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

Wo archive tread sia. Meɖekuku bia biabia yeye ne ehia kpeɖeŋu.

I cannot get firefox to read a .chm file. Old Netscape does, explorer does, chrome does. How can I get Firefox to read a .chm file?

  • 2 ŋuɖoɖowo
  • 1 masɔmasɔ sia le esi
  • 1 view
  • Nuɖoɖo mlɔetɔ messagebot

988420
988420
more options

In Firefox 24.0 -> Tools -> Options -> Applications, I cannot choose a program (hh.exe) to read .chm files. When I choose to open a *.chm file I have only the option of saving it, not to open it. Other browsers like Explorer, chrome, even old netscape 7.2 allow me to open it and the program finds I presume the hh.exe file and away you go. I cannot find a way to get Firefox (my favorite browser) to read chm files.

In Firefox 24.0 -> Tools -> Options -> Applications, I cannot choose a program (hh.exe) to read .chm files. When I choose to open a *.chm file I have only the option of saving it, not to open it. Other browsers like Explorer, chrome, even old netscape 7.2 allow me to open it and the program finds I presume the hh.exe file and away you go. I cannot find a way to get Firefox (my favorite browser) to read chm files.

All Replies (2)

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
  • Moderator
more options

As I recall, Netscape 7.2 was a hybrid version made long after AOL shut-down their Mozilla programming operations, and that version incorporated some Trident code used by IE - which might explain the CHM compatibility. Not sure why Chrome handles it, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Compiled_HTML_Help
Microsoft Compiled HTML Help is a Microsoft proprietary online help format, consisting of a collection of HTML pages, an index and other navigation tools. The files are compressed and deployed in a binary format with the extension .CHM, for Compiled HTML. The format is often used for software documentation.

There used to be a CHM Reader Add-on for Firefox - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chm-reader/ - but it hasn't been updated since June, 2008 / Firefox 3.6.
Sorry, Mozilla doesn't support "proprietary" formats such as that.

messagebot
messagebot
more options

Hi,

Unfortunately we had a data base error today and lost some user accounts when we had to go back to our backups. If you have started this thread, your's is one of those. Since we can not recreate your account, please sign-up for a new account here to reply to the forum messages:

https://support.mozilla.org/users/auth

You can use the same username and email address as before. We are very sorry for the inconvenience.