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View and edit PDF files using Firefox’s built-in viewer

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You can view PDF files in Firefox using the built-in viewer or with a third-party tool. Learn more.
You can view PDF files in Firefox using the built-in viewer or with a third-party tool. Learn more.

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Firefox includes a built-in PDF viewer to display PDF files inside the browser window. This article explains how to use the built-in PDF viewer, how to fix the common issues you might encounter, and how to use another PDF viewer. __TOC__ =Firefox’s built-in PDF Viewer= Firefox includes a built-in PDF viewer that allows you to view almost all PDF files found on the web without an external application (exceptions to this are PDF files with a [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Basics_of_HTTP/MIME_types MIME type] incorrectly set). This built-in PDF viewer is enabled by default. When you click on a link to a PDF file or open it from the Firefox [[Where to find and manage downloaded files in Firefox|Downloads panel]], it will be rendered with the built-in pdf viewer. ;[[Image:PDF JS]] ==PDF Viewer toolbar functions== *'''View document thumbnails or outline:''' The slider button on the far left will open a sidebar with thumbnails of the document's pages. Some documents will also have an outline view available. These make it easy to navigate through a long document. *:[[Image:PDF Thumbnails]] *'''Page up and down or skip directly to a page:''' You can use the up and down arrows to page through a document or enter the number of the page you want to go to. *:[[Image:PDF Pager]] *'''Change the size of the document:''' Use the + and - buttons to zoom in and out or choose a zoom setting from the dropdown menu. *:[[Image:PDF Zoom]] *'''Fullscreen or Presentation mode:''' Click the fullscreen button to allow the PDF file to take over your entire screen. Press {key ESC} to exit fullscreen mode. *:[[Image:PDF Fullscreen]] *'''Print:''' Click the Printer button to open the print setup dialog. *:[[Image:PDF Print]] *'''Download:''' Click the Download button to save the PDF file to your computer or to open it with a PDF reader program. *:[[Image:PDF Download]] *'''Copy current view:''' [[T:contextmenu]] the current view button to open the current view in another tab or window. *:[[Image:PDF Copy]] ==PDF Viewer keyboard shortcuts== {| !Command !Shortcut |- |Next page |{key N} or {key J} or {key &#8594;} or {key Page Down} |- |Previous page |{key P} or {key K} or {key &#8592;} or {key Page Up} |- |Zoom in |{for win,linux}{key Ctrl+&#43}{/for}{for mac}{key command+&#43}{/for} |- |Zoom out |{for win,linux}{key Ctrl+-}{/for}{for mac}{key command+-}{/for} |- |Automatic Zoom |{for win,linux}{key Ctrl+0}{/for}{for mac}{key command+0}{/for} |- |Rotate the document clockwise |{key R} |- |Rotate counterclockwise |{key Shift+R} |} ==Troubleshoot problems with the PDF viewer== *With certain types of PDF files, the PDF Viewer may have problems displaying fonts, colors or the whole document. If some PDF files don't render well or are blank, click the download button on the right side of the document header to open it with the default PDF viewer application on your computer. *If you can't open any PDF files with the built-in PDF viewer, a Firefox extension could be the cause. You can disable all of your extensions, to see if one of them was the problem. <!-- Maybe the user is using NoScript and doesn't want to disable it completely. Note that https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=739058 is now resolved WORKSFORME as of 2013-02-06. --> For details, see [[Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems#w_disable-all-extensions]]. =Disable the built-in PDF viewer and use another viewer= You can also use a different third party PDF viewer instead of Firefox’s built-in PDF viewer. To change from using the built-in PDF viewer to another PDF viewer: #[[T:optionspreferences]] #In the {menu General} panel, go down to the '''Applications''' section. #Find '''Portable Document Format (PDF)''' in the list and click on the entry to select it. #Click on the arrow under the '''Action''' column for the above entry and select the PDF viewer you wish to use from the drop-down menu. #;{for not fx77}{for mac}[[Image:Fx76Applications-PDF-Mac]]{/for}{for linux}[[Image:applications-fx57-pdf]]{/for}{for win}[[Image:Fx61Applications-pdf-win7]]{/for}{/for}{for fx77}{for mac}[[Image:Fx77Applications-PDF-Mac]]{/for}{for linux}[[Image:Fx78Applications-PDF]]{/for}<!-- need linux image for fx77 showing drop-down options -->{for win}[[Image:Fx78Applications-PDF-Win]]{/for}{/for} {note}'''Note''': When {for not fx77}{menu Preview in Firefox}{/for}{for fx77}{menu Open in Firefox}{/for} is the selected action, the built-in PDF viewer is used.{/note} {for fx78} =Set Firefox to ask you what to do with PDF files= If you want Firefox to always ask you what to do with PDF files, follow the above steps to change the action for the '''Portable Document Format (PDF)''' entry, except select {menu Always ask} from the drop-down menu. The next time you click on a link to download a PDF file, Firefox will show you a prompt asking what to do with the file. You can then choose to open it with Firefox's built-in PDF viewer, open it with a different PDF application, or you can choose to save the file. ;[[Image:Fx78openingPDF-AlwaysAsk]] {/for} For more information, see [[Change what Firefox does when you click on or download a file]]. =Use a third party PDF viewer for downloaded PDF files= You can choose to have Firefox’s built-in PDF viewer as the default for viewing PDFs in the browser but open downloaded PDF files with a third party tool. To open a PDF file you downloaded in Firefox, using a third party viewer: #Open the [[Where to find and manage downloaded files in Firefox|Downloads panel]] by clicking the [[Image:download icon 57]] download icon next to the address bar. #{for win,linux}Right-click on the file folder icon[[Image:WinDownloadFile]] of the PDF file and select {menu Open Containing Folder}.{/for}{for mac}Hold down the {key control} key while you click (two finger click) the magnifying glass icon [[Image:MagnifyingGlass]]of the PDF file and select {menu Show in Finder}.{/for} #Then in the Downloads folder, {for win,linux}right-click{/for}{for mac}Control-click{/for} on the file and select {menu Open with} and choose your favorite PDF viewer.
Firefox includes a built-in PDF viewer to display PDF files inside the browser window. This article explains how to use the built-in PDF viewer, how to fix the common issues you might encounter, and how to use another PDF viewer. __TOC__ =Firefox’s built-in PDF Viewer= Firefox includes a built-in PDF viewer that allows you to view almost all PDF files found on the web without an external application (exceptions to this are PDF files with a [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Basics_of_HTTP/MIME_types MIME type] incorrectly set). This built-in PDF viewer is enabled by default. When you click on a link to a PDF file or open it from the Firefox [[Where to find and manage downloaded files in Firefox|Downloads panel]], it will be rendered with the built-in pdf viewer. ;[[Image:PDF JS]] ==Fill out forms in PDF Viewer== {note}'''Note''': This feature is available starting in [[Find what version of Firefox you are using|Firefox version]] 81 and higher.{/note} Some PDFs files have interactive fields to fill in data (such as on forms). Using Firefox's built-in PDF viewer you can fill out fields such as text, check boxes and radio buttons. After entering data into these fields you can download the file to have the filled out version saved to your computer. ;[[Image:PDF Form]] ==PDF Viewer toolbar functions== *'''View document thumbnails or outline:''' The slider button on the far left will open a sidebar with thumbnails of the document's pages. Some documents will also have an outline view available. These make it easy to navigate through a long document. *:[[Image:PDF Thumbnails]] *'''Page up and down or skip directly to a page:''' You can use the up and down arrows to page through a document or enter the number of the page you want to go to. *:[[Image:PDF Pager]] *'''Change the size of the document:''' Use the + and - buttons to zoom in and out or choose a zoom setting from the dropdown menu. *:[[Image:PDF Zoom]] *'''Fullscreen or Presentation mode:''' Click the fullscreen button to allow the PDF file to take over your entire screen. Press {key ESC} to exit fullscreen mode. *:[[Image:PDF Fullscreen]] *'''Print:''' Click the Printer button to open the print setup dialog. *:[[Image:PDF Print]] *'''Download:''' Click the Download button to save the PDF file to your computer or to open it with a PDF reader program. *:[[Image:PDF Download]] *'''Copy current view:''' [[T:contextmenu]] the current view button to open the current view in another tab or window. *:[[Image:PDF Copy]] ==PDF Viewer keyboard shortcuts== {| !Command !Shortcut |- |Next page |{key N} or {key J} or {key &#8594;} or {key Page Down} |- |Previous page |{key P} or {key K} or {key &#8592;} or {key Page Up} |- |Zoom in |{for win,linux}{key Ctrl+&#43}{/for}{for mac}{key command+&#43}{/for} |- |Zoom out |{for win,linux}{key Ctrl+-}{/for}{for mac}{key command+-}{/for} |- |Automatic Zoom |{for win,linux}{key Ctrl+0}{/for}{for mac}{key command+0}{/for} |- |Rotate the document clockwise |{key R} |- |Rotate counterclockwise |{key Shift+R} |} ==Troubleshoot problems with the PDF viewer== *With certain types of PDF files, the PDF Viewer may have problems displaying fonts, colors or the whole document. If some PDF files don't render well or are blank, click the download button on the right side of the document header to open it with the default PDF viewer application on your computer. *If you can't open any PDF files with the built-in PDF viewer, a Firefox extension could be the cause. You can disable all of your extensions, to see if one of them was the problem. <!-- Maybe the user is using NoScript and doesn't want to disable it completely. Note that https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=739058 is now resolved WORKSFORME as of 2013-02-06. --> For details, see [[Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems#w_disable-all-extensions]]. =Disable the built-in PDF viewer and use another viewer= You can also use a different third party PDF viewer instead of Firefox’s built-in PDF viewer. To change from using the built-in PDF viewer to another PDF viewer: #[[T:optionspreferences]] #In the {menu General} panel, go down to the '''Applications''' section. #Find '''Portable Document Format (PDF)''' in the list and click on the entry to select it. #Click on the arrow under the '''Action''' column for the above entry and select the PDF viewer you wish to use from the drop-down menu. #;{for not fx77}{for mac}[[Image:Fx76Applications-PDF-Mac]]{/for}{for linux}[[Image:applications-fx57-pdf]]{/for}{for win}[[Image:Fx61Applications-pdf-win7]]{/for}{/for}{for fx77}{for mac}[[Image:Fx77Applications-PDF-Mac]]{/for}{for linux}[[Image:Fx78Applications-PDF]]{/for}<!-- need linux image for fx77 showing drop-down options -->{for win}[[Image:Fx78Applications-PDF-Win]]{/for}{/for} {note}'''Note''': When {for not fx77}{menu Preview in Firefox}{/for}{for fx77}{menu Open in Firefox}{/for} is the selected action, the built-in PDF viewer is used.{/note} {for fx78} =Set Firefox to ask you what to do with PDF files= If you want Firefox to always ask you what to do with PDF files, follow the above steps to change the action for the '''Portable Document Format (PDF)''' entry, except select {menu Always ask} from the drop-down menu. The next time you click on a link to download a PDF file, Firefox will show you a prompt asking what to do with the file. You can then choose to open it with Firefox's built-in PDF viewer, open it with a different PDF application, or you can choose to save the file. ;[[Image:Fx78openingPDF-AlwaysAsk]] {/for} For more information, see [[Change what Firefox does when you click on or download a file]]. =Use a third party PDF viewer for downloaded PDF files= You can choose to have Firefox’s built-in PDF viewer as the default for viewing PDFs in the browser but open downloaded PDF files with a third party tool. To open a PDF file you downloaded in Firefox, using a third party viewer: #Open the [[Where to find and manage downloaded files in Firefox|Downloads panel]] by clicking the [[Image:download icon 57]] download icon next to the address bar. #{for win,linux}Right-click on the file folder icon[[Image:WinDownloadFile]] of the PDF file and select {menu Open Containing Folder}.{/for}{for mac}Hold down the {key control} key while you click (two finger click) the magnifying glass icon [[Image:MagnifyingGlass]]of the PDF file and select {menu Show in Finder}.{/for} #Then in the Downloads folder, {for win,linux}right-click{/for}{for mac}Control-click{/for} on the file and select {menu Open with} and choose your favorite PDF viewer.

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