You can allow or block Microsoft Edge from opening PDF files externally by changing some settings using Registry Editor or Group Policy Editor in Windows 11/10.

Make Edge download PDF files instead of opening them This guide will show you ways to change Microsoft Edge from being your default PDF reader.

In this guide, we'll show you the steps to use the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge as your default PDF viewer on Windows 10.

Microsoft is updating the PDF reader in the Edge browser with a useful new feature to help you annotate PDFs and highlight sections that might be locked.

Windows Defender setting In Windows Defender, you can also change Edge's SmartScreen to merely warn you when you are about to download a file it deems suspicious instead of it outright blocking it.