Opening PDF files within Firefox

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This article describes troubleshooting methods for a specific problem when using the Adobe Reader plugin with Firefox. For general information on installing Adobe Reader, see Using the Adobe Reader plugin with Firefox.

The Adobe Reader plugin can be used to display PDF file inside the Firefox browser window. If there is a problem with the plugin, it may become impossible to do this. When you try to view a PDF, Firefox may try to download it instead.

Mac OS:

Note: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window. See the Adobe Reader article for more information.

The following troubleshooting methods can help fix this problem.

Table Of Contents

Check Firefox settings

2.0:
  1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click on the ToolsFirefoxEdit menu, and select Options...Preferences....
  2. Click the Content icon.
  3. Next to File Types click Manage... to bring up the Download Actions window.
  4. Click on the PDF extension in the list. Then click the Change Action... button to bring up the handler options.
  5. Click the radio button next to Use this Plugin. Adobe Acrobat should be in the field.


    • If Adobe Acrobat was not listed by Use this Plugin:
      1. Close Firefox.
      2. Navigate to your Firefox profile folder.
      3. Delete the mimetypes.rdf file.
      4. Restart Firefox and then retry this set of instructions.
  6. Click OK to close the Change Action window.
  7. Close the Download Actions window.
  8. Click OK to close the Options windowClick Close to close the Preferences windowClose the Preferences window

3:
  1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click on the ToolsFirefoxEdit menu, and select Options...Preferences....
  2. Select the Applications panel.
  3. Find Adobe Acrobat Document in the list and click on it to select it.
  4. Click on the drop-down arrow in the Action column for the Adobe Acrobat Document entry and select Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox).


    • If Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox) is not listed as an Option:
      1. Close Firefox.
      2. Navigate to your Firefox profile folder.
      3. Delete the mimetypes.rdf file.
      4. Restart Firefox and then retry this set of instructions.
  5. Click OK to close the Options windowClick Close to close the Preferences windowClose the Preferences window


Now try to view a PDF in Firefox. If it opens in the browser window, the problem is solved. If not, continue with the following instructions.

Check Adobe Reader settings

  1. Open Adobe Reader
  2. Once in Adobe Reader, click the Edit menu in the menu bar, and then click Preferences... The Preferences window will open.
  3. In the Categories section, click on Internet.
  4. Make sure the first check box, Display PDF in browser, is checked.
  5. Click OK to dismiss the Window, and then close Adobe Reader.

Now try to view a PDF. If it opens in the browser window, the problem is solved. If not, continue with the next troubleshooting instructions.

Windows:

Re-install the plugin

  1. Close Firefox.
  2. Open the Adobe Reader installation folder. This can be done by using Windows Explorer to navigate to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader, assuming Reader 9 is installed in the default location.
  3. Open the Browser sub-folder inside the Adobe Reader installation folder.
  4. Copy the nppdf32.dll file to the Firefox plugins folder: Right-click the file and then click Copy from the context menu. Then use Windows Explorer to navigate to your Firefox installation's plugins folder (usually C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins). Then go to the Edit menu and click Paste.
  5. Open Firefox and in the address bar type about:plugins to bring up the Firefox plugins list.
  6. Look for the Adobe Acrobat entry.

If the entry is there, try to view a PDF. If it opens in the browser window, the problem is solved. If not, follow the next set of troubleshooting instructions.

Re-initialize the plugins database

Follow the instructions in the Re-initializing the plugins database section of the Troubleshooting plugins article.

This will force Firefox to rebuild its plugin database. Now try to view a PDF in Firefox. If it opens in the browser window, the problem is solved. You may need to repeat the steps above after taking this step.

Further information

If none of the above troubleshooting methods worked, see Adobe's troubleshooting page for further instructions.

You may need to re-install Adobe Reader - the Adobe Reader article has installation instructions. You should uninstall all previous versions of Reader (Acrobat Reader) that are on your system before re-installing.


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Page last modified on Friday 05 of June, 2009 10:33:16 PST.
Contributors to this page: Chris_Ilias , ImperfectlyInformed , AliceWyman , np and Bo .
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