Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

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

Le thread ibilondoloziwe. Nceda ubuze umbuzo omtsha ukuba ufuna uncedo.

How to disable the built-in PDF viewer and use another viewer permanently?

  • 2 iimpendulo
  • 1 inayo le ngxaki
  • 1 view
  • Impendulo yokugqibela ngu daviddarling16

daviddarling16
daviddarling16
more options

How to disable the built-in PDF viewer and use Adobe Reader to view PDF files, without having to set this preference each time that I open Firefox? The setting defaults back to "Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox)". Thanks.

How to disable the built-in PDF viewer and use Adobe Reader to view PDF files, without having to set this preference each time that I open Firefox? The setting defaults back to "Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox)". Thanks.

Isisombulu esikhethiweyo

That's strange. The built-in viewer -- default viewer -- is described with the phrase "Preview in Firefox" and you would have to have changed it to "Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox)".

Well... you or an add-on or another program on your system would have to have changed it.

What if you disable the Adobe Acrobat plugin (not the Create PDF extension, leave that enabled). Here's how you can try that:

Open the Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Plugins. On the right side, find "Adobe Acrobat" and change the permission to "Never Activate".

Then on the Options page, Applications panel, change your preference for "Portable Document Format (PDF)" to "Always Ask" so you get the download dialog instead of the PDF opening in a tab.

Does it stick?

Funda le mpendulo kwimeko leyo 👍 1

All Replies (2)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo

That's strange. The built-in viewer -- default viewer -- is described with the phrase "Preview in Firefox" and you would have to have changed it to "Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox)".

Well... you or an add-on or another program on your system would have to have changed it.

What if you disable the Adobe Acrobat plugin (not the Create PDF extension, leave that enabled). Here's how you can try that:

Open the Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Plugins. On the right side, find "Adobe Acrobat" and change the permission to "Never Activate".

Then on the Options page, Applications panel, change your preference for "Portable Document Format (PDF)" to "Always Ask" so you get the download dialog instead of the PDF opening in a tab.

Does it stick?

daviddarling16
daviddarling16 Umnini wombuzo
more options

Disabling Adobe Acrobat worked - thank you sir!