If you receive a message "Please wait..." or "Error opening PDF form" when opening a PDF in your browser, this means your browser is using a non-standard PDF viewer to display the PDF (Read more on Adobe's website). In order to display forms correctly, all PDFs must be opened using Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.
Adobe Reader is available to download for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.
Solution 1 - Save the PDF
Save the PDF from the eDocs website:
- Chrome
- Right click anywhere in the error message and select "Save As" (or use the Ctrl+S buttons on your keyboard).
- Choose a location and then click "Save" to save the PDF to your computer.
- After saving the PDF, right click on the PDF file and select Open With Adobe Reader (or Acrobat).
- Edge
- Right click anywhere in the error message and select "Save" (or use the Ctrl+S buttons on your keyboard).
- Choose a location and then click "Save" to save the PDF to your computer.
- After saving the PDF, right click on the PDF file and select Open With Adobe Reader (or Acrobat).
- Firefox
- The form will seem to display, but it will not be a PDF.
- To download, select Download icon (looks like a folder with a down arrow)
- Choose a location and then click "Save" to save the PDF to your computer
- The PDF will be named 'form.pdf'
- After saving the PDF, right click on the PDF file and select Open With Adobe Reader (or Acrobat).
- Safari (Mac)
- Go to "File" then "Save As" (or ⌘+S)
- Choose a location and then click "Save" to save the PDF to your computer.
- After saving the PDF, right click on the PDF file and select Open With Adobe Reader (or Acrobat).
NOTE: If you use any other PDF viewer, the form will not open correctly.
Solution 2 - Change the default PDF viewer
Chrome
- At the top right in Chrome, click "Customize and control Google Chrome"
- Click "Settings"
- In "Privacy and security", click "Site settings"
- Go to the "Content" section, and click "PDF documents" (if it's not showing, select "Additional content settings")
- For the default behavior, select "Download PDFs"
All future PDFs selected in Chrome will be downloaded to your computer.
Note: Verified in version 116
Edge
- Go to 'Setting and more' (Alt+F)
- Select 'Settings'
- Go to 'Cookies and site permissions'
- Scroll to 'PDF documents' and select it
- Toggle 'Always download PDF files' to 'on'
Note: Verified in version 116
Firefox
- Choose 'Open application menu' and go to Settings
- In the 'Find in Settings' search box, enter 'PDF' and hit enter
- In the Applications list, find the 'Portable Document Format (PDF)' content type
- In the Action, select:
- 'Save file' OR
- If Adobe Reader is the default software that opens PDFs on your computer, 'Use Windows default application'
Note: Verified in version 102.14
Safari (Mac)
You will need to change the default PDF viewer to Adobe Reader.
- Download the PDF to your computer
- CTRL+Click the PDF and select "Open With" and then "Other"
- Find Adobe Reader in the application list and check the "Always Open With" checkbox
- Click "Open"
You will only need to do these steps once. All future PDFs will open in Adobe Reader by default.
Other solutions
- If you are attempting to access a form PDF from a mobile or tablet device, it may not work. Instead, open the PDF on a desktop computer.
- You may be using an old version of Adobe Reader. Make sure to upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader.
If you have questions, contact the eDocs HelpDesk.
As long as you have a current version of Adobe Reader installed, you can save data in a PDF form.
To save data in a PDF form:
- Save the PDF file to your computer before you fill in any fields.
- Right click on the file and select Open With Adobe Reader (or Acrobat).
Note: If you are using Microsoft Edge browser, be sure to save the PDF file before entering data into the form. If you don’t, the PDF file will become corrupted, and you won't be able to save data in the form. If you open a PDF and see this error message when you try to save the file: "The document could not be saved. There was a problem reading this document (105)," it's because the PDF file is corrupted. If this happens, you will need to re-download the PDF to get an uncorrupted file.
If data does not save in a PDF form, contact the eDocs HelpDesk.