Fix “Please Wait” When Opening PDFs (Browser or Teams)

If a PDF file displays a “Please Wait” message in your web browser or inside Microsoft Teams and never loads, it means the file is opening in a built-in PDF viewer instead of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. This article explains how to set Adobe as your default PDF viewer and how to handle PDFs opened from Teams so they display correctly.

Summary

If a PDF displays a “Please Wait” message in your web browser or inside Microsoft Teams and never loads, it’s opening in a built-in viewer instead of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Use the guidance below to ensure PDFs open correctly in Adobe.

Who This Article Is For

Any Gwinnett County employee who opens PDF files on a Windows computer.

Symptoms

• PDF opens in a web browser tab or in Microsoft Teams instead of Adobe Acrobat/Reader.

• A “Please Wait” message appears and does not go away.

Cause

• Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is not set as the default PDF viewer, so Windows opens PDFs in the browser’s viewer.

• Microsoft Teams uses an embedded viewer (based on Microsoft Edge) that may not display certain PDFs.

How to Fix It

If you are opening a PDF from your computer

1. Click the Start icon and search for Choose a default app for each type of file, then open it.

2. Scroll to .pdf and click the current default app shown to its right.

3. Choose Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.

4. Close Settings. PDFs will now open in the Adobe app you selected.

If you are opening a PDF from Microsoft Teams

• Do not view the PDF inside Teams. Click the file’s More options (…), select Download, then open it in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.

Need Help?

If PDFs still show “Please Wait” after following these steps, contact the IT Service Desk at 770.822.8915.