. Chrome on Android and on iPhone has no equivalent switch in Google's help; there you download each PDF from a menu, as the sections below show. ## On a computer: the PDF documents setting

Google's steps, under "Change default PDF download permissions": open Chrome, select More at the top right, then Settings and Privacy and security, then Site Settings, Additional content settings and PDF documents, and finally "Select Download PDFs or Open PDFs in Chrome" ([*Download a file* (computer), Google Chrome Help](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95759?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop), read 10 October 2026). Google's PDF help gives a shortcut to the same screen: "in the address bar, enter chrome://settings/content/pdfDocuments" ([*Manage PDFs in Chrome* (computer), Google Chrome Help](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/16215622?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop), read 10 October 2026).

Switching the setting is not the only way. For a single file, the download page's instruction is "PDFs: Right-click on the file and choose Save Link As". And a PDF already open in Chrome's viewer can be saved from there: the PDF help says to "select Download With your changes or Without your changes". Unless you have changed it, Chrome puts downloads in the Downloads folder of your user account; Google gives the paths as "\Users\\Downloads" on Windows 10 and later and "/Users//Downloads" on a Mac (the *Download a file* page above).

Before you switch, one thing you give up: Chrome's viewer runs text recognition on scanned PDFs, which [our page on Google's PDF viewer](https://docfindapp.com/answers/use-google-pdf-viewer) describes. A downloaded file opens in whatever app your computer uses for PDFs instead.

## If downloaded PDFs keep opening by themselves

Sometimes the complaint is the reverse: the PDF downloads, then pops open in another program straight away. Google covers that under "Turn off automatic file opening": after a download, select "Recent download history", right-click the file, and "If "Always open files of this type" is checked, uncheck it" (the *Download a file* page above).

## On Android: download from the PDF's menu

On Android, Chrome shows PDFs itself; Google notes that "your device must run Android 12 and up" for its PDF features. To keep a copy of one you have open, "tap More", then "Tap Download". To hand it to another app instead, the route is More, then "Open with...", where "If prompted, select Just Once or Always Open". Google adds that "You can’t open a PDF with Chrome while in Incognito mode. You’ll get a prompt to download the file when in Incognito mode" ([*Manage PDFs in Chrome* (Android), Google Chrome Help](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/16215622?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), read 10 October 2026).

You can also skip opening it. Chrome's Android download steps say to "Touch and hold what you want to download, then tap Download link", and your saved files are listed under More, then Downloads ([*Download a file* (Android), Google Chrome Help](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95759?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), read 10 October 2026). Neither Android page describes a setting that makes Chrome download every PDF rather than display it, so the long-press is the closest thing to one.

## On iPhone: Save to Files

Google's iPhone steps for keeping a file are to tap it, tap SAVE…, and "On the “Save in…” screen, select Files". If there is no SAVE… button, the fallback is the Share button, then Save to Files, then Save. The page also warns about the other path: if you open a file in another app, "the file is downloaded to a temporary folder. When you close your Chrome window, the files are deleted from the temporary folder" ([*Download a file* (iPhone), Google Chrome Help](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95759?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS), read 10 October 2026). That page does not mention PDFs by name or a setting for how they open, and Google's *Manage PDFs in Chrome* help is written for computers and Android: when we asked for its iPhone edition, Google served the Android text, Android 12 requirement included ([*Manage PDFs in Chrome*, Google Chrome Help, iPhone link](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/16215622?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS), read 10 October 2026). So on iPhone, Save to Files each time is the documented route.

## Once it is downloaded

A downloaded PDF can still be hard to find again, because each browser and app picks its own folder. [Where downloaded PDFs land](https://docfindapp.com/answers/where-is-my-downloaded-pdf) walks through iPhone and Android, and if a PDF you saved now opens in the wrong app, [changing the default reader on Android](https://docfindapp.com/answers/the-default-pdf-reader-for-android) and [on iPhone](https://docfindapp.com/answers/change-pdf-reader-on-iphone) cover that.

Related: [Use Google's PDF viewer](https://docfindapp.com/answers/use-google-pdf-viewer) · [Where is my downloaded PDF?](https://docfindapp.com/answers/where-is-my-downloaded-pdf) · [The default PDF reader for Android](https://docfindapp.com/answers/the-default-pdf-reader-for-android) · [Change the PDF reader on iPhone](https://docfindapp.com/answers/change-pdf-reader-on-iphone)