Forum Discussion
Edge: PDF files are opened with drawboard by default
A strange behavior happens to all PDF files on some of our computers.
When we open a library on certain computers in the Edge browser, PDFs are opened by "Drawboard" what seems to be a software for PDF files.
This is a newly installed machine with a user that does not have this problem on his other machine:
Its definitely a client setting, because this happens for all users that login in this Edge instance.
Any ideas how to change this back to the default behavior?
We did not find anything...
23 Replies
The guidance given to the support technician on my ticket, after they internally reviewed the mass of tickets received about this, was the following:
Go into Azure AD admin center > Enterprise Apps > Drawboard > Security > Permissions > Review Permissions > "This application is suspicious and I want to investigate before allowing users to access" > and run the Graph PowerShell code for:
- Remove all users assigned to the application
- Revoke all permissions granted to the application
And also do the same for Kami and SurveyMonkey for some reason... ?
I was skeptical that this would solve the issue, as it seems like some deeper integration issue. But ran it anyway as it's relatively harmless, and we're desperate for this to get resolved. (Ran it for all three applications, as all three were present in Enterprise Applications for us.) Within an hour, I was no longer able to replicate the problem. Still need to hear back from some users, but I'm starting to think this worked.
- Just a follow-up on my remediation work with this issue:
Yesterday am I ran this:
Enter this URL, editing it per your organization, in the browser tab that OneDrive is open in: https://[YOUR SHAREPOINT DOMAIN HERE].sharepoint.com/_api/v2.0/drive/apps?forceRefresh=1
The output of this is some resetting on the backend, and finishes with the presentation of JSON of the remaining File Handlers defined. If you see "Drawboard" in that JSON display, something did not work right.
Beyond that, since my focus is solely on MS Edge (v123.X), to solution is manually clearing out the "Cookies and other site data" only from the Edge cache. Specifying 4 weeks worth of cache in my case. I have ran this manually with 4 users so far, followed by a page refresh on the SharePointOnline page, and the Drawboard redirection is gone.
Have 350 users, I am spending this am trying to programmatically via powershell to perform this same cache clear exercise. Still trying to find the correct location of files to target and remove. I have a few people who are still broken lined up this am for me to run controlled testing on my script.
I do not believe the fix that Drawboard rolled out on April 5 is going to fix a local users cache, so this is something I need to take care of for my user base (vs. letting it time expire on its own).
I will share my script here once it is done. Today.
- Resetting the settings in the edge Browser has helped resolve on a individual user basis.
From edge settings search for reset then choose option: Restore settings to their default values.
this has worked so farAre you referring to this: edge://settings/resetProfileSettings
If so, in my testing, after having gone to Edge 123.*, and finding I could not open a PDF other than in the browser, I ran the reset above. For me, it was only then that I began to start seeing the PDF clicks getting rerouted to Drawboard. That experience I took a few others through, with the same results. Drawboard madness.
I just re-ran your test, using the navigation you described, it end up in the that same "reset" location as the URL I provided, but the net result of running that, for me is: Click on a PDF, and it opens in the browser. Side note: Not sure where trying to load Drawboard comes into play, but I have ran into that to
thanks for responding to the thread!
i am also facing issue
issue is happening only for some users
i have tried in google chrome as well to open the share point link ,pdf are opening in drawboard
please give a solution
We are having the same issue. Turns out one user previously had a license to Drawboard, but only one and they haven't had that license or used Drawboard for 2 years. Other than that history, we have no idea why this is happening and how to stop it. Like everyone else, this just started yesterday for all users.
- I am meeting Microsoft Monday at 7amPST, and will share this thread and my research on this issue. For us, this affects 350 users who MUST have PDF clicks in SharePointOnline Modern pages open the local client app!
I will share the results of this tech call later Monday am.
- I have likewise entered in a Microsoft Ticket #2404050010004064
Lets keep each other updated on this thread, if possible. All the usual fixes I have applied to remedy this same problem in the past are not working, or not available. There is a DISM solution, but that thread is not in the context of SPO Modern pages. I will tell you that Edge version 122.* worked fine this morning. PDFs opened in Adobe (per Control Panel, Default Programs, Defaults by Type), but as soon as I updated to Edge 123.*, I could not open the PDF from within SPO and not have it open in the browser. Later I decided to edge://settings/resetProfileSettings, kclose Edge, kill all Edge refs in Task Manager, and then reopen, and only then did I begin to the see the Drawboard icons, and being forced into Drawboard app install when clicking on a PDF in SPO.
Version info I have: Edge 122.* this was not a problem. Life was good. Edge 123.0.2420.65 - this is where you may see that clicking on PDFs in Modern pages no longer opens the default program assigned to PDF. Only in the browser, not matter what you try! 123.0.2420.81 - I think this update is what causes Drawboard to show up. Mixed results among my user base there. Either way, this is a terrible problem that Microsoft once again puts us in.
Lets keep in touch! - I've also gone and opened a ticket for this. Ticket number is 2404050010003486 if anyone wants to reference it in their ticket for added support.
- I added another ticket #2404091420000542 with reference to yours and the one above
We are seeing the same thing. Odd thing is my admin account shows the icon to be a pdf file but my normal account shows the drawboard icon. Not all users are affected.
It's also happening in Chrome. I have a case open with Microsoft. TrackingID#2404050040008927
I am seeing the same issue in a SharePoint Document Library. When I change the library to classic SharePoint, the icon is the normal white and red, pdf icon and the file opens in a new browser tab.
Appears to be a Modern only issue.
- We're also affected by this. We've suddenly started getting tickets from users about this starting yesterday, with the bulk of them today. We have yet to figure out any rhyme or reason as to why this is happening, and while some of our technicians have been able to replicate it, we haven't yet figured out how. It appears to affect some users, some times, but does appear to be browser and OS agnostic, as it's been replicated in browsers other than Edge.
Someone's gonna have to take one for the team and open a ticket with Microsoft. David_Elsner I have the same issue and it started just yesterday. I cannot seem to find any solution on how to resolve this. I have changed the default pdf viewer to our acrobat application, and I've checked the browser settings but there is nothing forcing this to Drawboard. It seems like a roll out from Microsoft that has forced OneDrive (when viewing online) to open in drawboard as a default. Does anyone have a work around to prevent OneDrive online requiring us to use drawboard or otherwise using the menu and selecting the alternative.
- Afternoon David,
This also seems to be happening to us, ive removed the application from Enterprise Apps however it still continues to happen.
Its not all users
Its not all sites
Its not all users on a specific site
We do not have drawboard licences either.
