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pdf from safari won't open

When I save as a pdf from Safari, I get a file that "Acrobat could not open because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged (for example, it was sent as an email attachment and wasn't correctly decoded).

iMac and Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on Mar 12, 2014 10:43 AM

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2 replies

Mar 12, 2014 11:26 AM in response to tim heitzman

Back up all data before making any changes. Please take each of the following steps until the problem is resolved.

Step 1

If Adobe Reader or Acrobat is installed, and the problem is just that you can't print PDF's displayed in Safari, you may be able to print by moving the cursor to the the bottom edge of the page, somewhere near the middle. A black toolbar may appear under the cursor. Click the printer icon.

Step 2

There should be a setting in its preferences of the Adobe application 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.

Step 3

If you get a message such as ""Adobe Reader blocked for this website," then from the Safari menu bar, select


Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Security


and check the box marked


Allow Plug-ins


Then click


Manage Website Settings...

and make any required changes to the security settings for the Adobe PDF plugin.

Step 4

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, move to the Trash any items that have "Adobe" or “PDF” in the name. You may be prompted for your login password. Then quit and relaunch Safari.

Step 5

The "Silverlight" web plugin distributed by Microsoft can interfere with PDF display in Safari, so you may need to remove it, if it's present. The same goes for a plugin called "iGetter," and perhaps others — I don't have a complete list. Don't remove Silverlight if you use the "Netflix" video-streaming service.

Step 6


Do as in Step 4 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.

Mar 24, 2014 4:07 PM in response to Linc Davis

This worked great for me! Thank you!


It is important to note that the entire procedure was necessary to fix this problem, at least for my set up. I've been fighting with this for some months now, and although I have tried the first 3 steps (setting the Safari preferences)--and tried them unsuccessfully--I had not before seen the recommendation to remove items from the /Library/Internet Plug-ins/ folder. It did the trick for me.


Thank you, thank you, thank you!

pdf from safari won't open

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