Purpose
The purpose of this guide is to assist users who experience issues viewing PDFs in their web browser—especially when accessing PDFs through MyCWI. This document provides steps for downloading the PDF directly and outlines how to adjust browser settings in Chrome and Firefox to automatically download PDFs instead of opening them in the built-in viewer. This ensures more reliable access and prevents display or loading issues.
Process
If You Cannot View the PDF in Your Browser
If a PDF will not load in your browser viewer, download it directly to your computer.
Downloading a PDF from MyCWI
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Firefox: Click the three dots (…) next to the file, then click the three dots (…) again and choose Download a copy.
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Chrome: Open the menu (three vertical dots ⋮) and choose the download option for the file.
Tip: Downloading the PDF bypasses the browser’s built-in viewer, which often resolves loading issues.
Permanent Fix: Change Browser Settings to Always Download PDFs
Adjusting your browser’s PDF settings allows PDFs to download automatically instead of opening inside the browser viewer.
Note: For this method, you will need a standalone PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.
⚠ Internet Explorer (IE) and Microsoft Edge
IE and Edge do not allow overriding PDF viewer settings.
You must manually download the PDF each time.
Chrome:
1. Click the three dots ⋮ in the top-right corner.
2. Select Settings.
3. On the left side, click Privacy and security.
4. Select “Site Settings”. (Scroll down and click Site settings)
5. Find and open “Additional content settings”. Expand it (click the little arrow ▼).
6. Click “PDF documents”
7. Click "Download PDFs" instead of automatically opening them in Chrome.
FireFox:
1. Open Firefox Settings
Click the menu button (☰) in the top-right corner.
2. Choose General on your top left side of menu
3. Scroll down to “Applications”
You’ll see it listed under Content Type.
Change the Action: Next to it, click the dropdown menu.
Choose: “Save File”- to make Firefox download the PDF instead of opening it or you can use open in browser or any option provided accordingly.
