Okta Access Gateway Managed Application is Downloading the PDF Files Instead of Displaying them in the Browser
May 14, 2026
Access Gateway
Okta Classic Engine
Overview
The Okta Access Gateway (OAG) managed application downloads PDF files instead of displaying the content in the browser.
Applies To
- Okta Access Gateway (OAG)
- File download
- Okta Classic Engine
Cause
By default, the OAG will overwrite the original Content-Type from application/pdf to application/octet-stream, forcing the browser to download the file instead of displaying its content.
Solution
This behavior can be overridden using the following directive in the OAG's application policy:
Headerset Content-Type "application/pdf" "expr=%{resp:Content-Disposition} =~ /filename*?=.*.pdf/"
Such a change will allow the application to display the PDF while downloading other MIME types.
