Chrome displaying "square" text in PDF?


  1. Posts : 11
    Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit 10586 Multiprocessor Free
       #1

    Chrome and other apps displaying "square" text in PDF?


    Hi Ladies and Gents,

    I have an issue with Chrome, specifically when viewing any PDF files the text is displayed as square boxes. The same PDF files view fine using an external PDF viewer or with the Edge PDF viewer but when using Chromes Internal viewer in Windows 10 the text is displayed incorrectly.

    I've attached both a screenshot of the issue and a screenshot of the "inspect source" section just in case that helps narrow down a font issue.

    Thank you very much for your time and your help.

    Issue: https://i.imgur.com/755eKyJ.png

    Inspect Source: https://i.imgur.com/sqzfAb0.png
    Last edited by Easy301; 08 Feb 2017 at 02:47.
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  2. Posts : 486
    Windows 10x64 17713
       #2

    Try clearing your cache. Also might try and see if the page renders properly in incognito mode.
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  3. Posts : 11
    Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit 10586 Multiprocessor Free
    Thread Starter
       #3

    cyberrufus said:
    Try clearing your cache. Also might try and see if the page renders properly in incognito mode.
    I've done that to no avail, unfortunately. Chrome is set to clear cache, cookies, etc on shutdown. While I have not removed Chrome completely (Something I'm trying to avoid.) and install it again, I have tried a reinstall by downloading Chrome and installing it over the version I have. This did not fix the issue either.

    Windows 10 PDF viewer is working fine when I double checked again, it indeed appears like it's an issue that is isolated to Google Chrome.
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  4. Posts : 685
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
       #4

    Do you have custom fonts selected? It may be that. If they are different from default try changing them back. Here is the default from my Chrome. I Googled "Chrome default font", and found some different, so I don't know what is the true default. It may be based on what fonts your system has installed.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Chrome displaying "square" text in PDF?-chrome-default-fonts.png  
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  5. Posts : 11
    Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit 10586 Multiprocessor Free
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Bobby Phoenix said:
    Do you have custom fonts selected? It may be that. If they are different from default try changing them back. Here is the default from my Chrome. I Googled "Chrome default font", and found some different, so I don't know what is the true default. It may be based on what fonts your system has installed.

    Thanks for taking the time to respond! Sorry I'm late. :P

    So, it looks like my font settings do indeed match yours.

    Doing some testing I've noticed some more issues. It appears that when viewing PDF files in steam, such as game manuals the texts is also displayed incorrectly. Although it's only some text in the PDF, sometimes it's all squares and sometimes it's only a few. Edge PDF viewer still works fine.

    I'm pretty stumped on how to proceed. Here is a screenshot of what a PDF looks like viewed via Steam:

    I notice nothing else wrong with any type of text in any documents except PDF and only in certain applications which handle PDFs.
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  6. Posts : 1,026
    Win10 Version 21H2 19044.1645
       #6

    Easy301; While I have not removed Chrome completely (Something I'm trying to avoid.) and install it again, I have tried a reinstall by downloading Chrome and installing it over the version I have. This did not fix the issue either.


    Not sure, but could reinstalling Chrome over previous installation further complicate the issue ?

    I would try to reset Chrome (Settings/Advanced) and if not successful, bite the bullet and completely remove and reinstall.
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  7. Posts : 685
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
       #7

    torre said:
    Easy301; While I have not removed Chrome completely (Something I'm trying to avoid.) and install it again, I have tried a reinstall by downloading Chrome and installing it over the version I have. This did not fix the issue either.




    Not sure, but could reinstalling Chrome over previous installation further complicate the issue ?

    I would try to reset Chrome (Settings/Advanced) and if not successful, bite the bullet and completely remove and reinstall.
    This could work (uninstall and reinstall). I would use a program like RevoUninstaller as simply removing via Programs will leave files behind. It also may be your system fonts. You could try running "sfc /scannow" from an elevated CMD. You may just be missing a font the system needs, and not really a Chrome issue.
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