Hi ​@Carly-Metallus, welcome to the Box Community! Sorry to hear you're experiencing issues viewing or downloading PDF files.

We’ve received a few reports last week related to internet connectivity affecting users’ ability to access files. While the latest update on status.box.com mentions scheduled maintenance, we can't confirm if it's directly related—but it may be contributing to the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Have you already tried opening your files using Adobe Acrobat to see if the issue has been resolved?

If the problem persists and you haven’t already done so, please try the following steps. These usually resolve common issues in the web app and accessing tools within Box:

• Clear the browser's cache.

• Try using an Incognito window or a different browser or device.

• Ensure the web browser and OS are up-to-date. Check out Understand the Box Policy For Browser And OS Support for reference.

• Disable all plugins, add-ons, or extensions within the browser.

Thanks, and looking forward to getting this resolved.

Hello Jey,

Unfortunately, none of the steps you detailed have resolved the issue.  I am receiving the same error messages whenever I try to open a pdf within Box.

Thank you

Carly

Hi Carly,

I ran into the same problem a little while ago. I had saved a bunch of images and PDFs that a client sent me for their food blog, and I couldn’t download or open any of them in Box either. What worked for me was switching to a different browser and then using the “Download” option directly instead of “Open with.” After that, I also cleared my Box session by logging out and back in, and the files finally started downloading normally.

That worked for me, maybe it will work for you too.

Hi saima12,

I appreciate you providing some tips.  Unfortunately, I’m running into all the same problems as before (even after restarting my computer and switching to multiple other browsers).  The odd thing is that one colleague of mine has the same issue, but another colleague of mine was able to open the pdfs!!

Thank you

Carly

I have several collaborators having the same issue. They used to have no problem and they are setup as editors. They cannot view any pdf’s and in the past they could do this and some are even having issues downloading the box tools.

Sorry to hear you’re having issues viewing and downloading PDFs. As we proceed, please allow us to ask a few questions:

• Is this happening with all PDF files in your Box account, including both owned and collaborated files?
• Do you see any error messages when trying to download or preview the PDF?
• Are you attempting to download a single file or multiple PDFs at once?
• If you're opening the file on desktop, is your Adobe Acrobat app up to date?
• Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling Adobe Acrobat to rule out viewer issues?
• If related to browser issue, may I know what browser are you currently using?
• Is this behavior consistent on all browsers and networks?
• Can you confirm with your IT team that your network and firewall have been configured according to our documentation here.

If the issue persists after following the suggested troubleshooting steps, I highly recommend submitting a support ticket so our Product Support team can assist you further. They may need to collect logs detailing how your browser interacts with files and obtain a HAR capture.

Thank you!