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Want to permanetly replace Firefox's printer dialog with System Dialog Box

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I don't like the new printer dialog box Firefox came up with. It is too basic. 9 times out of 10 I have to click over to the System Dialog Box. Is there any way I can permanently switch to System Dialog Box? I am running Windows 11/64

I don't like the new printer dialog box Firefox came up with. It is too basic. 9 times out of 10 I have to click over to the System Dialog Box. Is there any way I can permanently switch to System Dialog Box? I am running Windows 11/64

All Replies (18)

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For now you can revert to the previous interface by setting a pref to false on the about:config page.

print.tab_modal.enabled = false

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As of the time of this posting, the recent release of Firefox 97.0 appears to have removed this option to default to the system printer.

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Firefox 97 has the latest evolution of the combined preview/setup/print experience introduced in Firefox 84. The old code has been removed. There's no going back.

There are bugs on file to add a new user preference and new keyboard shortcut to go directly to the system print dialog without a preview. Not sure whether that will arrive next month in Firefox 98 or whether it might take longer.

aniawa said

9 times out of 10 I have to click over to the System Dialog Box.

What kinds of settings require the system dialog for your workflow?

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I just noticed that the old about:config setting no longer works to avoid the Firefox print dialog.

I sign lots of PDFs in my online medical record using the "Open in Preview" option from the system print dialog. Firefox 97 forcing me to use the Firefox dialgog, scroll down to click the option to open the system dialog has added steps to a task I do many times daily.

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brianrppierce said

I sign lots of PDFs in my online medical record using the "Open in Preview" option from the system print dialog. Firefox 97 forcing me to use the Firefox dialgog, scroll down to click the option to open the system dialog has added steps to a task I do many times daily.

Are these PDFs you are displaying in a tab in Firefox? It seems easier to use the Download button to launch the PDF directly into Preview without going through the print step:

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Why is printing suddenly a thing with Firefox 97.0 and Mozilla and the about:config work around is disabled? I need my system dialog *every* time I print since the FF dialog is incomplete without my presets. If you're going to reinvent and try to force users to comply, at lease give us print presets. If not just get out of the way.

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david21 said

Why is printing suddenly a thing with Firefox 97.0 and Mozilla and the about:config work around is disabled?

We've had a long period to shake out the bugs in the print experience introduced in Firefox 84. It was always the intention to remove the old code eventually, and Firefox 97 is when it happened.

I need my system dialog *every* time I print since the FF dialog is incomplete without my presets. If you're going to reinvent and try to force users to comply, at lease give us print presets. If not just get out of the way.

Is there an industry standard for printer presets? If these vary a lot, and especially if you tend to customize them, it might not make sense to add them to the combined preview/setup panel.

There are bugs on file to add:

  • A new user preference to bypass the preview/setup screen and go directly to the system dialog
  • A new keyboard shortcut to bypass the preview/setup screen and go directly to the system dialog

I don't know whether these will arrive in Firefox 98 next month; it depends on whether testing can be completed in time. For now, it's an extra click.

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It is too bad that Mozzila made this decision. The System Dialog Box is one of my top 3 criteria for choosing a browser. As a writer, Mozzila's primitive printer dialog bog is just that! It leaves me with no choice, I must find a new browser that uses MS' System Dialog Box. So, Mozzila loses another user. I probably wont be the last. Please notify me when you get this issue fixed, if ever.

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aniawa said

As a writer, Mozzila's primitive printer dialog bog is just that!

As a writer, what types of changes do you need to make in the print dialog that Mozilla didn't include on the setup panel?

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Apple OS has had print presets since the beginning of time. Mozilla product managers should take a look at how they enable repetitive printing tasks to be executed without thinking twice about them. For me, Firefox and Thunderbird have become proof that software people are too often misguided in their meddling, and change things for changes sake. What is the process to downgrade to 96?

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How can I downgrade to 96?

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Yea. Taking away the ability to use system print dialog is BULLSHIT! Thanks a pantload Firefox!

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mhef said

Taking away the ability to use system print dialog is BULLSHIT!

It's an extra click for now:

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I absolutely HATE having to click an extra button to print from the system dialog box. It's not just one click. It also keeps reverting back to the wrong paper size. I do a good deal of printing and I am ready to switch browsers because of this. Why in the world did they change this???????

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mring1 said

I absolutely HATE having to click an extra button to print from the system dialog box. It's not just one click. It also keeps reverting back to the wrong paper size.

Can you start a new question about the paper size issue:

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/new/desktop/form

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This problem may be my reason to use other browser. Stealing seconds from me every time i want to print ( or convert to pdf ) is just stealing.

Please get back a simple toggle setup where i can state "i want system print menue" Thanks

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tsar.peter said

Please get back a simple toggle setup where i can state "i want system print menue"

There are bugs on file with the developers to add:

  • A new user preference to bypass the preview/setup screen and go directly to the system dialog
  • A new keyboard shortcut to bypass the preview/setup screen and go directly to the system dialog

I don't know when those will arrive in Firefox.

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=== For those who do not want any preview ===

It's finally here. Firefox 101 has a preference to bypass the combined print preview/setup overlay and go straight to the system dialog. Here's how you can try it out:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox. The moderators would like us to remind you that changes made through this back door aren't fully supported and aren't guaranteed to continue working in the future.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste print.prefer_system_dialog and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the preference to switch the value from false to true

If you need to restore the default display, you can call up the preference and double-click again to toggle the value back to false. There's also will be a reset arrow at the right end of the row when the preference has a non-default value.