Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Hierdie gesprek is in die argief. Vra asseblief 'n nuwe vraag as jy hulp nodig het.

Cannot get Acrobat Reader or Pro to open PDF IN FF browser

more options

I have a Win7, 64 bit laptop. I have Acrobat Pro X, and Acrobat Reader 11.

I cannot get FF to open a pdf using either of these readers INSIDE the browser. I do not like the internal PDF viewer and I was trying to get Acrobat to render the PDF in the browser. However, whenever I choose acrobat (either one) in options, it will merely download it and open it the application. However, what I want it to do is to open it IN the browser, not in the application.

There is no option for Portable Document Format that includes Acrobat in browser. I had configured it to work properly, but I had to reformat my computer and I can't get it to work again. I have disabled and re-enabled the add-ins for Acrobat, and I still can't get it to work.

I have a Win7, 64 bit laptop. I have Acrobat Pro X, and Acrobat Reader 11. I cannot get FF to open a pdf using either of these readers INSIDE the browser. I do not like the internal PDF viewer and I was trying to get Acrobat to render the PDF in the browser. However, whenever I choose acrobat (either one) in options, it will merely download it and open it the application. However, what I want it to do is to open it IN the browser, not in the application. There is no option for Portable Document Format that includes Acrobat in browser. I had configured it to work properly, but I had to reformat my computer and I can't get it to work again. I have disabled and re-enabled the add-ins for Acrobat, and I still can't get it to work.

All Replies (4)

more options

Which version(s) of Adobe Reader/Adobe Acrobat do you have? Do you know whether they are up-to-date? I recommend using the product's Help menu to Check for Updates to make sure they are up-to-date.

Then open the Firefox Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • 3-bar menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Plugins.

Look in the lower section (gray background) for "Adobe Acrobat" and change it from "Never Activate" to "Always Activate".

Then it should become available in the Options dialog.

Does it work?

Also, I noticed you have a NitroPDF plugin listed in your More System Details. In case that one is conflicting, if you don't plan to use it, consider switching it to "Never Activate" when you are on the Add-ons page.

more options

Thanks for the quick reply.

Unfortunately, that did not help. I already checked to see if the plugins are up to date, and I tried changing from never activate to always activate for each of the two acrobat plugins. I tried again, and tried disabling the NitroPDF, but the problem remains.

The versions are Adobe Acrobat 11.0.6.70 and 10.1.9.22 (as show in the add ins page).

more options

Hi nowheresomewhere, I think you want to also disable the older Adobe Acrobat plugin.

If Firefox is incorrigible and simply won't list it on the options for PDF, you may want to try removing the current file of saved download actions and have Firefox rebuild it. Here's how you do that:

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

Help > Troubleshooting Information > "Show Folder" button

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename mimeTypes.rdf to something like mimeTypes.old

Restart Firefox and try setting your PDF preference again. Any improvement?

more options

Here's what I hope you see when everything is straightened out.