When I click a PDF link, my Mac gives me no options, it just opens a window to download and save the PDF. I just want to see the PDF, either in a preview or in a new tab window. I cannot find a way to achieve that.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.6
This is a function of website code. If the website is coded to render a PDF directly in the browser that's what it will do. If it is not, then you will be prompted to download it.
I suppose there may be Safari Extensions to force it one way or another, so if you installed something like that uninstall it.
You could always secondary-click the link and choose an option from the dropdown menu.
Regardless of how you view the PDF it will be downloaded to the Mac.
There is simply no way to view the PDF without downloading it.
Most PDF viewers you see in website, still download the PDF, they just don't make it clear, or place it in the Downloads folder, but it is still downloaded to the browsers local cache storage.
Whether it opens directly or downloads to the downloads folder is up to the website. You cannot force it one way or the other.
Thanks for the quick response. My issue is when I click on a PDF, a save box opens and I have to save the PDF to a folder on my Mac. I don’t want to have to save it to see it. I’d like to just open it in Preview or in another Safari tab but I can’t find a way to accomplish that.
Thanks. When I do the secondary click all options require downloading. I understand what you are saying about it could stem from website coding, however, it seems that it happens w all websites. I can accomplish the viewing without having to save & download on both the iPhone and iPad but not on the Mac.
Perhaps there is something wrong, but I don't know what it might be. We can explore that later. For now please read https://www.w3docs.com/snippets/html/how-to-embed-pdf-in-html.html, which explains how PDFs are coded to be embedded or not. Moreover, it has an example that you can click (PDF Example) that renders in Safari. It should work.
SEE a PDF w/o download on Mac
