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How do I get Firefox to open from a closed state when I click on a URL sent in an email or posted in a chat forum?

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by Bob Hicks

Bob Hicks
Bob Hicks
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When Firefox is off and I click on a URL link, Firefox does not start up and open at the URL link. When Firefox is on and I click on a link, then Firefox will start (open) another tab for the URL link. Firefox should open the link regardless of it's on/off state. Windows IE does this and I would expect Firefox to also do this.

Also, related to this is the fact that if I am at a website in Firefox and need to print out a PDF document shown on the website, I can't do this unless I first open/start Adobe. Adobe should automatically start as soon as I try to open the PDF document; again, IE does this.

When Firefox is off and I click on a URL link, Firefox does not start up and open at the URL link. When Firefox is on and I click on a link, then Firefox will start (open) another tab for the URL link. Firefox should open the link regardless of it's on/off state. Windows IE does this and I would expect Firefox to also do this. Also, related to this is the fact that if I am at a website in Firefox and need to print out a PDF document shown on the website, I can't do this unless I first open/start Adobe. Adobe should automatically start as soon as I try to open the PDF document; again, IE does this.

All Replies (5)

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
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Do you have Firefox set as the default browser?
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-make-web-links-open-firefox-default

See this to use Adobe Reader for PDF documents in Firefox.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/use-adobe-reader-plugin-view-or-download-pdf-files

Bob Hicks
Bob Hicks Question owner
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Yes, Firefox has been my default browser since I downloaded it last week. It will not open from a closed state by clicking on a link (such as a YouTube link) in an email.

I looked at the Adobe link and checked on the default settings and found that Adobe Reader was not selected as the default. I made it the default setting and it still will not open a PDF document. In fact, I can not get a PDF document to open at all when I click on a PDF link on a website that I am viewing in Firefox. It doesn't matter if Adobe Reader is open or not and apparently it didn't matter when the Firefox default viewer was active. Specifically, what I'm trying to open is a PDF (Explanation of Benefits) on my medical account website. The document will open using IE but does not open when using Firefox.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Current Firefox versions have enabled a built-in PDF Viewer that doesn't have all features that other PDF readers like the Adobe Reader have or may not function properly otherwise.

You can change the action for Portable Document Format (PDF) from Preview in Firefox to use another application like the Adobe Reader or set to Always Ask in "Firefox > Options/Preferences > Applications".

You can set the pdfjs.disabled pref to true on the about:config page to disable the build-in PDF viewer.

You can check the value of the plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types pref on the about:config page and remove the application/pdf part if present or reset the pref to the default via the right-click context menu if you want to display PDF documents in Firefox with another application (i.e. not the built-in PDF Viewer).

See also:

Try to redo the default browser setting and temporarily set another browser as the default browser.

Bob Hicks
Bob Hicks Question owner
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Cor-el,

Thank you for the response. I’ve already selected Adobe Reader in Firefox as the viewer for PDF documents based on the response I got earlier from the-edmeister. Firefox will still not open a PDF document from a website when viewing the website in Firefox.

As far as changing anything in a dot config file – I’ll pass. I’ve been a Windows IE user for more years than I can remember. I’ve been told by many other folks that Firefox is a better browser platform for several years. Based on that, I assumed that Firefox will do everything that IE will do as good as or better than IE. I’m not opposed to making some application based selections to get Firefox to work, but I was expecting a fully functional plug & play application. Changing settings in dot config files is not my idea of plug & play.

I printed out the instructions from the link you supplied (https://support.mozilla.org/kb/view-pdf-files-firefox-without-downloading-them) and will give that a shot later today. In the mean time, I’ve already redone the default browser setting and temporarily set IE as the default browser.

Bob Hicks
Bob Hicks Question owner
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Cor-el,

I went through all of the steps from the link https://support.mozilla.org/kb/view-pdf-files-firefox-without-downloading-them. None of it helped. Firefox will still not open a PDF document from a website when viewing the website in Firefox. It doesn't matter if Adobe Reader is open or not. This simple function works just fine on my PC when using IE. After all the wonderful things I've heard about Firefox, I'm very disappointed it seems to have some problems dealing with PDF documents.

I also noticed in the Add-ons manager window that there are 6 functions on my PC that Firefox isn't compatible with such as Kaspersky URL Adviser and HP Smart Web printing.

So, can anybody tell me what the REAL advantage is to using Firefox over Windows IE?