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.

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

Firefox doesn't open file with .pdf extension

  • 2 replies
  • 4 have this problem
  • 10 views
  • Last reply by qoom

more options

Hello. If downloaded file has ".pdf" extension firefox can't open it saying "file.pdf could not be opened, because the associated helper application does not exist. Change the association in your preferences." It opens pdfs only after removing ".pdf" from filename (it works for all of pdf documents). I have 2 pdf related options in Preferences->applications: Portable Document Format (PDF) - is set to preview in firefox; PDF Document - is set to Use (default) and it has not option preview in firefox. I'm using arch linux and xfce4. There is MIME Type settings in xfce4 & it is set to open in firefox: "application/pdf" - "Firefox". Thanks

Hello. If downloaded file has ".pdf" extension firefox can't open it saying "file.pdf could not be opened, because the associated helper application does not exist. Change the association in your preferences." It opens pdfs only after removing ".pdf" from filename (it works for all of pdf documents). I have 2 pdf related options in Preferences->applications: Portable Document Format (PDF) - is set to preview in firefox; PDF Document - is set to Use (default) and it has not option preview in firefox. I'm using arch linux and xfce4. There is MIME Type settings in xfce4 & it is set to open in firefox: "application/pdf" - "Firefox". Thanks

Chosen solution

Try to rename/remove the mimeTypes.rdf file in the Firefox profile folder to reset all file actions.

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (2)

more options

Chosen Solution

Try to rename/remove the mimeTypes.rdf file in the Firefox profile folder to reset all file actions.

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

more options

thanks, it works now