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On Ubuntu 10.10 I would like to change my default pdf viewer to acroread.

I do not have sudo privilidges, so I want to make this change for my own user only. Acroread is already installed.

Peter Smit
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    Does Right Click(pdf)->properties->Open With->Acroread->Choose default work? – Nemo Sep 16 '11 at 06:24
  • @Capt.Nemo Yeah it does. Could you add this as an answer? – Peter Smit Sep 16 '11 at 06:41
  • possible duplicate of [How can I change the default program for viewing pictures and photos?](http://askubuntu.com/questions/15418/how-can-i-change-the-default-program-for-viewing-pictures-and-photos) – enzotib Sep 16 '11 at 06:59

4 Answers4

111

To set the file associations :

  1. Right Click on the file
  2. Choose Properties
  3. Go to the Open With tab.
  4. Choose your file viewer. For eg. acroread.
  5. That's it. Click on close.

alt text

Also see this answer for an alternative method.

Community
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Nemo
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  • Why it doesn't let me add acreader? It's not even among the possibilities – M4rk May 13 '15 at 09:12
  • I don't think Adobe is detected because of the way it is installed. See bernaulli's answer for a workaround. – Nemo May 14 '15 at 11:25
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    If it's not being detected, then "sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/acroread.desktop" and change the line "Exec=acroread" to "Exec=acroread %U". Then it should show up on the list as described above. – Gsxr1k Jun 25 '16 at 17:30
  • @Gsxr1k: Thanks, that works for me in Fedora 26, while bernaulli's method didn't work. – justhalf Sep 21 '17 at 14:16
  • Still valid information for 22.04 :-) – markgraf Nov 22 '22 at 06:57
17

To set the default program to pdf

  1. gedit ~/.local/share/applications/defaults.list
  2. Add application/pdf=acroread.desktop or application/pdf=AdobeReader.desktop

The correct name of the .desktop file can be found in /usr/share/applications/

This will set the pdf default program as adobe reader

rosch
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bernaulli
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    I edited the post without being connected so I don’t know if it will go through peer review. Anyway, **on ubuntu 16.04** the file to edit is `~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list`. – Ulysse BN Feb 19 '17 at 19:57
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An update for Ubuntu 13.04. I am, however, using Gnome fallback session with no effects.

I wanted to use Foxit Reader 1.1 for my default PDF viewer, but I couldn't add it through right-click in file manager and "Open With," right-click properties and "Open With," or through "System Setting" → "Details" → "Default Applications".

What did work for me was "Ubuntu Tweak":

  1. The PDF default is under the "Admins" tab, then click the "Applications Centre".
  2. Look for "All" in the "Category" column on the far left.
  3. Scroll down to find the "PDF" file type and the "Associated Application".
  4. Double-click to change (brings up a window) where you can "Add" an application through one provided or find your own.
user.dz
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timmay143
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4

An update for recent Ubuntu and Gnome. You can change default app setting on nano ~/.config/mimeapps.list for more information see https://help.gnome.org/admin/system-admin-guide/stable/mime-types-application-user.html.en

Bapi
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