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Opening an image without downloading it

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 266 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

silentbutkrazy
silentbutkrazy
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Hello, Frequently when I left click a hyperlink to an image, Firefox will ask me where I would like it downloaded. However, my purpose for clicking that link was to simply open the image in a new tab. When I went to find the default option for opening an image, I was not given the choice to "preview in browser" (a choice you get for opening .pdf files, among other things). What am I doing wrong? I do not want to download image URLs that I click.

I found an extension that allows me to do this, but I cannot set the extension's behavior as the default. Essentially, whenever I have to open an image, I have to left click it then select the option to open it in a new tab. This is pretty unwieldy and awkward behavior, and I would really appreciate a work-around.

I have already ran Firefox in safe mode, but with no success.

Thank you for your time.

Hello, Frequently when I left click a hyperlink to an image, Firefox will ask me where I would like it downloaded. However, my purpose for clicking that link was to simply open the image in a new tab. When I went to find the default option for opening an image, I was not given the choice to "preview in browser" (a choice you get for opening .pdf files, among other things). What am I doing wrong? I do not want to download image URLs that I click. I found an extension that allows me to do this, but I cannot set the extension's behavior as the default. Essentially, whenever I have to open an image, I have to left click it then select the option to open it in a new tab. This is pretty unwieldy and awkward behavior, and I would really appreciate a work-around. I have already ran Firefox in safe mode, but with no success. Thank you for your time.

Chosen solution

This is usually caused by the way the server sends the file. If the server sends the file as a recognized image type then Firefox will show the image in a tab. If the server sends the file a a generic content type or in another way that makes Firefox presenting an open with dialog then your only option is to use the "Open in Browser" extension or possibly a special bookmarklet.

You can use the Live Http Headers extension or possibly the Network monitor to check the HTTP response headers.

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All Replies (4)

philipp
philipp
  • Moderator
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hi silentbutkrazy, does the following addon help you achieve the behaviour you'd like to see? https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/inlinedisposition/

silentbutkrazy
silentbutkrazy Question owner
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Thank you for your reply, philipp. However, that does not help.

philipp
philipp
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can you provide a sample url where this is happening?

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

This is usually caused by the way the server sends the file. If the server sends the file as a recognized image type then Firefox will show the image in a tab. If the server sends the file a a generic content type or in another way that makes Firefox presenting an open with dialog then your only option is to use the "Open in Browser" extension or possibly a special bookmarklet.

You can use the Live Http Headers extension or possibly the Network monitor to check the HTTP response headers.