Windows – Microsoft Edge keeps taking over PDF file open/association

adobe-acrobatadobe-readerfile associationwindows 10

Every few days the file association for PDFs on my Windows 10 machine switches to Microsoft Edge.

I then right click on a PDF, choose "Open With -> Choose Another App", select Acrobat from the list, and check "Always use this app to open .PDF files".

Then for a few days it sticks, but always winds up going back to Microsoft Edge. I haven't figured out a pattern to suggest when/why this happens. It just does and is very annoying.

Does anyone have an idea of why this happens or how to permanently fix it?

Best Answer

This is a list of methods to stop Edge from taking over PDF. Hopefully one of them will work for you.

Method 1: Using Settings

  • Go to Start > Default Programs > Choose default apps
  • Scroll down to .pdf
  • If "Microsoft Edge" is listed on the right, click it and change to Adobe or else

Method 2: Using Context Menu

  • Right-click any .pdf
  • Select Open with > Choose another
  • Select the desired app, e.g. Adobe Acrobat Reader. If it is not listed, you will need to browse to its .exe file.
  • Click OK

Method 3: Using the Control Panel

  • Go to Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a program
  • Locate and click .pdf
  • Click on Change Program at the top right corner
  • Select your desired program, e.g. Adobe Acrobat Reader or .exe
  • Click OK

Method 4: Using Registry Editor

  • Start regedit

  • Navigate to

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\Repository\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_44.18362.267.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdge\Capabilities\FileAssociations

    (the key might change with future Edge versions)

  • Double-click the .pdf key and copy its value, probably AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723

  • Go to the following location
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723

  • In the right-pane, create two string values (REG_SZ) named NoOpenWith and NoStaticDefaultVerb with empty values

  • Exit the Registry Editor

  • Use "Default Programs" to re-associate the file type with your preferred program.

Method 5: Renaming Edge Launcher Files

  • Navigate to the following directory:
    C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
    It should contain the file MicrosoftPdfReader.exe.

  • Take ownership of the folder

  • Rename the files MicrosoftEdge.exe and MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe (if the latter exists) to some other name.

  • Reboot.

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