Adobe Acrobat extension taking over Gmail PDFs? How to stop it

With the Adobe Acrobat extension for Chrome installed, clicking a PDF in Gmail is taken over by Acrobat and opens a new chrome-extension:// tab instead of Gmail's own preview. Attachment Preview's Preview button still opens normally while Acrobat is installed.

Option 1: Stop Acrobat taking over Gmail PDFs (keep the extension)

1. Click the puzzle icon (Extensions) in Chrome's toolbar.
2. Click Adobe Acrobat.
3. Click the three-dot menu, then Options.
4. On the Adobe Acrobat preferences page, open the General tab.
5. Under Open PDFs in Acrobat from your browser, uncheck Gmail.
6. Reload Gmail.

Online PDFs and Google Drive have separate checkboxes on that same screen. Leave those alone unless you also want to change them.

Option 2: Turn the extension off

1. Go to chrome://extensions.
2. Find Adobe Acrobat.
3. Switch it off (or click Remove).
4. Reload Gmail.

You can switch it back on any time.

Option 3: Preview PDFs inside Gmail with Attachment Preview

Attachment Preview is a free extension that adds a Preview button under PDFs in Gmail and shows them in its own viewer over your inbox. Checked in real Gmail: Preview still opens while the Acrobat extension is installed and enabled. You can keep Acrobat for editing and signing, and use Preview for a quick look without leaving the thread.

Questions

Will turning off the Acrobat extension uninstall Acrobat Reader?

No. The extension and the desktop app are separate. Turning off the extension only changes what Chrome does with PDFs.

I never installed it. Why is it there?

Adobe's help page says Acrobat Reader prompts you to install the extension when it is your default PDF app, so it may have been added during a Reader install or update.

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Related: Gmail PDF opens in a new tab