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.

Stopping automatic pdf downloads on Firefox using MacOS

douglasprice434
douglasprice434
more options

It does not matter how many times I change this setting in preferences to "Open in Firefox" I still get this pop-up every time I click a pdf.

It also does not matter how many times I select "open with preview" and click "Do this automatically for files..." box. Every time I click the next pdf the same thing pops up!?!?!?!

And additionally no matter my selection I make ends up leading to a pdf being downloaded automatically.

This is beyond frustrating. Please help.

It does not matter how many times I change this setting in preferences to "Open in Firefox" I still get this pop-up every time I click a pdf. It also does not matter how many times I select "open with preview" and click "Do this automatically for files..." box. Every time I click the next pdf the same thing pops up!?!?!?! And additionally no matter my selection I make ends up leading to a pdf being downloaded automatically. This is beyond frustrating. Please help.
Attached screenshots

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Are there sites where it works and sites where it doesn't?

When sending a download, sites set multiple HTTP headers. Sites can set two of these to trigger the download dialog, bypassing Firefox's automatic handling of downloads:

(1) Content-Disposition

If a server sends a Content-Disposition header set to attachment, which bypasses viewing in a tab, Firefox will always show the download dialog.

(2) Content-Type

The setting on the Options/Preferences page is keyed to the content type application/pdf, not the .pdf file name extension. If the server sends a different content type, Firefox won't use the PDF instructions.

If you would consider using an add-on to address these issues, I have one here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/content-type-fixer/

When using a site that has this issue, click the Zzzz button to wake up the extension, then click the button again and select the "Follow my settings (inline)" option:

<center></center>

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer