diff --git a/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/index.js b/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/index.js
index e7b36ca9..8902f0df 100644
--- a/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/index.js
+++ b/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/index.js
@@ -95,16 +95,57 @@ module.exports = {
     }
 
     // ---- launch paths -------------------------------------------------
-    // Dock → "Open a PDF…": a bare editor tab. The editor's own drop zone
-    // and File → Open take it from there, so no bytes cross IPC at all.
-    api.onMessage("menu-select", (payload) => {
+    // Dock → the file picker, straight away.
+    //
+    // This used to open an empty editor whose own drop zone then asked for a
+    // file, which meant three clicks and two screens before the user reached
+    // their own documents: dock, menu item, Open, and only then the file
+    // browser. Asking here collapses it — the dock click IS the "open a file"
+    // gesture, so answer it with a file browser.
+    //
+    // The dialog is native, raised from the add-on's Node side, because a
+    // file:// page cannot open one without a user gesture of its own and a
+    // freshly-opened tab has no gesture to spend.
+    //
+    // Cancelling still lands you in the editor, empty. Someone who changed
+    // their mind about which file probably still wants the editor, and it is
+    // where drag-and-drop works.
+    api.onMessage("menu-select", async (payload) => {
       const item = String(payload && payload.id || "");
       if (item !== "open") throw new Error(`unknown menu item: ${item}`);
-      api.openTab("editor.html");
-      api.log("opened an empty editor tab");
-      return { ok: true };
+      const entry = await pickPdf();
+      if (!entry) { api.openTab("editor.html"); api.log("picker cancelled — opened an empty editor"); return { ok: true, cancelled: true }; }
+      api.openTab("editor.html", { query: { doc: entry.id } });
+      api.log(`picked ${entry.name} (${entry.size} bytes) → ${entry.id}`);
+      return { ok: true, id: entry.id };
     });
 
+    /**
+     * Native open dialog, then the bytes in scratch. Returns null when the
+     * user cancels or picks something that is not a PDF.
+     */
+    async function pickPdf() {
+      const { dialog, BrowserWindow } = api.require("electron");
+      // Parent it to Theseus so the dialog is attached to the window rather
+      // than floating loose behind it.
+      const parent = BrowserWindow.getFocusedWindow() || BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()[0] || null;
+      const opts = {
+        title: "Open a PDF",
+        properties: ["openFile"],
+        filters: [{ name: "PDF documents", extensions: ["pdf"] }, { name: "All files", extensions: ["*"] }],
+      };
+      const res = parent ? await dialog.showOpenDialog(parent, opts) : await dialog.showOpenDialog(opts);
+      const file = !res.canceled && res.filePaths && res.filePaths[0];
+      if (!file) return null;
+      const stat = await fs.promises.stat(file);
+      if (stat.size > MAX_BYTES) throw new Error(`${path.basename(file)} is ${(stat.size / 1048576).toFixed(0)} MB — over the ${MAX_BYTES / 1048576} MB cap`);
+      const buf = await fs.promises.readFile(file);
+      if (buf.subarray(0, 5).toString("latin1") !== "%PDF-") {
+        throw new Error(`${path.basename(file)} does not start with a PDF header`);
+      }
+      return writeScratch(buf, safeName(path.basename(file)));
+    }
+
     // Right-click a link → fetch it here, hand the editor an id.
     api.onMessage("context-menu", async (payload) => {
       if (String(payload && payload.itemId || "") !== "open-link") return;
diff --git a/chrome.html b/chrome.html
index 84b94b2c..ad07070b 100644
--- a/chrome.html
+++ b/chrome.html
@@ -793,6 +793,14 @@
     closeToolbarMenu();
     const menu = lastMenus.find((m) => m.addonId === addonId);
     if (!menu) return;
+    // A menu with one entry is not a menu, it is a button wearing a dropdown.
+    // Popping it costs the user a second click and a second target to aim at
+    // for a choice that was never a choice, so dispatch the item directly.
+    if (menu.items && menu.items.length === 1 && T.addonMenuSelect) {
+      T.addonMenuSelect(addonId, menu.items[0].id)
+        .catch((err) => console.warn("addon menu item failed:", err?.message || err));
+      return;
+    }
     openMenuAddonId = addonId;
     // Tint the anchor while the menu is showing; main clears it when the
     // native menu closes via the "toolbar-menu-closed" event.