MacNN Forums - Can't open pdf in safari

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steve666

Jan 31, 2013 02:03 PM

Can't open pdf in safari

Hey all,

I get a message that the browser won't open a pdf. I thought it was supposed to be built in, do i have to install adobe reader? Thanks

jmiddel

Jan 31, 2013 07:14 PM

Safari does open pdf files, I just tried it. Is this for all pdfs? And what is the message exactly?

steve666

Jan 31, 2013 08:25 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by jmiddel (Post 4214990)

Safari does open pdf files, I just tried it. Is this for all pdfs? And what is the message exactly?

I tried to copy and paste it but it wouldnt let me. Basically said it couldn't open because something was missing and to fix it and try again.
I had downloaded adobe reader before and then deleted it. I wonder if that caused all these issues?
Adobe doesn't have reader in the apps store and I'm leery of downloading it again but I might have no choice

Curiosity

Jan 31, 2013 11:17 PM

I just did that with Safari, both from the Internet, and by dragging and dropping a .pdf file onto the Safari window. It works.

steve666

Feb 1, 2013 12:06 AM

Something is wrong somewhere then, I may never find out

steve666

Feb 1, 2013 12:37 AM

OK, here is the message. Outside of safari a pdf opened in preview. I dragged it over the safari icon and this is the message:

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)

Curiosity

Feb 1, 2013 11:30 PM

What happens if you select a local .pdf file, press Cmd-i, choose "Open with:", select Preview.app and click the "Change All:" button? Does that fix it?

steve666

Feb 2, 2013 12:09 AM

It wouldn't let me choose preview to open it.
I downloaded adobe reader and now it works fine.

I think when i first had reader than deleted it I also deleted the safari plugin that allowed pdfs to be read within safari. This was the only fix I could come up with

Spheric Harlot

Feb 2, 2013 04:32 AM

Unlikely. You probably deleted Adobe Reader but did NOT delete its plug-in. So the plug-in grabbed the PDF, but the actual Reader engine wasn't available to do the work.

I don't have Reader installed, though, so this is guessing. I won't let it touch my system. I really hate the way Reader handles PDFs in Safari.

steve666

Feb 2, 2013 09:37 AM

I had used easy find to find all things related to reader and deleted them, I guess I went too far! I actually prefer the way reader handles pdf's but it is a big program-400 mb.
Oh well, lesson learned

Spheric Harlot

Feb 2, 2013 10:18 AM

Do you still have the
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CorePDF.framework
and
/Library/PDF Services
folders, as well as the
/System/Library/Components/PDFImporter.component
System component?

If yes, then it's probably Reader remnants that are still in your way.

If not, then it's most easily fixed by reinstalling the system (which will re-install all of these default components, as well).

steve666

Feb 2, 2013 01:02 PM

I'll check when I get home tomorrow night, but a re-nstall I wouldn't look forward to!

Quote, Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot (Post 4215213)

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