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Safari 6.01 won't open PDF's after installing Flash

Safari has always displayed PDF's downloaded via web links. This afternoon I installed the Flash pluggin and now Safari downloads PDF's rather than displaying them.


I checked HDD/Library/Internet Plug-Ins and there are no Adobe or other PDF pluggins.


Safari 6.01 / OS X 10.8.2


Thanks.

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Sep 25, 2012 5:57 PM

Reply
31 replies

Sep 26, 2012 11:00 AM in response to Last Chance Rand

Back up all data. Quit Safari.

In the Finder, select Go Go to Folder from the menu bar, copy the text on the line below into the box that opens, and press return:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist

A Finder window will open with an item selected. Move the selected item to the Desktop, leaving the window open.

Launch Safari and test. Its settings will have reverted to what they were they first time you launched it. If it works as expected, recreate the settings and delete the item you moved to the Desktop. Otherwise, quit Safari again and put the file you moved back where it was, overwriting the newer one created in its place. Post your results.

Dec 4, 2012 4:25 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc, just happened to find your reply here when searching for an answer to my same problem. However, doing what you suggest doesn't fix it. When I click a PDF link in an email or browser I get the following:


"The Adobe Acrobat/Reader selected for viewing PDF documents in browsers cannot be found at its installed location; it may have been moved or deleted.


Please reinstall or repair the application. (16:9)"


I have completely uninstalled Acrobat Reader using AppCleaner...not merely dragging it's icon into Trash. If I open an actual PDF file on my computer, it opens now just fine in Preview (which is what I want). But if I right-click it, though Preview is shown as the default app for opening PDF files at the top of the list, Acrobat Reader is still in the list. I want Acrobat TOTALLY off my computer, but apparently there is some trace of it still there.

Jan 7, 2013 10:37 AM in response to Matt Bianco

Trashing com.apple.Safari.plist didn't work for me.


Matt Bianco's solution worked for me... I trashed the plug-in AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin file and PDF's are viewable again. Follow these steps:


Quit Safari.


In the Finder, select Go Go to Folder from the menu bar, copy the text on the line below into the box that opens, and press return:


/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin


Copy it to your desktop... it will make a copy. Then delete the original... which will require your password.


Re-open Safari and try to view a PDF in Safari. If it works you can delete the copy of AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin on your desktop. If it doesn't work, copy the file back into the Internet Plug-ins folder and post your results.

Jan 29, 2013 1:01 PM in response to syndicated

I had the same problem, and was happy to find this very useful discussion.


For me, trashing com.apple.Safari.plist didn't change anything.


When I tried the Go > Go to Folder /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin, the search string came up empty (no file by that name.)


When I went directly to /Library/ Internet Plug-Ins, I found the file AdobePDFViewer.plugin, which aparently an older 2008 version of the NPAPI plugin. I moved this file to the desktop, and deleted the plugin. After restarting Safari, everything works fine. Aparently the older Adobe plugin file was migrated to my iMac when I upgraded from an older computer.


Thanks for the help!

Feb 10, 2013 3:48 AM in response to Redlandsrunner

Same thing happened to me Redlandsrunner. I bought a new mac and found safari pdfs worked fine, then I migrated files from my old mac (which hadn't been viewing pdfs) and sure enough pdfs wouldn't open within the browser- I'd transferred the problem over 😕

But I deleted the AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin, restarted Safari and it works again!!!! 😀


Thanks for all the posts everyone, it's great to find others who've found answers to problems.

Safari 6.01 won't open PDF's after installing Flash

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