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.

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

When printing Firefox does not open the Print Dialog window

  • 2 replies
  • 4 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by jcb985

jcb985
jcb985
more options

When printing at our office we often need to print to multiple printers and not just the default printer. When printing in Firefox, however, the print automatically gets sent to the default printer and I do not get a print dialog window. I have reset Firefox's printer options, changed the prefs.js file, and launched Firefox from safe mode to check if an add-on is affecting printing - all to no avail. When I print from Chrome, or (shudder) Internet Explorer I get a dialog box giving me printer options. Your help and responses will be appreciated.

When printing at our office we often need to print to multiple printers and not just the default printer. When printing in Firefox, however, the print automatically gets sent to the default printer and I do not get a print dialog window. I have reset Firefox's printer options, changed the prefs.js file, and launched Firefox from safe mode to check if an add-on is affecting printing - all to no avail. When I print from Chrome, or (shudder) Internet Explorer I get a dialog box giving me printer options. Your help and responses will be appreciated.

Chosen solution

There is a hidden preference to bypass the dialog, but it definitely is not set by default. To check for that:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste print. and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If you discover a preference named print.always_print_silent there's your trouble.

Next question would be, where did it come from?! Some possibilities:

(A) A user.js file that overrides prefs.js at startup. See: How to fix preferences that won't save.

(B) A lock file in the program folder. See: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locking_preferences

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (2)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

Chosen Solution

There is a hidden preference to bypass the dialog, but it definitely is not set by default. To check for that:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste print. and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If you discover a preference named print.always_print_silent there's your trouble.

Next question would be, where did it come from?! Some possibilities:

(A) A user.js file that overrides prefs.js at startup. See: How to fix preferences that won't save.

(B) A lock file in the program folder. See: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locking_preferences

jcb985
jcb985 Question owner
more options

Thank you jscher2000. Changing always_print_silent to "false" solved the issue. It seems that was enough to save the preference as well. (we'll see what happens when I log in again next week...) Again - can't thank you enough.