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Open actual URL of pdf to get date posted

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For pdf files I used to be able to open the URL and check (by clicking on the lock icon) to see when the file was posted, but with last update (not sure if Firefox or Windows as both happened at the same time), the only options I get are 1) open in new URL (actually a temporary file on my computer), 2) open it with Adobe reader directly, or 3) download the file. How do I get back to the original option of viewing the ACTUAL url?

For pdf files I used to be able to open the URL and check (by clicking on the lock icon) to see when the file was posted, but with last update (not sure if Firefox or Windows as both happened at the same time), the only options I get are 1) open in new URL (actually a temporary file on my computer), 2) open it with Adobe reader directly, or 3) download the file. How do I get back to the original option of viewing the ACTUAL url?

Chosen solution

By the way, Firefox's PDF viewer shows the document creation date, which may or may not be more useful than the "Page Info" dialog's last modified date.

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Hi donfaison, it's possible your PDF setting changed from "Open in Firefox" to "Always Ask". Can you check that using the steps in this article:

View PDF files using Firefox’s built-in viewer

Can you get it back to how you had it before?


If you do end up downloading a PDF and having to open it from disk, you could try this to find the source URL:

  • expand the Downloads list by clicking the arrow button on the toolbar (or Ctrl+j for All Downloads)
  • right-click the download
  • click Copy Download Link
  • paste the link wherever you need that URL
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By the way, Firefox's PDF viewer shows the document creation date, which may or may not be more useful than the "Page Info" dialog's last modified date.