Forum Discussion
Roadmap for PDF reader in Microsoft Edge
Preview in Outlook and File Explorer is definitely on our radar.
Does the current set of functionalities most other needs of your organisation?
Aditi_Gangwar I just want to add my voice to this to stress exactly why not previewing PDFs is such a big blocker for the organisations I work with.
The majority of interactions users have with PDFs is either when browsing the web or receiving an email.
As most organisations use the Outlook Desktop app they are used to the Attachment Preview feature that lets them quickly scan through an attachment without needing to open the full app.
In the past, organisations would always install a 3rd party PDF reader like Acrobat or Foxit to enable this functionality. However, with modern devices using Windows 10 the trend is to use a native app wherever possible, not only reducing the management overhead but also reducing possible malware attack vectors.
So it doesn't matter how great a PDF viewer the new Edge is, if all a user sees is "PDFs can't be previewed" error multiple times a day in Outlook. It is really jarring and interrupts their flow.
We also don't expect 2 apps in the Microsoft ecosystem (i.e. Edge & Outlook) to not take advantage of each other's features.
If this feature was brought in (or at least a proper planned activity) then it would give organisations comfort that Edge is "good enough" (if not better) for the majority of cases for reading PDFs