Why PDFs open within a web browser window instead of downloading automatically

Your web browser's default settings determine how PDFs are opened and treated by your computer when accessing them from a web page. 

Most PDFs will open in a new window of your web browser, rather than downloading directly to your computer. It is possible to change this default on your own computer, which will allow you to set whether PDFs open in a browser window or download to file. How to change this default will depend on what web browser you are using:

Google Chrome

1. Open the Google Chrome web browser 
2. Click the three dots on the top right
3. Select Settings
4. Select Privacy and security on the left hand side
5. Select Site settings
6. Scroll down and select Additional content settings
7. Scroll down and select PDF documents
8. Under "default behaviour" select the option Download PDFs

Microsoft Edge - Windows 10

1. Open Edge
2. Click the three dots on the top right
3. Select Settings
4. Go to Cookies and site permissions
5. Scroll down and select PDF documents
6. Turn the toggle on for Always download PDF files

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the Mozilla Firefox web browser
2. Click the menu icon (the three horizontal bars) 
3. Select Settings
4. Scroll down to the Applications section
5. Find and select Portable Document Format (PDF)
6. In the column called Action, click the down arrow to the right and select the desired behaviour.