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After Maverick, Safari will not download PDF files

After upgrading to Maverick, I find I can no longer download PDF files. I have tried to export to PDF, Save as PDF and Print to PDF and each time it places a Zero Byte file on my desktop, but no PDF file. I now have to use Firefox to get PDF files.


Has anyone else experience this?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8)

Posted on Nov 30, 2013 3:02 PM

Reply
9 replies

Nov 30, 2013 5:43 PM in response to Longknife23

Back up all data.


If Adobe Reader or Acrobat is installed, there should be a setting in its preferences such as Display PDF in Browser. I don't use those applications myself, so I can't be more precise. Deselect that setting, if it's selected. Otherwise do as follows.


Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it, the copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:

/Library/Internet Plug-ins


In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder

from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-G. Paste into the text box that opens (command-V), then press return.

From the folder that opens, remove any items that have "Adobe" or “PDF” in the name. You may be prompted for your login password. Then quit and relaunch Safari, and test.

The "Silverlight" web plugin distributed by Microsoft can also interfere with PDF display in Safari, so you may need to remove it as well, if it's present. The same goes for a plugin called "iGetter," and perhaps others.

If you still have the issue, repeat with this line:

~/Library/Internet Plug-ins


If you don’t like the results of this procedure, restore the items from the backup you made before you started. Relaunch Safari again.

Feb 4, 2014 9:22 PM in response to Longknife23

I had the same problem, which was very frustrating because I have a work and a home computer both running Mavericks and it was only happening on the work computer.


The solution that finally worked for me was to open Preferences in Safari, go to the Security tab, and uncheck Allow plug ins. I am guessing that this disabled the Adobe plug-in which had been causing all the trouble. Since I don't have any other plug-ins, it wasn't a problem for me.

Apr 13, 2015 7:04 PM in response to Longknife23

I have used Schubert|it's PDF Browser plugin for years (http://www.schubert-it.com/pluginpdf/), as it makes downloading easy, shows bookmarks in a sidebar, and allows users to navigate hyperlinks embedded in a PDF.


However, in Yosemite I needed to enable the plugin in Safari > Preferences > Security > Internet plug-ins: √ Allow Plug-ins. Website Settings...PDF Browser Plugin (choose sites to allow)


Similarly, you need to enable the Adobe PDF Viewer plugin that comes with Adobe Reader if you prefer to use that plugin. The plugins are located in /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/. To avoid conflicts you should only have one PDF viewer plugin installed here at a time, and discard old versions. Adobe's instructions explain the same thing: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/display-pdf-browser-acrobat-xi.html

After Maverick, Safari will not download PDF files

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