Adobe’s PDF engine has been a part of Microsoft Edge for quite some time. The rollout for consumer devices began in early 2023, but businesses were not forced to use it. Microsoft has confirmed its plans to force everyone, including businesses, to use the Adobe PDF engine. In addition, Microsoft has delayed its plans to retire the legacy PDF engine.
Managed devices, either those owned by businesses always had an opt-in option, but in September 2025, the mandatory rollout began. As first spotted by Windows Latest, after September 2025, admins will be required to apply an opt-out policy called (NewPDFReaderEnabled) to keep the new engine at bay for some more time.
However, admins cannot hold off on the Adobe PDF engine after that, and Microsoft will remove the old engine in early 2026. Microsoft recently updated the official Adobe and Edge partnership page describing the new dates for managed devices rollout and old engine removal.
The page also answers many questions, so much so that you won’t be confused about the change. macOS support isn’t mentioned, and we expect it to roll out after Microsoft is finished with Windows.
Last year, Windows Latest covered the inclusion of the new Adobe PDF engine in the Edge stable channel. The stark difference between the old and new engines is that you’ll notice Adobe Acrobat’s logo a lot more.
There’s an Edit with Acrobat button in the corner and a transparent logo at the bottom right whenever you open any PDF.
Our initial impressions of the feature were fine, and to this day, we haven’t encountered any issues while opening PDFs on our main or test machines.
Performance was among the biggest reasons Microsoft decided to incorporate it in the Edge browser. There were other concerns, too, like accurate colors, graphics, and security, which urged Microsoft to make the shift. However, enduring blatant promotion is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Acrobat’s placement in Microsoft Edge could have been subtle
No one likes being served a promotional icon in the face.
If Microsoft wanted to add the engine, they could have done it quietly and not added a big logo that appears whenever you view the page. The icon doesn’t do anything and has no redirect option for Adobe products. It’s the precise reason why we’re questioning its existence on the PDF preview page.
Then theres the question of Edit with Adobe button in the corner. It could have been a simple tiny icon, but they had to use the wide label on the side. Note that the edit feature is a paid affair, and you cannot use it without a subscription. Very few people will use it, especially when free PDF edit tools are a web search away in Edge.
Why should a paid user who bought the OS, of which Edge is integral, bear with ads? But maybe Microsoft doesn’t care about that, which is why we have two Adobe logos for viewing a PDF in Edge.
