Bluebeam Revu users often find it useful to make Bluebeam Revu 2019 the default PDF viewer. This enables all PDFs to automatically open within Bluebeam Revu, as opposed to other PDF viewers.
This article will outline the process of setting Bluebeam Revu 2019 as the default PDF viewer. The following examples are taken from 64x Bluebeam Revu 2019 eXtreme edition, run on Windows 10 Home.
Bluebeam Revu makes it incredibly easy to set the program as the default PDF viewer. If Revu is currently not the default PDF viewer, the following warning will display upon opening the application:
Selecting OK will automatically open up the Default Apps window from your computer’s Control Panel. Scroll down and select Choose default apps by file type.
Scroll down through the list of file types until you reach .pdf. Select the current default app, and choose Revu from the Choose an app dropdown to replace it.
Revu will now be the default PDF viewer. Double clicking on a PDF will automatically open the file in Bluebeam Revu.
If the default PDF viewer warning does not open upon startup of Revu, the Default Apps window can also be opened by selecting Revu > Preferences. Navigate to the Admin tab and select Open Default Programs. This will open the same Default Apps window where the default PDF viewer can be set.
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Lauren Hecker is a Bluebeam Certified Instructor and teaches Onsite Bluebeam Certified Courses, virtual Bluebeam Basics and Advanced courses, and custom onsite or virtual courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our calendar. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!
I have this all set up correctly. Regardless it still pops up asking to set as default every single time I load the program. Also preview files in windows explorer do not load on revu.
Hi! To remove the default pop up from appearing, make sure to check “Do not show this message again” underneath the pop up. It shouldn’t appear any more going further.
I’ve set Bluebeam as my default pdf viewer, and now my pdfs open through bluebeam. However, I still get a pop up that asks if I want to open the pdf via Adobe Acrobat for every pdf. Do you know if there’s a way to disable this pop up?
Hi Naneek,
This is an issue on Adobe Acrobat’s end. Take a look at this help guide on how to disable that popup within Adobe Acrobat: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/disable-prompt-to-make-acrobat-my-default.html
Hi, when I do the instructions above it works, but everytime I restart the computer the new setting is lost and Adobe is back as my PDF default app. How do I set up Revu as my permament defalt5 program without having to do the same process everytime I turn my computer on?
Hi Fernanda, if you have set Revu as your default PDF viewer, it shouldn’t revert once you restart the computer. I would recommend looking into your Adobe settings and see if Adobe is overriding those settings in any way.
Revu is set as my default viewer. But it used to open a PDF as soon as it was created, which in my work is very helpful. I don’t know what changed, but now that doesn’t happen. I have to hunt the file down and open it by hand. Please advise.
Hi Valerie,
Do you have any other PDF editing/viewing software installed? In my experience updating Acrobat for example can sometimes set it as the default viewer. You may need to go into your Windows settings to change the default printer. Sometimes reinstalling Revu can help as well, if you search from Windows task bar “Add or Remove programs” you can select Revu and Uninstall, then just use the .exe file from your Revu download to go through the installation process again.
If there are any other details you can share that could help solve your issue, let us know!
when i open the ‘choose default apps by file type’, Revu is not one of the options. yes, revu is loaded onto my machine, logged in and operating normally
Hi Greg,
Generally, if the app you need isn’t available in the Suggested Apps list, there’s another option to search your computer for the desired program. You should be able to use this tool to find Revu.
If this doesn’t help, let me know what version of Windows you’re using and I can look into it further.