How do I open a large PDF file from a USB thumb drive on my MacBook Pro 2018?

Question

Level 1

4 points

How do I open a large PDF file from a USB thumb drive on my MacBook Pro 2018?

I am trying to read a USB thumb drive on my MacBook Pro 2018 version. I have the adapter set up and when the icon appears on my desktop, I click on it. At this point, I keep getting redirected to Adobe acrobat reader which says the current version of Mac cannot support Adobe acrobat reader. In any case I just continually keep bumping into the Adobe acrobat reader download page. This is a large file 1500 pages long. Looking for any advice on how to open it.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 25, 2025 6:13 AM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

119,645 points

Mar 25, 2025 6:58 AM in response to Scmau

If Apple's Preview or Books cannot open that large PDF from your USB stick, then do the following to get a compatible version of Adobe Acrobat Reader for Catalina:

Adobe has a very faint "For macOS 11 or below" link on their Acrobat Reader download page. Once the older version of Acrobat Reader has been downloaded, you can ignore the subsequent Adobe page. Just install Acrobat Reader.

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Answer 2

Zurarczurx

Level 4

2,482 points

Mar 25, 2025 6:27 AM in response to Scmau

Right-click the file and the Open With. You should get a few options. Try Preview first, although it sometimes struggles with large files. If Preview doesn't work then try Safari or Firefox (if you have it) or Books if you've got it. If none of them can open it then I'm a bit stuck.

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How do I open a large PDF file from a USB thumb drive on my MacBook Pro 2018?