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click_to_play won't disable

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Is there any way (either per website or globally) to disable the 'click to play' functionality in flash objects? I have set the plugins.click_to_play setting to false but this doesn't seem to do anything. I have found that certain websites are broken if click to play is enabled (i.e. they work in other browsers that don't have click to play but don't work in FF). Thanks in advance!

Is there any way (either per website or globally) to disable the 'click to play' functionality in flash objects? I have set the plugins.click_to_play setting to false but this doesn't seem to do anything. I have found that certain websites are broken if click to play is enabled (i.e. they work in other browsers that don't have click to play but don't work in FF). Thanks in advance!

Chosen solution

If it works in Safe Mode and in normal mode with all extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) disabled then try to find which extension is causing it by enabling one extension at a time until the problem reappears.

Close and restart Firefox after each change via "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit)


In Firefox Safe mode these changes are effective:

  • all extensions are disabled
  • default theme is used (no persona)
  • userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored
  • default toolbar layout is used (localstore-safe.rdf)
  • Javascript JIT compilers are disabled (javascript.options.*jit)
  • hardware acceleration is disabled
  • plugins are not affected
  • preferences are not affected
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All Replies (7)

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Check your plugins are uptodate!

Type about:addons in URL and Goto Plugins

  • Check all the plugins are "Always Active"

Somewhere on the page right click, go to view page info > permissions and make sure that adobe flash content is allowed to play on that domain.

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I checked and my plugins are up to date and set to 'always active'. Also tried setting the domain to always allow flash content, didn't make a difference. I have Flash 11.9.900.117. If I look at plugins there are a lot that aren't active that don't seem related to flash at all. should I activate all of them?

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In your "More System Details" it shows

plugin.state.flash = 2

which means "Always Activate". So the overall default setting is right and you shouldn't need to make changes. No other plugins are needed to run Flash.

Could you try the problem sites in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings). More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

Any difference?

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Yes - in safe mode click to play seems to be disabled! What does that tell you? Is one of the add ons breaking this?

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Seçilmiş Həll

If it works in Safe Mode and in normal mode with all extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) disabled then try to find which extension is causing it by enabling one extension at a time until the problem reappears.

Close and restart Firefox after each change via "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit)


In Firefox Safe mode these changes are effective:

  • all extensions are disabled
  • default theme is used (no persona)
  • userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored
  • default toolbar layout is used (localstore-safe.rdf)
  • Javascript JIT compilers are disabled (javascript.options.*jit)
  • hardware acceleration is disabled
  • plugins are not affected
  • preferences are not affected
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It doesn't work in normal mode even with all extensions and all plugins (except Flash) disabled. I also commented out all of the usercontent.css in case that was the problem, still no change. Any further ideas?

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Actually scratch that - removing all of the usercontent.css and restarting Firefox fixed it. Thanks guys!