How to fix Chrome's 'Grey Screen' PDF Issue?

Since Chrome supports a wide variety of 3rd party applications and extensions, there are often times where either the browser's update or a application's update causes an issue with displaying PDFs.

Here's a few methods to find what's causing the problem and how to fix it:

1) Work in Chrome Without Extensions
2) Find and Remove Harmful Software
3) Update Chrome Manually
4) Clear Web Browser and Cookies
5) Disable Hardware Acceleration
6) Reset Chrome

Work in Chrome Without Extensions

Certain extensions, usually those of a PDF-oriented nature, can hinder the Chrome PDF viewer from loading PDF documents. To determine if this the cause of the issue, try working in Incognito mode. Doing this launches Chrome with all extensions disabled.

Simply click New Incognito Window on the Chrome menu to open an Incognito window.

If you find PDFs loading without issue, then chances are that it’s really an extension that’s causing the problem. Now, it’s simply a matter of isolating the extension by enabling your add-ons one-by-one — or in batches if you've got many. To do that, point to More Tools on the Chrome menu, and then click Extensions.

Find and Remove Harmful Software

Certain extensions, usually those of a PDF-oriented nature, can hinder the Chrome PDF viewer from loading PDF documents. To determine if this the cause of the issue, try working in Incognito mode. Doing this launches Chrome with all extensions disabled.

If the problem occurs even in Incognito mode, then there might be malware hidden away on your PC that interferes with the browser's basic functions. If you didn’t already know, Chrome has its own malware detection and removal tool built-in just for such instances.

To get to the cleanup tool, open a new tab, type chrome://settings/cleanup into the URL bar, and then press Enter.



Click Find next to Find and Remove Harmful Software to initiate a scan. It should take a while for Chrome to detect and clean up your PC. Once it finishes, perform any onscreen prompts, and you should likely find Chrome's PDF viewer loading your PDFs normally.

Update Chrome Manually

Certain extensions, usually those of a PDF-oriented nature, can hinder the Chrome PDF viewer from loading PDF documents. To determine if this the cause of the issue, try working in Incognito mode. Doing this launches Chrome with all extensions disabled.

If the problem occurs even in Incognito mode, then there might be malware hidden away on your PC that interferes with the browser's basic functions. If you didn’t already know, Chrome has its own malware detection and removal tool built-in just for such instances.

To get to the cleanup tool, open a new tab, type chrome://settings/cleanup into the URL bar, and then press Enter.



If there’s an update waiting, Chrome should detect and install it automatically.

Clear Web Browser and Cookies

An outdated web cache is another common reason for incorrectly rendering or malfunctioning PDFs, especially if the cache gets corrupted or certain web elements change subsequently later on.

Hence, clearing all locally cached data should prompt the browser to download fresh content and hopefully render your PDFs properly.

Press Ctrl-Shift-Del to bring up Chrome’s Clear Browsing Data panel.



Under the Basic tab, use the drop-down menu next to Time Range and then select All Time. Next, check the boxes next to Cookies and Other Site Data and Cached Images and Files, and then click CLEAR DATA.

Disable Hardware Acceleration

If there are incompatibilities between your video drivers and the Chrome PDF viewer, you are bound to run into all sorts of weird graphical anomalies. Chrome uses hardware acceleration by default, but stopping it from doing so should fix severe lagging or flickering issues.

Step 1: On the Settings screen, scroll down and click Advanced.



Step 2: Under the System section, turn off the switch next to Use Hardware Acceleration When Available. Afterward, click RELAUNCH to restart the browser.



While disabling hardware acceleration should fix most rendering issues, you may encounter slower performance when viewing certain web content. Hence, consider re-enabling the option later on for other purposes or try updating your video card’s display driver to see if that puts the issue to rest permanently.

Reset Chrome

You mostly should’ve fixed any rendering issues by now, but if not, let’s consider resetting Chrome. The procedure is very simple and not as awful as it sounds, but you will find your cookies, browsing data and pinned tabs gone for good. However, any saved passwords or bookmarks won’t be deleted, so you should be fine in that department.

Step 1: On the Chrome Settings screen, click Advanced, and then scroll all the way down to the bottom. Under the Reset and Clean Up section, click the option labeled Restore Settings to Their Original Defaults.

Step 2: Click RESET SETTINGS to restore Chrome to default settings.





Chrome should function just as new afterward. However, resetting your browser also disables your extensions. When re-enabling them, make sure to keep any unknown plugins disabled just to be on the safer side.

 
Hopefully, Chrome is back to normal and you can view your PDFs without any issues. Configuring your browser to open PDFs directly, clearing the browser cache, and disabling hardware acceleration are sure-fire ways to get things back on track, while a browser reset should likely work as a last resort.

If you still encounter issues, the best recourse is to temporarily switch to a browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge - until Google pushes out a new update that hopefully fixes your problem for good.