Annoying Preview App on iPhone: Deleting Helps
By default, PDFs on the iPhone now open in the new Preview app. It's far from perfect. A simple trick helps.
Preview in iOS 26: For many users, it's a dilemma.
(Image: Apple)
Apple has integrated a new program with iOS 26 that sounds at least fundamentally sensible: its own mobile version of Apple's preview app, also known as Preview, which also reaches the iPad with iPadOS 26 for the first time. However, as users have discovered, the app does not work nearly as well as on macOS. The interface on the iPhone, in particular, is difficult to use due to the smaller screen. Anyone who regularly wants to view PDFs is likely to be annoyed. However, there are several ways to prevent the display of any document in Preview.
Activate QuickLook in Files
The easiest way is to continue using the Files app for displaying or previewing PDFs, as before. To do this, press and hold the PDF in Files and select "Open with". Here you can activate that a document in Files can be displayed via QuickLook. If "Preview with Overview" is checked, a PDF will no longer open immediately in the Preview app, but in a simple viewer within Files, from where you can access Preview if necessary.
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Alternatively, you can also directly select another application that can display PDFs via the long press on the PDF and thus also bypass Preview. Setting a default app for PDFs is also possible as a third option: To do this, select the "Information" area by long-pressing a PDF and then "Always open with" and the desired app, if an alternative PDF viewer is already on the device. However, the Files app itself cannot be selected here; the QuickLook function described above must be used for this.
Radical Solution: Get Rid of Preview
If you don't get along with the Preview app at all, you have a second option: As with almost all Apple apps these days, you are allowed to simply delete it entirely from the device. To do this, find the app on the home screen or via search and delete it via "Remove App". After that, PDFs can no longer be displayed with Preview, and the Files app behaves as before: PDFs are always displayed via QuickLook within the app.
After that (or even before), you can also install any competing PDF viewer. This will then take over the PDF file type. If you want to keep the direct preview in Files, check "Preview with Overview" as before (see above).
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