PDF files in Airtable attachment fields are automatically downloading instead of displaying in web browser window

Airtable Questions
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One of my Airtable consulting clients contacted me today because he was having a strange problem with viewing PDF files in Airtable attachment fields.

The problem was that whenever he tried to view a PDF file in an attachment field, Airtable was forcing him to download the PDF to his computer in order to view the PDF file, instead of Airtable displaying the attachment onscreen within Airtable.

He thought that it might be some sort of an Airtable bug, but when I asked him to try it in different web browsers, it worked just fine in different web browsers.

It was only happening in the Google Chrome web browser, and what made the problem even more confusing was that it was also happening in Chrome’s Incognito mode as well.

I asked him if he had any extensions installed that might be interfering with viewing PDF documents inline within his web browser, but he did not have any extensions installed.

Finally, we discovered what the problem was. It was a PDF setting that was deeply buried within Chrome’s settings, and this setting affects BOTH normal mode AND incognito mode.

If you’re having the same problem with Airtable’s attachment fields in Chrome, here’s how you can resolve it:

  1. In Chrome, click on the 3 vertical dots in the upper right corner of your web browser window, and pull down to “Settings”.

  2. Once you’re in Settings, in the left margin, click on “Privacy and Security”.

  3. In the middle of the screen, click on “Site Settings”.

  4. Then, scroll all the way down to “Additional Content Settings”.

  5. Clicking on this will open up an additional panel of settings, where you will see “PDF documents”.

  6. Click on “PDF documents”, and you will have the option to either download PDFs or open PDFs in Chrome. Choose to open PDFs in Chrome, and this will resolve the problem! :slight_smile:

Hope this helps somebody in the future! :slight_smile:

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