Default PDF Reader Stuck on Edge

alexrogansbeta
It doesn't matter what I do, Zotero will only open PDFs either in the Zotero browser, or Edge. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Zotero. I have toggled the default options endlessly. I have uninstalled and reinstalled my PDF app (DrawboardPDF) twice. I have reset my computer. Etc. I don't understand what is going on. It worked perfectly on my old laptop, but with this new one it simply doesn't want to recognize the system default. Help!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Can you provide a Debug ID for reproducing this?
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited 5 days ago
    Oh, wait, you're saying you want it to open DrawboardPDF? (Saying "stuck on Edge" is confusing if you're then saying PDFs open fine in the Zotero reader.) I'd guess that DrawboardPDF is a Windows Store/UWP app, which Zotero can't open. There might be different ways to install it that would allow it to work.
  • alexrogansbeta
    Hi datillman. Thanks for asking, and apologies for wording it weirdly. What I mean is that no matter what I change the windows 11 default app for PDFs to (whether DrawboardPDF or Adobe or Word) the only non-Zotero app it will open upon clicking a PDF in Zotero is Edge.

    I have just recieved a new PC. So, it is essentially fresh out of the box with a brand new install of Windows 11. My previous PC (also Windows 11) was able to open DrawboardPDF no problem. Used it for 6 years like that through various iterations of Zotero. Not sure what has changed with this fresh install.

    I would be happy to provide a debug if you can tell me how, haha.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    I linked to instructions.
  • alexrogansbeta
    Hello again! Thanks for that. I've now created the log. ID#: D787173696.

    What it should have recorded was me opening Zotero, choosing a PDF that sits in a collection. It opened the PDF in Edge even though the system default is set to DrawbardPDF. Then I went into the settings and switch the default PDF action to Zotero, returned to the item, double-clicked it and it opened in the Zotero reader, as expected. I then went back into the settings and switched it back to System Default, tried to reopen the file, but it launched in Edge.

    I have double and triple verified that the system default is set to Drawboard.

    Thanks for your help!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited 4 days ago
    (3)(+0000001): System handler is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe
    Oh, well if you're using System Default, that's not a Zotero issue. You just haven't set the right system default. Sorry, I thought you were saying you set the handler directly in Zotero.

    You'll need to figure out where in Windows it's still set to open PDFs in Edge — if you're getting this, something is.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    (Or you can set the handler directly in Zotero. And if you can't select DrawboardPDF that way, it's because of the kind of app it is.)
  • alexrogansbeta
    I understand what you're saying, but everywhere else in Windows it defaults to Drawboard. If I doubleclick a PDF in file explorer, it opens in Drawboard. If I open a PDF link in an email, it opens in Drawboard. You can see in the attached image that the .pdf is set to Drawboard PDF. But it is *only* in Zotero that it is not launching Drawboard.
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u6300801/d3yhnvvhga8op5b1q5yw.png
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    I can't tell you more than what I've said. Zotero obviously doesn't include a hard-coded path to edge.exe in C:\Program Files (x86) anywhere, so it has to be configured somewhere on your system. You can look up other places to configure this — that's a Windows question, not a Zotero one.

    It looks like I was indeed remembering correctly that DrawboardPDF is a UWP app and can't be set as the PDF handler directly. That thread did say it worked as the system default, but clearly something on your system is still set to Edge. I'm afraid you'll need to figure out where. The makers of DrawboardPDF are likely better able to answer this.
  • alexrogansbeta
    edited 4 days ago
    Im certainly ameniable to the idea that it is an issue with Drawboard, and I have reached out to them. But, I do not think that is the case, and here's why: if I set the system default for PDFs to a different app, Zotero still opens it in Edge.

    To test this, I just uninstalled Drawboard after deleting all its app data. I then set the default PDF app to Word, as shown below:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u6300801/bcrzqfzimm6bfaxsln8d.png

    I checked to make sure this was working in every place that isn't Zotero. So, for example, here you can see in the File Explorer system that the icons for the PDFs have changed to Word. And, when I opened it, it tried to open the PDF in Word:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u6300801/3jf76ewgmpsjwxc0dn2j.png

    I then went back and opened Zotero, double-checked to make sure it is set to system default:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u6300801/0i2eepdt4ovkms330cyw.png

    Finally, I tried to open a PDF straight from Zotero. It opened it in Edge again.

    Here's the debug log for that last instance: D1236899729
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited today at 2:58pm
    OK, it looks like recent Windows 11 versions introduced a new mechanism for protected associations for some file types, including PDFs. Zotero is still checking the older registry key, which defaults to Edge.

    We'll look into supporting the new mechanism. Drawboard being a UWP app likely still means we can't support opening to a specific page number, as we can with non-UWP apps, but hopefully we can at least open the PDF there.
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