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Popup windows

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 23 views
  • Last reply by chzuck

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What did you guys do now? Out of the blue my popup window that should contain a pdf of a bank statement comes up blank. I reset Firefox and it worked for a time and now does not work again. However I can run Waterfox and it works fine. Don't mess with Waterfox!

What did you guys do now? Out of the blue my popup window that should contain a pdf of a bank statement comes up blank. I reset Firefox and it worked for a time and now does not work again. However I can run Waterfox and it works fine. Don't mess with Waterfox!
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Chosen solution

zuck1517 said

I found out what exactly is happening. The blank popup window appears and the PDF file that should show in the popup is downloaded automatically. How do I change that?

Change your PDF handling setting to "Open in Firefox" and see whether that fixes it: View PDF files using Firefox’s built-in viewer.

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If you use extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) that can block content (Adblock Plus, NoScript, Disconnect, Ghostery, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin) always make sure such extensions do not block content.


You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences).

"Remove the Cookies" for websites that cause problems:

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Data"

"Clear the Cache":

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data -> Clear Data -> Cached Web Content: Clear

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
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I found out what exactly is happening. The blank popup window appears and the PDF file that should show in the popup is downloaded automatically. How do I change that? I want to handle the file from the popup window, not after it is already downloaded. It works as it should in Waterfox.

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Chosen Solution

zuck1517 said

I found out what exactly is happening. The blank popup window appears and the PDF file that should show in the popup is downloaded automatically. How do I change that?

Change your PDF handling setting to "Open in Firefox" and see whether that fixes it: View PDF files using Firefox’s built-in viewer.

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OK. That explains much. Strange things were happening on Newspapers.com when I was downloading PDF clippings recently. I have Acrobat, so I disabled the Firefox PDF option and will check to see if that solves the problem. Also explains why things worked as before on Waterfox, as I don't think that browser has the PDF feature. I will test my change and see what happens. Thanks.

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Open in Firefox does not allow the PDF to be viewed in the popup window. Open in Firefox requires a right click and select open in new tab. Waterfox has a "preview in Waterfox" that does what Firefox used to do. Please bring that selection back! For now I will use Waterfox.

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After trying the other settings, I went back to view in Firefox and now the popup window shows the pdf file. I also made sure this site has permission for popup windows.