edge does not download pdf documents, while chrome does

Hi,

You can try this: ensure your .NET application sets the Content-Type to "application/pdf" and the Content-Disposition header to "attachment; filename=\"yourfile.pdf\"" before writing the binary data with BinaryWrite, then call Response.Flush() and Response.End(); additionally, in IIS, make sure the server isn’t compressing PDF responses (disable dynamic compression for PDFs) and that HTTPS is properly configured, because recent Edge updates sometimes block downloads over HTTP or with certain headers, these steps often resolve the issue where Edge fails to download PDFs while Chrome works fine.

Do you want me to give a small code example showing the recommended way to stream the PDF to Edge safely?

Kind regards,

Hi,

Of course, and I completely get why you want to compare code side-by-side. Here’s a clean, reliable pattern for streaming a PDF that Edge is generally happiest with. I’ll also add brief explanations so you can easily spot where things might differ from your implementation:

public void StreamPdfToBrowser(byte[] pdfBytes, string fileName)
{
    var response = HttpContext.Current.Response;
    // Clear anything that may have been written earlier
    response.Clear();
    response.Buffer = true;
    // Required headers
    response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
    response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", $"attachment; filename=\"{fileName}\"");
    response.AddHeader("Content-Length", pdfBytes.Length.ToString());
    // Turn off IIS compression for this response
    response.Filter = null;
    // Write the file data
    response.BinaryWrite(pdfBytes);
    response.Flush();
    // For Edge compatibility, prevent further processing
    response.SuppressContent = true;
    HttpContext.Current.ApplicationInstance.CompleteRequest();
}

Why each part matters:

Clear/Buffer helps prevent extra output (Edge is more sensitive to stray bytes).

Content-Length is important , Edge sometimes hangs if this is missing.

Filter = null bypasses IIS compression issues that can break PDF responses.

CompleteRequest() avoids ThreadAbortException and ensures Edge gets a clean response.

Kind regards,

Hi,

I’m really sorry the issue is still happening, and I understand how frustrating it is since everything works fine in IIS Express but stops once it’s deployed to full IIS. That really does point to something specific in the Edge + IIS combination. I appreciate your patience, and if I find any other workaround or fix, I’ll follow up and help you further.

Kind regards,