How to enable firefox’s built-in pdf reader
Firefox has picked up the pace with quick updates in a Chrome-like fashion. In another move similar to Chrome, Firefox now has a native PDF viewer. If you ask me, it’s about time!
Mozilla just updated Firefox to version 15. Among many new features and fixes there is now a built-in PDF viewer. However unlike Chrome, the Firefox PDF viewer is not enabled by default. We’re about to fix that.
Mozilla officially stated that the PDF Viewer is still in the Beta phase and that is why you must manually enable it. I’ve tested it out on about 20 different PDF files at this point and so far I haven’t seen any problems with the reader, it works great. Take the Beta phase warning with a grain of salt, I’d prefer this viewer over any of the third party alternatives. Here’s how to turn it on.
Open Firefox and type about:config into the address bar. This will take you to the infamous “warranty” page. (Hint: Firefox doesn’t have a warranty) Just click “I’ll be careful, I promise!” to continue.
Now in about:config there is a huge list of entry after entry of preferences. Select the search box and type in browser.preferences.inContent and then right click the matching result and select Toggle. This should set it to the “true” value.
Do the same thing for the preference called pdfjs.disabled and set it to the “false” value.
Now Firefox has its built in PDF viewer enabled. When you visit a linked PDF document from any website in Firefox it will open directly in the browser rather than using third party software or extensions.
Firefox 15 includes an all new PDF reader built into the browser–for those of you wondering, that means you can finally disable the Adobe PDF Plugin and uninstall it once and for all.
Note: obviously if you need to access more advanced PDF features, you’ll still need the Adobe plugin. For most of us, however, the built-in viewer is fine, or you could download PDF files and read them in the offline Adobe Reader.
Enabling Firefox’s Built-in PDF Reader
Open Firefox and navigate to about:config.
This will bring up a sarcastic warning telling you that you might void your warranty, just click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button to move on.
Now you will need to search for:
When you find it, right click on it and select Toggle from the context menu.
Next you will need enable the actual PDF Reader feature, you can do this by searching for:
That’s all there is to it, you can even drag PDF files on your local machine on t0 the Firefox windows to view them!
Note: As pointed out in the comments, you will need to disable the Adobe addon after you have completed this.
Ready to ditch the Adobe plug-in for your Firefox Web browser? Here’s how to enable the native PDF reader.
If you’re not a fan of relying on browser add-ons and plug-ins, you’ll probably want to enable a feature that can help you ditch at least one of them. Firefox now has a built-in PDF reader, and while it doesn’t offer all of the same features that Adobe’s version does, it’s more than sufficient for most uses.
Before you get started enabling the PDF viewer, make sure you have the latest version of Firefox and you’ve disabled the Adobe PDF viewer.
Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET
To check the version: click the menu at the top left-hand corner and go to Help > About Firefox. This will check for updates and allow you to apply any it finds.
Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET
To disable the Adobe plug-in: open the same menu at the top of the Web browser and select Add-ons. In the new area that loads, click on Plugins and then the Disable button next to Adobe Acrobat.
Now to enable the PDF viewer:
Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET
Step 1: Open Firefox and type “about:config” in the address bar. You may see a warning about editing this area, accept it to continue.
Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET
Step 2: Search for browser.preferences.inContent from the box near the top of the about:config area. Once you find it in the list, right-click on it and select Toggle.
Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET
Step 3: Now search for pdfjs.disabled. After finding it, right-click and Toggle this setting as well.
That’s all you need to do for the about:config area, so feel free to close that tab and start browsing PDFs without any need for an extra plug-in or add-on.
The Internet is a treasure trove of information and entertainment, but the amount of extra graphics and advertisements on some of the pages can get overwhelming. To reduce the clutter on the pages that distracts from what we want to read, most browsers have an option called “Reader Mode” or “Reader View.” When enabled, this view takes away all of the excess information and shows you only the article and its images.
Here’s how to access Reader Mode in some of the world’s most popular desktop browsers. The directions in this article refer to desktop versions of these browsers. However, many of them do have a reader mode in their mobile version as well.
Google Chrome
Although Chrome has been experimenting with its Reader Mode for several years, it is still not publicly available on the browser. Instead, it is in the flags, where you can find and utilize settings and extensions not released with the browser.
To use this flag, you must have version 75 of Chrome. Make sure you have this version by clicking on the three dots in the top-right corner. Hover over “Help,” and select “About Chrome.” Chrome will display the current version and automatically install any updates. Click Relaunch to finish the updates.
To get the Reader Mode on Chrome:
1. Type this into the browser: chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode.
2. Click on the dropdown box and click on Enable.
3. When you relaunch your browser, Reader Mode will be available.
When you are on a webpage that you would like to see in Reader Mode, click on the three dots in the top-right corner of the browser, and select “Distill page.”
If you want to return to the regular page, all you need to do is press the Back button.
Firefox
Reader view is built into the Firefox browser. If the page has a Reader View, you will see an icon that looks like a piece of paper at the end of the address bar in the browser.
Click on the icon, and the browser will reload the page in Reader View.
Firefox offers some options for its reader mode that allow you to change font, size, and background color. It also has features that read the text to you and let you save it to Pocket to read later.
Opera
Opera does not have a reader view by default, but you can install an extension to give it the option. Install the Reader View extension.
Once you do, a book icon will appear on the address bar.
Click on the icon to activate Reader View.
The first time you turn on Reader View, you will see a message that tells you that you can select the content you want to view before you click the icon. Selecting the text ahead of time reduces the chance of the extension displaying the incorrect content from the page.
Microsoft Edge
The Reader View on Edge comes standard on the versions of the browser from Canary forward.
Click on the greyed-out book next to the favorites star.
When you click it, it will turn blue, and the Reader View of the page will load.
Edge has a unique look for its Reader View. Instead of scrolling down to read as you would with the reader views in other browsers, you scroll sideways using the arrows on the edge of the window.
Safari
The Reader mode button is standard in the current version of Safari. Look in the address bar for the word “Reader” in a grey box.
When you click the button, you will enter Reader Mode, and the button will turn purple.
Beginning with Safari 11 in macOS High Sierra and Sierra, you can set the browser to open most pages with Reader Mode. To do this:
1. Access a webpage with Reader Mode available.
2. Right-click the URL box.
3. Select settings for the website.
In the pop-up box that appears, look for where it says, “When visiting this website.” If you want all websites to load in Reader Mode, check the box that says “Use Reader when available.”
There are more settings for Reader on Safari found under Safari > Preferences. Here you can set Safari to open any website in Reader Mode by default.
No matter which of these browsers you use, you will find it much easier to read and retain information from websites that are not packed with so much extra material.
Tracey Rosenberger spent 26 years teaching elementary students, using technology to enhance learning. Now she’s excited to share helpful technology with teachers and everyone else who sees tech as intimidating.
Firefox has picked up the pace with quick updates in a Chrome-like fashion. In another move similar to Chrome, Firefox now has a native PDF viewer. If you ask me, it’s about time!
Mozilla just updated Firefox to version 15. Among many new features and fixes there is now a built-in PDF viewer. However unlike Chrome, the Firefox PDF viewer is not enabled by default. We’re about to fix that.
Mozilla officially stated that the PDF Viewer is still in the Beta phase and that is why you must manually enable it. I’ve tested it out on about 20 different PDF files at this point and so far I haven’t seen any problems with the reader, it works great. Take the Beta phase warning with a grain of salt, I’d prefer this viewer over any of the third party alternatives. Here’s how to turn it on.
Open Firefox and type about:config into the address bar. This will take you to the infamous “warranty” page. (Hint: Firefox doesn’t have a warranty) Just click “I’ll be careful, I promise!” to continue.
Now in about:config there is a huge list of entry after entry of preferences. Select the search box and type in browser.preferences.inContent and then right click the matching result and select Toggle. This should set it to the “true” value.
Do the same thing for the preference called pdfjs.disabled and set it to the “false” value.
Now Firefox has its built in PDF viewer enabled. When you visit a linked PDF document from any website in Firefox it will open directly in the browser rather than using third party software or extensions.
Mozilla has just released the next version of one the most popular web browser i.e Firefox and it is available for everyone to download. Firefox 15 comes with some major features, two of which are the built-in PDF files support and Silent, background updates just like the Google Chrome. In this post we will talk about in-built PDF reader in Firefox which is unfortunately disabled by default, but can be easily enabled by changing a small setting in about:config.
Enable built-in PDF Reader
Even though, Firefox 15 comes with in-built PDF reader, but is disabled by default. You need to enable the PDF reader support by changing a small setting. Just open about:config in your Firefox  address bar and search for pdf string. You will find an entry named “pdfjs.disabled”. Just right-click on that string and click on the “Toggle”  option from the menu.
Using the toggle option and setting it to false instead of true, the in-built PDF reader is now enabled in your Firefox browser. You need to restart Firefox to start using the PDF reader.
The inbuilt PDF Reader is just a simple PDF Reader with minimal features necessary enough to read PDF files inside the browser. Some of these minimal features include ability to Zoom in & out, thumbnail view, page views and the option to download the file on your PC.
Keep in mind that this feature is only available if you are using Firefox version 15 or above. If you have not upgraded, you can download Firefox 15 from the download links below.
Windows || Mac OS X || Linux ||  Android
Firefox 78 can be used as the default PDF reader
As many people know already, the original version of Microsoft Edge, currently known as Microsoft Edge legacy, came with truly advanced PDF controls, allowing users to work with documents without the need for another dedicated app.
This is why many actually called Microsoft Edge the best PDF reader rather than a good browser, especially because of Microsoft’s focus on making sure that working with PDF documents didn’t require any other application.
Times have changed and Microsoft Edge is now a much more advanced browser that’s based on Chromium. And at the same time, it also comes with built-in PDF capabilities, as Microsoft specifically tried to make the experience overall feel more native from one end to another.
But Microsoft Edge isn’t the only browser that ships with a built-in PDF reader, as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox also pack such capabilities.
More importantly, however, is that Firefox is being updated with new options that will allow users to set it as the default PDF reader in Windows 10. In other words, users working with PDF documents will be able to simply open these files in Firefox with a double-click on a Windows 10 device.
As discovered by TechDows, the change is happening in Firefox 78, so right now, only the Nightly build of the browser can be configured as the default PDF reader in Windows 10. In other words, this is still an experiment for the time being, but once Firefox 78 reaches the stable channel, the new option should become available for everybody.
The good news is that anyone can give it a try by simply downloading and installing Firefox 78 Nightly on their Windows 10 devices. And the way to set the browser as the default PDF reader on the OS isn’t necessarily complex, but it does require a series of steps that should much more simplified overall.
First and foremost, make sure that you’re running up-to-date Windows 10 and Firefox Nightly.
Then, open the Settings app on Windows 10 and follow this path (make sure you double-check each step twice because Microsoft has made the whole thing unnecessarily complicated, as you’ll figure out in a moment):
Settings > Apps > Default apps > Choose default apps by file type > PDF > Click Microsoft Edge > Firefox Nightly There are a few things that need to be further detailed here. There’s no search box for a specific file extension, so when you look for the PDF settings, there’s no other way than to scroll, and scroll, and scroll until you find this format. It goes without saying that simply searching for a file format would have been a lot easier, but for now, this is pretty much the only way to go.
If you haven’t changed the default PDF reader, then Microsoft Edge should be the one handling the documents on your device. If you already enabled a different app, such as Google Chrome, this one would show up in the Settings app next to the PDF format entry.
Once you enable Firefox, you’re all set, as from this point Mozilla’s browser will be the one that will handle PDF documents. If you want to change it again and return to Microsoft Edge, it’s enough to follow the aforementioned steps, only that in this case you just need to replace Edge with Firefox.
According to Mozilla’s release calendar, Firefox 78, which is the version that will bring the PDF reader to everyone on Windows 10, is projected to go live in the stable channel on June 30.
Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome ship with built-in pdf reader applications that will display documents in the browser when you click on them.
While some may like that as it may be convenient for them, others may prefer to use a different program for that or download the files directly to their computer system to load it in a desktop program instead or have it there for safekeeping.
It is possible to download pdf documents directly in both browsers or configure the browsers to use third-party plugins to handle pdfs.
Just right-click on the file link and select the save option here, but if you want that to be triggered on a left-click as well, you need to modify how pdf files are handled by the browser.
How to disable Chrome’s pdf reader
It is pretty simply to disable Google Chrome’s native pdf reader.
- Type chrome://plugins in the browser’s address bar and hit the enter key on your keyboard afterwards.
- This displays all third-party and native plugins currently installed in the browser as well as their state.
- Locate Chrome PDF Viewer and click on the disable link to turn it off.
When you click on a pdf document afterwards, it will automatically be downloaded instead of displayed.
Note : If you have installed another plugin or extension that acts as a reader for pdf documents, then it will be used.
Additional information
Turn off PDF reader in Firefox
Firefox users have multiple options in this regard. The first uses the browser’s applications menu to set a different action for pdf file types.
- Tap on the Alt-key on your keyboard and select Tools > Options from the menu bar that opens up.
- Switch to Applications and filter by pdf using the search at the top.
- There are three main actions available: always ask displays a prompt that provides you with options to select the action for every pdf document you click on in Firefox. Save file will automatically download the pdf file to the system, while Use application will use the selected program to display the document instead.
To disable the internal pdf reader, select always ask or save file. If you want to use another pdf reader, select the program instead.
There is a second option available, and it involves editing Firefox’s advanced configuration.
Firefox 15 or earlier editions contain PDF reader built into the browser. This function helps to read or view PDF file with Firefox browser. Below listed tips are helpful for those of you wondering how to enable Firefox built in PDF reader, that means you can finally enable or disable the built in PDF reader in Mozilla Firefox.
In my previous post I explored how to set Google Chrome as Default PDF reader and for now I am going to elaborate a suitable method to enable built in PDF viewer Firefox. So if you are searching the same query, then this post will surely help you out. Just follow below instructions:
Enabling Firefox’s Built-in PDF Reader
- Open Firefox and type about:config in the search bar and press enter button.
Now second tab will come with a warning message “you might void your warranty“. Just click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button for further process”
Now you can use the search bar to find: browser.preferences.inContent
Right click then click the Toggle(you can also press double click to enable or disable the function)
In next step, you need to enable the Firefox Built in PDF reader App. For that search: pdfjs.disabled
Do right click then press the Toggle option or press double click to enable or disable the function. That’s it.
Now you will be able to view your PDF file with Mozilla Firefox even if the internet connection is not available. Check steps to set Firefox as the default PDF Viewer to always open PDF documents in Firefox Browser.
Conclusion:
I have already tried the same method for myself to enable built in PDF viewer on Firefox. So I hope this will also helpful for you to resolve the related queries. Still, feel free to comment if you have any suggestions or doubts about the topic. You can also share your feedback using the comment box.
