Administrative Information Management Systems

Opening PDF's in Firefox

If you are having trouble opening PDF files in Mozilla's Firefox browser, then you might try the following solutions:

  1. Solution 1: Firefox Extension
  2. Solution 2: Disable “view in browser” within Adobe Acrobat Reader

Solution 1: Firefox Extension

If you are using Firefox 1.5+, there is a Firefox extension that will allow you to easily configure how Firefox will handle PDF files. The extension is called PDF Download, and the following steps will walk you through the entire installation and configuration process.

  1. Open the PDF Download webpage in a new tab. In Windows and Linux, opening a link in a new tab is accomplished by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on the link. In OS X, you can open a link in a new tab by holding down the Apple key and clicking on the link.
  2. In the new tab, click the “Install Now” link that is in the green box.
  3. In a few seconds, a new window will appear that will prompt you to install the extension. Click the “Install Now” button located at the bottom of this window.
  4. After clicking the install button, a new window will appear and Firefox will proceed to download and install the extension for you.
  5. Once Firefox has finished downloading and installing the extension, close the current window and exit Firefox. This step is important because Firefox needs to be restarted in order to completely finish installing the new extension.
  6. Start Firefox once again.
  7. Click on Tools in the main toolbar, or press Alt+T.
  8. Select PDF Download - Options from the Tools drop-down menu.
  9. In the new window, select “Open PDF” from the list of options under Default action on the General tab.
  10. Click the PDF opening tab (or press Ctrl+Tab once), and then select the “Use OS default viewer” option.
  11. Click OK or press enter.

Solution 2: Disable “view in browser” within Adobe Acrobat Reader

If you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0+, there is a way that you can disable the ability to open PDF's from within your web browser. Please note that this will affect the way both Firefox and Internet Explorer handle PDF's.

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader
  2. Click on Edit in the main toolbar, or press Alt+E.
  3. Click on Preferences from the Edit drop-down menu, or press the N key.
  4. Select Internet from the list of choices under Categories.
  5. Un-check the Display PDF in Browser option.
  6. Click OK or press enter.