How to set default (but not automatic) option for viewing PDF files
How can I set the default option for opening PDF files in Firefox? I'm not asking about setting the automatic handler. I don't want PDF files to open in anything automatically. I want to get the dialog box asking me "What should Firefox do with this file," but I want to set one of the options to be the one that's pre-selected so all I have to do is click OK. (I don't want to have to choose the preferred option each time by clicking its radio button and then OK.)
Recently, these dialogs always seem to have the "Open with Firefox" option pre-selected. Since I usually want to open PDFs with Adobe Acrobat, I have to click on that radio button and then click OK. I just want to click OK, except in the few instances when I want to save the file or use the internal viewer.
So how do I designate the default option?
All Replies (5)
Hi
You can hide that choice by setting browser.helperApps.showOpenOptionForPdfJS = false on the about:config page.
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.
cor-el said
You can hide that choice by setting browser.helperApps.showOpenOptionForPdfJS = false on the about:config page.
Thank you, but that's not what I meant to ask. I don't want to hide any particular option. I just want to specify which of the several options will be the one that is selected as the default in the dialog box, so I can just hit OK if that's the option I want.
Currently, the "Open with Firefox" option always seems to come up as the one that's pre-selected. I want "Open with Adobe Acrobat" to be the default instead so I can just click OK for the large majority of times when that's what I want, but I still want to be able to select "Open with Firefox" or "Save file" occasionally.
Okulungisiwe ngu Jon9
There is also pdfjs.handleOctetStream on the about:config page.
Did you check the setting for "application/pdf" in "Options/Preferences -> General -> Applications" ?
Note that the "Open in Firefox" choice is meant for files that aren't send as application/pdf, but are send as a generic content type like "application/octet-stream" or "content-disposition:attachment" and thus give the download dialog.
If I switch to Always Ask, my Firefox seems to default to the selection I made in the dialog the last time, at least for sites I've visited before. Not sure if that is site-specific; I didn't test many sites.
^:such a choice would be stored in content-prefs.sqlite if it is site specific