Ill Advised Firefox (Mozilla) printer Dialog Box
I am a writer. The throw-away printer dialog box Firefox uses does not meet my needs. There are about 8 additional functions that Firefox (Mozilla) printer Dialog Box does not have that Windows provides. I see that Firefox (Mozilla) printer Dialog Box can get me to the Windows printer Dialog Box but do you realize what a hassle that is when I an proofing a document. There has to be some method to permanently direct me to the Windows printer Dialog Box when I use the Firefox printer icon. I used one solution and it worked while Firefox was active but went away when I shut down Firefox. When I brought Firefox back online and tried to print, I was sent to the Firefox (Mozilla) printer Dialog Box. That solution didn't help much. I am using 64-bit windows 11.
Also, why did Firefox try to re-create the wheel that was working just fine?
All Replies (4)
Hello,
There used to be a config to change this when the feature was in a testing phase. This has now been removed because of the stability.
You can still use the system dialog by scrolling to the bottom of the print dialog.
There currently is a bug in order to add a keyboard shortcut to skip the new printing dialog.
I am going to attempt to give you a summary of the reasons jscher2000 has stated in the past.
Most applications now have their own printing dialog now (look at Chrome, Office, etc.) Firefox is catching up to the times.
System printing dialogs (as you have highlighted) have different features and different looks. This serves to create parity over each system.
As mentioned before, the same options are available, now behind one extra click.
If you read my email, you got my point. It is a real hassle to want to print something using Firefox. Nearly every time I have to go to the bottom of Firefox's dialog box to get to the System Dialog box. It is especially irritating when I am having to download several clinical papers at a time with format changes not possible with Firefox's Dialog Box. It really bothers me that FireFox thought they could improve on Window's design then take several steps backward. It's as if Firefox has taken away my car with a gas engine and given me a horse and buggy thinking I would be happier with that. I can't think any other browser that has their own Printer Dialog Box. I would give your dialog box a D+ (maybe a C-, if I had a very quick 1 page re-write job). Just not what I would expect from a top tier browser. FireFox has definitely dropped out of the top three.
I don't need another key to get to the System Dialog Box. I have a key right there. Please just fix the one that's there. The quick and simplest fix is to replace FireFox's Printer Dialog Box with a proven winner and top choice, System Dialog Box. There must be someone at FireFox who is listening and understands the issue. The only reason I can think of to not do this is that this is someone in the glass tower favorite toy and they are not giving it up. What a pity. Shame on them!
I understand that you are unhappy, but note that all modern browsers have this feature (edge, chrome, opera, etc.)
The people who develop Firefox generally do not see this forum. They do see bug reports and suggestions. You can make suggestions at the new connect.mozilla.org I will note that they are likely aware of this issue.
This feature is actively being worked on, and should become on par with most system features.
If you require the system print by default, you must go to an older version, as the newer versions do not contain the code necessary to set system as the default. To keep security updates, download the newest ESR version (91.6.0esr) here https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#firefox-desktop-esr
This version contains the code that allows you to make system the default.
In order to do this (only will work on versions pre-97), go to about:config and change the following preferences:
print.tab_modal.enabled => false app.normandy.startupRolloutPrefs.print.tab_modal.enabled => false