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Trouble opening PDF file in Thunderbird

  • 4 replies
  • 4 have this problem
  • 13 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

Fred
Fred
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I have received an emailed PDF newsletter each week for many months without problems. For past two weeks when clicking on the attached PDF file the PDF tab opens, but the page is blank. I have tried downloading the file and open it with Acrobat, but get an error message that file is corrupted and cannot be opened. If I go online to my provider site (AT&T/Yahoo) I can open the attachment and download the PDF file. The sender says there has not been any changes on their end from what has been used for months. I am using the current version of Thunderbird (102.6.1 (64-bit)). Any help/suggestions appreciated.

I have received an emailed PDF newsletter each week for many months without problems. For past two weeks when clicking on the attached PDF file the PDF tab opens, but the page is blank. I have tried downloading the file and open it with Acrobat, but get an error message that file is corrupted and cannot be opened. If I go online to my provider site (AT&T/Yahoo) I can open the attachment and download the PDF file. The sender says there has not been any changes on their end from what has been used for months. I am using the current version of Thunderbird (102.6.1 (64-bit)). Any help/suggestions appreciated.

All Replies (4)

Toad-Hall
Toad-Hall
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Are you using an IMAP account ? Do you normally download the full email or just headers (thus downloading as required to cache)? Do you know the type of download can be set up on a per folder basis ?

Check this: the folder which contains the email with pdf attachment - is it set up as available offline?

  • Right click on folder and select 'Properties'
  • Click on 'Synchronisation' tab
  • Is the checkbox 'Select this folder for offline use' selected ?
  • If no, then select that checkbox and then click on 'Download Now'
  • click on 'OK'

Wait a few moments whilst that folder gets fully synchronised meaning full copies of emails get downloaded instead of just headers.

Modified by Toad-Hall

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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The file might be corrupted if there's an antivirus app scanning attachments. In general, the TB profile folder should be excluded from AV scanning (which doesn't affect the real-time background scanning).

Charles218
Charles218
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I am having the identical problem as the OP, using my MacBook with Thunderbird 102.6.1. Having used TB for many years, PDF's always opened without issue, this problem pop up maybe a couple of months ago. A tab opens up in TB but it does not display anything, it's blank. If I download the file to my computer, I get the following error message, "It may be damaged or use a file format that Preview doesn’t recognize." Once downloaded I have try to open the file with several programs, each produces the same error.

If I go to the email that has the attachment on my iPhone, the file opens perfectly. If I open the email in my browser instead of TB, the file is fine and I am able to print it. So it appears that it is an issue with TB.

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Try changing a preference that affects how TB downloads files:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1404538