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Adobe Reader 9.5.4.268 shows a search button in embedded but not in standalone mode

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 11 views
  • Last reply by chkmouse

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Ever since Adobe Reader was updated to the "new" look I could not figure out how to search PDFs. The previous version had a convenient "find" field in the toolbar. I visited the http://kb.mozillazine.org/Adobe_Reader page, which provides a link to the test PDF at http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/testpages/pdf.html.

Surprisingly, the embedded PDF shows a magnifying glass button which provides access to the search functions. However, this button is missing when the same test PDF is opened in a standalone mode within the browser (Firefox 20.0.1).

Why the difference and is there a place to customize the Adobe Reader toolbar?

Ever since Adobe Reader was updated to the "new" look I could not figure out how to search PDFs. The previous version had a convenient "find" field in the toolbar. I visited the http://kb.mozillazine.org/Adobe_Reader page, which provides a link to the test PDF at http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/testpages/pdf.html. Surprisingly, the embedded PDF shows a magnifying glass button which provides access to the search functions. However, this button is missing when the same test PDF is opened in a standalone mode within the browser (Firefox 20.0.1). Why the difference and is there a place to customize the Adobe Reader toolbar?

All Replies (6)

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You are most likely using the built in PDF reader in Firefox, not Adobe Reader. Use Adobe Reader to view PDF files in Firefox can help you switch back to Adobe (which you should update to version 11 BTW)

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Firefox 20 comes with a built-in PDF reader. Are you sure that isn't what you are using?
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/view-pdf-files-firefox-without-downloading-them#w_using-the-built-in-pdf-viewer
Look at the images on that page of the built-in PDF reader.

If you want to use the Adobe PDF Reader, see this:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/disable-built-pdf-viewer-and-use-another-viewer

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Current Firefox versions have enabled a built-in PDF Viewer that doesn't have all features that other PDF readers like the Adobe Reader have or may not function properly otherwise.

You can change the action for Portable Document Format (PDF) from Preview in Firefox to use the Adobe Reader or set to Always Ask in "Firefox > Options/Preferences > Applications".

You can set the pdfjs.disabled pref to true on the about:config page to disable the build-in PDF viewer.

You can check the value of the plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types pref on the about:config page and remove the application/pdf part if present or reset the pref to the default via the right-click context menu.

See also:

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Thank you for the clarification. Having seen Adobe Reader in the addons, I just assumed that is what Firefox was using... Thank you for taking the time to respond!

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It turns out that you are correct! Thank you for your help!

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Thank you for taking the time to clarify this for me. You are correct and I feel silly for confusing the two viewers... However, I still see that the search function appears :) to be present in the built-in viewer when opened in embedded mode but not in standalone mode. Please compare the attached images.

Thank you!