As such, it could open a PDF file as long as the %PDF-header started within the first 1024 bytes of the file. There’s, however, a change in the scheme of things now.

Open-source might not be the first thing you think of with Windows, but these free tools can seriously boost your productivity.

Windows 11/10 almost forces users to use Microsoft Edge as the default application for everything, from browsing the internet to opening PDF files.

Microsoft has released an optional out-of-band update for all supported Windows 10 versions to address an issue preventing customers from opening PDF documents using some applications.

If you keep Chrome up-to-date without changing any settings, any PDF you download may open within the web browser by default.

If your PDF has a lot of formatting, consider using one of the other methods. Launch Windows Search (press Windows+S), type Word, and open the app. From Word’s left sidebar, select Open > Browse.

I am not sure why but people treat PDF differently than image files so I don't think there are very many that work for quickly viewing PDF *and* image files but you can certainly use something ...