Adobe recently added a browser extension to its Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software. Adobe tries to automatically install the extension in Google Chrome, but Chrome asks your permission before enabling it.
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Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software is the free global standard for reliably viewing, printing, and commenting on PDF documents. And now, it's connected to the Adobe Document Cloud − making it easier than ever to work across computers and mobile devices.
Hello, Thanks for responding. I have a Surface RT 8.1 and Adobe reader installed and I use it. How do I add it in my adds on? Your help is much appreciated.
The Edge browser will be the default browser, and Internet Explorer 11 will be available to support legacy workflows. The new Edge browser will not have any support for ActiveX plug-ins. Therefore, the Acrobat/Reader plug-in won't work with Edge. For more information, see Change in support for Acrobat and Reader plug-ins in modern web browsers.
At the moment, this extension is only offered on Windows, and only for Google Chrome. Adobe may enable it on other browsers and operating systems in the future.
It Offers Features You Don’t Need, That Are Already Part of Chrome
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First things first: you don’t need this extension to view PDF documents in Google Chrome. Google Chrome has an integrated PDF reader, and the Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF-reading plugin is separate from the extension. You don’t even need to enable the extension to use Adobe Reader normally.
Click “Remove from Chrome” and you can continue viewing PDFs and using Adobe Reader normally.
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This browser extension provides a few other features, too—none of which you need. Its toolbar icon says it can “Convert current web page to an Adobe PDF File.” That sounds convenient, but you can print to PDF in Chrome without any additional software. Just click the menu button, select “Print”, click the “Change” button under Destination, and select “Save as PDF”. Print the document from here and Chrome will save it as a PDF file. Windows 10 now has built-in PDF printing, too.
The extension’s toolbar button also allows you to quickly switch from viewing PDFs to opening them in Acrobat Reader DC on your desktop.
However, this is also a feature that’s available in Chrome without the browser extension. While viewing a PDF in Chrome’s built-in PDF reader, you can click the “Download” button at the top right corner of the PDF reader page to download it to your desktop and then open it in Adobe Reader DC.
The Extension Shares Anonymous Usage Data With Adobe
The Adobe Acrobat extension is raising eyebrows because of the permissions it asks for. It wants to “read and change all your data on the websites you visit”, “manage your downloads”, and “communicate with cooperating native applications”. This actually isn’t too unusual—browser extensions normally need a lot of permissions to integrate with your web browsing.
However, Adobe also enables the “Adobe Product Improvement Program” when you install the extension. By default, the extension “sends anonymous usage information to Adobe for product improvement purposes”. If you want to disable this feature while using the extension, you can right-click the “Adobe Reader” extension icon on Chrome’s toolbar, click “Options”, uncheck the box, and click “Save”.
Adobe provides more details about what’s collected, and the program doesn’t look as bad as it might sound. Adobe’s web page claims it only collections information about your browser type, Adobe Reader version, and the features you use in the extension itself. Adobe claims it doesn’t collect usage information about your web browsing, as you might suspect from the extensive permissions the software asks for.
Bottom Line: You Probably Shouldn’t Install the Extension
This extension is getting negative attention because Adobe is attempting to automatically install it in Chrome through an automatic Adobe Reader DC update. These updates are normally used to install security updates. Automatic updates may add new features to Adobe Reader DC itself, but people don’t expect them to install browser extensions in the background.
If you look into it, the extension isn’t as bad as it might seem. It offers some features most people don’t need at all, but it doesn’t share as much “anonymous usage information” as you might think. It’s arguably not really “spyware,” as it’s been dubbed by some websites.
But we still don’t recommend using this browser extension. We recommend using as few browser extensions as possible to stay secure, and installing a browser extension with hefty access to your system and the ability to communicate with Adobe Reader—a program that’s had quite a few security problems in the past—doesn’t seem like a great idea.
If you installed the extension and no longer want it, uninstall it from within Chrome. Click Chrome’s menu button, select More Tools > Extensions, and click the trash can to the right of “Adobe Acrobat” to remove it from your browser.
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You can open PDFs on a web page either within your web browser or in Acrobat or Reader. Find instructions specific to each browser below.
Note:
Each browser has its own settings to control how PDFs open from a web page. Acrobat and Acrobat Reader do not include a preference setting to open web-based PDFs. To change the display behavior, follow the instructions below for your browser, or see the browser documentation on how to control plug-ins or add-ons.
Open Internet Explorer, and choose Tools > Manage Add-ons.
Under Add-on Types, select Toolbars and Extensions.
Select All Add-ons from the Show menu in the Manage Add-ons dialog box.
Note:
If you do not see the Adobe PDF Reader add-on, try the other options on the menu. For example, on some systems, the add-on appears when you select Run Without Permission.
Click the Enable or Disable button (it toggles depending on the status of the selected add-on):
Enable sets the Adobe PDF Reader add-on to open PDFs in the browser.
Disable turns off the add-on so it does not open PDFs in the browser.
Select Adobe PDF Reader, and click the Enable/Disable button.
For more information, see the Internet Explorer help topic Manage add-ons in Internet Explorer.
Microsoft Windows 10 will ship with two browsers: Internet Explorer 11 and the new Edge browser.
The Edge browser will be the default browser, and Internet Explorer 11 will be available to support legacy workflows. The new Edge browser will not have any support for ActiveX plug-ins. Therefore, the Acrobat/Reader plug-in won't work with Edge. For more information, see Change in support for Acrobat and Reader plug-ins in modern web browsers.
Use Internet Explorer 11 to open PDFs. To enable the Acrobat/Reader plug-in in Internet Explorer, see the steps in the previous section.
The Acrobat/Reader plug-in for Mozilla Firefox is based on Netscape Plug-In API (NPAPI), which is supported only till Firefox version 51. With Firefox version 52, support for NPAPI plug-ins is removed, and hence the current Acrobat/Reader plug-in will not work.
The Acrobat/Reader plug-in for Google Chrome is based on the Netscape Plug-In API (NPAPI) technology. Google announced that in April 2015 NPAPI plug-in support would be disabled by default in the Google Chrome web browser, with an override capability for advanced users. In September 2015, NPAPI support in the Google Chrome web browser was removed entirely.
For more information, see Change in support for Acrobat and Reader plug-ins in modern web browsers.
Note:
The Acrobat/Reader plug-in for Apple Safari is based on Netscape Plug-In API (NPAPI), which is supported only till Safari version 11. In Safari 12, support for NPAPI plug-ins is removed, and hence the current Acrobat/Reader plug-in will not work.
To view PDFs with Safari, you can do one of the following:
Set Safari preferences to use Adobe Reader plug-in
Disable AdobePDFViewer plug-in to use the default Safari PDF viewer
Set Safari preferences to use Adobe Reader plug-in to view PDFs
In the Preferences window, choose Security and then click the Website Settings button for Internet plug-ins.
Now select Adobe Reader in the list of plug-ins.
Under the option When visiting other Websites, in the drop-down list, choose Allow Always and then click Done.
Note:
This will set the browser to use the Adobe Reader plug-in to view PDFs.
Disable AdobePDFViewer plug-in to use the default Safari PDF viewer
You must have root user privileges to change Safari plug-ins. To display PDFs using the Safari PDF viewer, you must disable the Adobe PDF Viewer.
Log in as the root user. The root user privileges aren't enabled by default because the root user can change system files. For more information and instructions, see one of the following Apple documents: Enabling and using the 'root' user in Mac OS X or OS X Mountain Lion: Enable and disable the root user.
Type /Library in the Go to the Folder field, and click Go.
Create a new folder in the Library folder, and name it Internet Plug-ins Disabled.
Open the Internet Plug-ins folder, and move both the AdobePDFViewer.plugin and the AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin into the new Internet Plug-ins Disabled folder.
Note:
If both AdobePDFViewer plug-ins are still in the Internet Plug-ins folder, drag them now to the trash. You may be asked for your name and password.
For more information on disabling or removing plug-ins, see Apple Safari help.
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