Safari: PDFs now open directly in Safari instead of in Preview

  • Last Modified: August 08, 2008
  • Article: HT2672
  • Old Article: 301878

Summary

When using the latest version of Safari with Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger," PDF links that you click will now open directly in the Safari window for your viewing convenience. Before Tiger, PDFs would open in Preview.

Products Affected

Safari, Mac OS X 10.4

If you still prefer Preview, simply Control-click the PDF link (or right click on a two-button mouse) and choose Download Linked File from the shortcut menu. Once the file is on your desktop, double-click it to open in Preview.

Notes:

  1. In addition to Control-clicking the link and selecting Download Linked File as described above, you also have the choice of using Option-click on the link to shortcut the process even further.
  2. If you do open a PDF in a Safari window, you can Control-click on the PDF itself and choose Open with Preview.
  3. Due to certain server configurations, some PDFs will still download to your desktop instead of opening in a Safari window.
  4. If you use a third-party PDF plug-in for Safari, it will block Safari's built-in PDF support.
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