Microsoft fixes PDF issue plaguing Internet Explorer 11 users as well as others

Internet Explorer 11 about page
Internet Explorer 11 about page (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Internet Explorer 11 has suffered an issue preventing PDFs from opening.
  • Apps that use the 64-bit WebBrowser control suffered the same problem.
  • The issue has now been addressed by Microsoft.

In case you're one of the people who's been trying to open a PDF via Internet Explorer 11 to no avail, fear not: Microsoft heard you and has addressed the problem with its KB5004760 update.

Here's how Microsoft describes the issue and its current status, which is listed as the sole item under the "highlights" section of KB5004760's notes: "Updates an issue that might prevent you from opening PDFs using Internet Explorer 11 or apps that use the 64-bit version of the WebBrowser control. Additionally, a PDF might render as just a gray background when using the Adobe Acrobat plug-in."

For those of you not in the know, Internet Explorer's days are numbered. Microsoft is cutting off support to the aging browser in 2022 and putting it into retirement. For all your future browsing needs, Microsoft will expect you to hop over to its direct competitor in the space, Google Chrome, or to its own product, Microsoft Edge. Edge has a built-in IE mode to help you compartmentalize your love of Internet Explorer, so if you truly want to see the dying browser, you can still visit it at the digital retirement home Microsoft has set up for it inside the more relevant browser.

The whole Microsoft experience is changing. Internet Explorer, Windows 10, and all the other relics of yesteryear are on the way out. The Tomorrowland of Microsoft products is made up of Edge and Windows 11, and the company has not been afraid to announce that. So the fact that it's still addressing issues with Internet Explorer, such as the PDF bug, is a pleasant surprise.

CATEGORIES
Robert Carnevale

Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He's a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author of Cold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.

Read more
Windows 7 wallpaper
Windows 7's Firefox lurking days from Microsoft's Graveyard are numbered — Mozilla to pull extended support for legacy operating systems on March 4, 2025
Windows Update
Unable to install security updates after freshly installing Windows 11? You're not alone
Windows Updates
Windows 11 Patch Tuesday Update adds multi-app camera feature and addresses security issues
Windows 11 change default browser
How to set the default web browser on Windows 11
Microsoft Edge Update page
Many of Microsoft Edge's most important features are now faster than ever
Outlook Client Hero
Microsoft just made Windows 10 worse, and there's (almost) nothing you can do about it
Latest in Browsing
Microsoft Edge Sidebar
My favorite Microsoft Edge feature just got an AI upgrade — is this the best way to use Copilot on Windows 11?
Google Chrome on PC
DOJ demands divestiture of Chrome browser and sets sights on making Google sell Android — calls Google "incompatible with free markets and freedom"
Andrej Karpathy, Director of AI Tesla, a keynote speaker at the Train AI conference in 2018
Ex-OpenAI founder claims 99.9% of web content will be AI-optimized — Was Bill Gates right about AI replacing humans?
June 2024; Richard Socher, Founder and CEO, You.com on FULL STK Stage during day two of Collision 2024 at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, Canada.
You.com CEO claims Google's reign as an "untouchable monopoly" in search will end soon — even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ditched "Google searches" for an AI alternative
Deprecation of uBlock Origin
Google might have deleted uBlock Origin from the Web Store, leaving 30 million Chrome users susceptible to intrusive ads — but turning it off and on again will give you an extra buffer...for now
A Mozilla Firefox logo seen displayed on a smartphone.
Firefox users slam Mozilla over controversial data privacy update — while ironically using "the biggest data-mining operating system in the world (aka Microsoft Windows)"
Latest in News
Cover art for Heroes of the Storm.
Xbox Game Pass will give you more benefits in free-to-play games like Heroes of the Storm
Surface Pro 11
Microsoft’s smaller Surface Pro appears in certification database ahead of rumored launch this spring
Artificial intelligence mobile apps for DeepSeek, ChatGPT and Google Gemini arranged.
Google says its latest reasoning model is its "most intelligent" — but Microsoft's CEO claims Google already fumbled its AI opportunity
ChatGPT and Microsoft Logo
ChatGPT’s new image-generation tool is impressive; it can finally create a glass of wine filled to the brim — but it struggles with blank white images and appears to discriminate against 'sexy women'
Microsoft Edge Sidebar
My favorite Microsoft Edge feature just got an AI upgrade — is this the best way to use Copilot on Windows 11?
Professor Sir Roger Penrose, physicist, mathematician and cosmologist
Nobel laureate claims "AI will not be conscious" and shouldn't be considered intelligent — Until it develops its own ideas