Applications panel - Set how Firefox handles different types of files

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This article describes the settings that are available in the Applications panel of the Firefox OptionsPreferences window.

The Applications panel allows you to choose how Firefox handles different types of files, such as PDF documents or MP3 audio clips. For each content type Firefox recognizes, you may select an action that Firefox will use to handle that type of content. You can open the file in the Firefox window with a plugin, open the file with an application installed on your computer (or in some cases, with a web application), or you can save the file to your downloads folder.

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To change how Firefox handles a file type in the list, click on its name to select it. Open the drop-down menu to select the download action you want Firefox to use:

  • Choose an application: To choose a local or web application to handle a type, select the application from the drop-down menu. If you want a local application that is not in the menu to handle the type, select Use other... from the drop-down menu and point Firefox to its location.
  • Choose a feature or plugin: If you want a feature or a plugin in Firefox to handle the type, and one is available, select it from the drop-down menu.
  • Save on your computer: Some file types can be saved to your computer. Select Save File from the menu for one of these file types to have Firefox save that type of file to the location specified in the General panel (Main panel in Firefox 3.5) of the Preferences windowOptions window.
Note: Some file types (e.g., MP3 audio) may have multiple content types that you will need to change. Also, when a plugin is available to handle a content type and you choose a different action for that type, Firefox will only take your chosen action when you access the type directly. For example, you may choose to open MP3 files with a media player application instead of using the plugin that is set to open it. In such cases, your chosen application will be used for file downloads but, when the content type is embedded inside a web page, Firefox will continue to use the plugin to handle the content type.


Adding, removing, or editing a download action

The Applications panel has limited functionality for editing. You can change the action for an existing file type but you cannot add or remove file types. Entries are added automatically when you download files and select actions for them. See Adding download actions.

Note: You may get problems if you download a file that is labelled with the wrong MIME type. There is no way to identify or delete a bad entry in the list. If this happens you may need to look at the file mimeTypes.rdf in your Firefox profile folder. Deleting the mimeTypes.rdf will reset all download actions to the default settings.



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