Firefox Will Not Open Pdf

If some PDF files don't render well or are blank, click the download button on the right side of the document header to open it with the default PDF viewer application on your computer. If you can't open any PDF files with the built-in PDF viewer, a Firefox extension could be the cause. Sep 24, 2018 - Disable turns off the add-on so it does not open PDFs in the browser. The Acrobat/Reader plug-in for Mozilla Firefox is based on Netscape. On your computer, open Firefox; Click the menu button and choose Options (or you can select Tools in the Firefox menu bar and select Options If you do not see the menu bar, press the Alt key). Select the Applications panel. Find Portable Document Format (PDF) in the list and click on the entry to select it.

1. Firefox Not Opening Pdf Files

Many recent browser versions include their own, native PDF plug-ins that automatically replace the Acrobat and Reader plug-in from Adobe. Installing Firefox 19 or later, for instance, can result in your Adobe plug-in being disabled and replaced. Browser plug-ins typically do not support all PDF capabilities or offer comparable features. If you experience the following problems, you may need to revert to the Adobe plug-in:

• Parts of a PDF don’t display
• Poor performance or image quality
• Large files sizes when printing to PDF
• 3D models don't render
• Embedded SWF files don't play
  

Manually change your browser preferences so that it uses the Acrobat or Reader PDF viewer.

In the Content Type area, scroll to Portable Document Format (PDF).

Click the Action column next to Portable Document Format (PDF), and then select an application to open the PDF. For example, to use the Acrobat plug-in within the browser, choose Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox).

Select Portable Document Format (PDF) from the Content Type Column.


Click the Action column next to Portable Document Format (PDF), and then select Use Adobe Acrobat NPAPI Plug-in.

Chrome and Acrobat are no longer compatible. For more information, see Change in support for Acrobat and Reader plug-ins in modern web browsers.

In the Finder, select a PDF, and choose File > Get Info.


Click the arrow next to Open With to expose the product menu.


Choose either Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader from the application menu.


When asked if you want to change all similar documents, click Continue.

In the Preferences window, click Security, and then click Website Settings next to Internet plug-ins.


Select Adobe Reader in the list of plug-ins. Under When Visiting Other Websites, in the drop-down list choose Allow Always and click Done.

The browser is now set to use the Adobe Reader plug-in to display PDFs.

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(To other readers finding this thread, please start with the support article: View PDF files in Firefox)

Hi dawger1, does this affect all PDFs from all sites?

Some sites may not send the specific content type header ('application/pdf') that triggers the built-in viewer, so it's helpful to see whether it's that issue before diving into extended troubleshooting.

Application Settings

You definitely should have Portable Document Format (PDF) in the box. It's one of the basics that Firefox creates at installation or in a new profile:

If that does not appear, it's possible the settings file which stores your download preferences has become corrupted. You can rename the file and have Firefox rebuild it. Here's how:

Firefox Not Opening Pdf Files

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

• '3-bar' menu button > '?' Help > Troubleshooting Information
• (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the 'Open Folder' button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

• '3-bar' menu button > Exit
• (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then right-click > Rename handlers.json to something like handlersOLD.json. If you see a file named mimeTypes.rdf, rename that one to mimeTypesOLD.rdf.

Start Firefox back up again. Any improvement?

Is pdfjs disabled?

While it is unlikely, you could check the setting here:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful or accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste pdf and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If the pdfjs.disabled preference is bolded and 'modified' or 'user set' to true, double-click it to restore the default value of false

Any progress so far?