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How to open local pdf files in a new tab instead of a new window in mac os?

  • 2 replies
  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by lbrocki90

lbrocki90
lbrocki90
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I am using Firefox to open and read local PDF files on mac os. My problem is that Firefox opens a new window for every PDF file I open but I would like them to be opened in a new tab instead. I have already tried the following settings in about:config

browser.link.open_newwindow 3 browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external 3 browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction 0

but that does not solve the problem. Interestingly, when I use the terminal to open a PDF with Firefox it does open in a new tab instead of a new window. Anyone has an idea how to fix that?

I am using Firefox to open and read local PDF files on mac os. My problem is that Firefox opens a new window for every PDF file I open but I would like them to be opened in a new tab instead. I have already tried the following settings in about:config browser.link.open_newwindow 3 browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external 3 browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction 0 but that does not solve the problem. Interestingly, when I use the terminal to open a PDF with Firefox it does open in a new tab instead of a new window. Anyone has an idea how to fix that?

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Did you look at browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external ?

You can override how external links are opened via the browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external pref. If this pref has the default value -1 then browser.link.open_newwindow is used. The meaning of the value of browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external is the same as of browser.link.open_newwindow

  • 1:current tab; 2:new window; 3:new tab;
lbrocki90
lbrocki90 Question owner
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Thank you for your answer. Yes, I have looked at browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external and tried the different numbers but it does not change the behavior.

However, the behavior does change as expected when I open the pdf with Firefox via the terminal, i.e. using the command /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox some.pdf

I therefore suspect that mac os is messing something up..