Getting a File to Download Instead of Opening the Browser

Browsers try to download html file instead of opening

Likely an incorrect mime type in your .htaccess file. I suggest going into it and looking for any unwanted lines similar to the below and removing them.

AddHandler application/ etc.

and also ensure your type is set as follows:

AddType text/html .html

In order to open .htaccess in cPanel:
Click File Manager and make sure to tick Show Hidden Files (dotfiles) before clicking Go. Then the .htaccess should show up the location where wp (wp-admin, wp-content, wp-includes) is installed.

How to force a Download File prompt instead of displaying it in-browser with HTML?

This is something that you cannot absolutely control with HTML itself.

If the user is having a browser with PDF reading capabilities (or a plugin) and the corresponding settings to open PDF files in-browser, the PDF will open like that.

The PDF opens in a new tab simple because of your target="_blank", which has nothing to do with a download prompt.

If you are using HTML5 you can use the download attribute:

<a href="sample.pdf" download="sample.pdf">Download</a>

If you have a back-end service which you can control or you feel like fiddling with your Web Server, you can always look for setting the right Content-Disposition. See this SO question for some nice discussion on Content-Disposition.

Opening files in browser instead of downloading

add target="_blank" to get a new window. adding .pdf may help. If you have control over the host web server adjusting the headers for the files in question will also help it open inline. I can tell you what headers to set if you are able too

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