Skip to main content
Kofax

How to change the settings in PowerPDF for opening PDFs from websites

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF
Article # 3017060 - Page views: 9703

Issue:

How to change the settings in PowerPDF for opening PDFs from Websites.  For example, When a user clicks on a link to a PDF  on a website, it opens in a PowerPDF window and they want to open PDFs within IE. 

Resolution:

PowerPDF includes a standalone command line utility that will allow you to change the settings, DefaultViewer.exe

This can be found in the installation folder which is typically one of the two following locations:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\Power PDF\bin\DefaultViewer.exe OR

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\Power PDF 20\bin\DefaultViewer.exe OR

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\Power PDF 21\bin\DefaultViewer.exe OR

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\Power PDF 30\bin\DefaultViewer.exe

Here are the switches to use this utility:

To change the default pdf viewer in Explorer:

     To set the Power PDF as default PDF viewer:

     {PATH}\DefaultViewer.exe /SetDefault

     To reset the default PDF viewer:

     {PATH}\DefaultViewer.exe /SetBack

To change the behavior in IE:

     Open PDF's with the full Power PDF Application

     {PATH}\DefaultViewer.exe /OpenWithExe

     To open PDF's within Internet Explorer:  

     {PATH}\DefaultViewer.exe /OpenWithIE

Example path on my system:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\Power PDF 20\bin\DefaultViewer.exe /OpenWithExe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\Power PDF 20\bin\DefaultViewer.exe /OpenWithIE

Note: The path may change depending on the installation directory.  For example, with PowerPDF 2.1, the command is:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\Power PDF 21\bin\DefaultViewer.exe /OpenWithExe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\Power PDF 21\bin\DefaultViewer.exe /OpenWithIE