Ubuntu – Changing default app for PDF

adobe-acrobatpdf

I'm using ubuntu 14.04. I want to set acrobat reader as a default app for PDF files. Right clicking and going "open with" does not get me anywhere because app is not listed. not even under "other applications. Same thing with going through properties and selecting "open with".

I also tried doing it this way:
going to /etc/gnome/defaults.list and change the line:

application/pdf=evince.desktop

to:

application/pdf=acroread.desktop

This just gave me an error and would not open PDF file at all. Please help.
I'm new to Linux and I'm not computer savvy.

Best Answer

Right click on the pdf file, then select Properties. In the Properties window, select the Open With tab. Find Acrobat Reader in the list of applications and select it, then press the button that says Set as Default. That should do it!

Here's an example of what that window looks like (it was taken from this How-to-Geek article):

enter image description here

Lightweight

evince - the default document viewer on Gnome/Ubuntu, with support for PDF, PostScript, and a few other formats. Can fill forms, highlight text, and annotate. Normal text selection. Remembers window size and document zoom. Dark mode. [install]
qpdfview (see answer) - tabbed interface, can fill forms, remembers window size and document zoom. Block selection by holding Shift. [install]
MuPDF - extremely fast and minimalistic. Block selection by dragging with the right mouse button, search with /. Can't annotate, fill forms, sign, or anything else. Doesn't remember the zoom factor, or the window size/position. [install]
Zathura - extremely fast and minimalistic (uses the MuPDF ending via a plugin system). Keyboard-navigation, bookmarks, auto-reload on changes. Block selection by dragging with the left mouse button. No form filling or other features. Doesn't remember the zoom factor, or the window size/position. [install]
xpdf - "Xpdf is a small and efficient program which uses standard X fonts". Lightweight, but with outdated interface. [install]
gv - an old lightweight pdf viewer with an old interface. Size of the package is only 580k. gv is an X front-end for the Ghostscript PostScript(TM) interpreter. [install]

Full-featured

okular - Multi-format document viewer (PDF, CHM, ePub, others). Requires many KDE prerequisites. Can easily copy text and images. May be slow and have issues with printing. [install]
Browsers like Firefox and Chromium derivatives also have great support for PDF viewing and form filling, but no support for annotations or signatures.

Non-FOSS

Foxit Reader - View, create, convert, annotate, print, collaborate, share, fill forms and sign.
PDF Studio Viewer - free version can annotate, fill&save forms. Paid versions can sign, OCR, split/merge/insert/remove/rotate pages, add watermarks/header/footer/bookmarks, edit, redact, compare, optimize, batch process etc.
Master PDF Editor - View, create, modify, fill forms, sign, scan, OCR, annotate, split/insert/remove/rotate pages, add bookmarks. Free version allows editing text and objects, annotating, and filling forms.

Unsupported/outdated

kpdf - Extremely outdated (2008) PDF viewer based on xpdf, for KDE 3. [install]
acroread - Adobe Acrobat Reader, no longer supported for Linux by Adobe, seems to be no longer supported by Ubuntu.

Ubuntu – How to make Master PDF Editor the default for .pdf files

If Master PDF Editor (MPE) is not listed all you need is to create a MasterPdfEditor.desktop file. Just press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open Terminal. When it opens, run the command(s) below:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/MasterPdfEditor.desktop

Copy and paste the following, and then save and close the file. (Note that the *.desktop files should be in /usr/share/applications).

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Master PDF Editor
Comment=PDF and XPS files editor
Exec=/opt/master-pdf-editor/master-pdf-editor %f
Path=/opt/master-pdf-editor
Icon=/opt/master-pdf-editor/master-pdf-editor.png
Type=Application
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false
Categories=PDF Editor;XPS Editor;Office;Utility;Text Editor;

Then

Right click on the PDF file --> Open With --> Open With Other Application

enter image description here

If you don't see Master PDF Editor in the list, click on Show Other Applications

enter image description here

Scroll down to Master PDF Editor, highlight it, and click on Use as Default.

enter image description here

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – What PDF viewers are available for Ubuntu

Lightweight

Full-featured

Non-FOSS

Unsupported/outdated

Ubuntu – How to make Master PDF Editor the default for .pdf files

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