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Firefox 97 os/system print dialog

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Hi, how do we set Firefox 97 to use the os/system print dialog?

Before Firefox 97 we could change these settings in about:config:

print.tab_modal.enabled = false widget.use-xdg-desktop-portal = true

But they are both gone now.

There is now widget.use-xdg-desktop-portal.print, which is an integer (2 by default).

But no matter what integer it is set to, we still don't get the os/system print dialog.

We are using Arch Linux, but we don't expect that to be of any importance -- after all, it worked before Firefox 97.

Thanks for your time :o)

Hi, how do we set Firefox 97 to use the os/system print dialog? ''Before'' Firefox 97 we could change these settings in about:config: print.tab_modal.enabled = false widget.use-xdg-desktop-portal = true But they are both gone now. There is now widget.use-xdg-desktop-portal.print, which is an integer (2 by default). But no matter what integer it is set to, we still don't get the os/system print dialog. We are using Arch Linux, but we don't expect that to be of any importance -- after all, it worked before Firefox 97. Thanks for your time :o)

All Replies (16)

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I rely on the Mac print preview to select pages to print. Especially in large documents. setting the print.tab_modal.enabled to False was quick and easy. I had one click print preview. Now I have to jump thru hoops -- file/print/ scroll down/ click use system dialoge/ ---- restore the option to by pass this. It is inconvenient and a huge waste of time. And NO the save PDF option is not an option. That adds even more steps to save a document to the HD that now have to go back in a delete!!!!

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All these years I have resisted Chrome, Edge and Opera; but this is the motivation to make the switch. You have developed an ingenious solution to a completely non-existent problem, creating other problems in the process.

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The new combined preview/setup/print overlay debuted in Firefox 84, and the old plumbing was finally removed in Firefox 97. I don't know whether the developers will add a new bypass in the future, but for now, you need to click the link labeled "Print using the system dialog..." on the overlay if you want to call up that dialog:

Dean said

I rely on the Mac print preview to select pages to print.

This is a feature of the combined overlay -- you need to change All to Custom to get the field where you set your page selection:

jcarter4 said

All these years I have resisted Chrome, Edge and Opera; but this is the motivation to make the switch. You have developed an ingenious solution to a completely non-existent problem, creating other problems in the process.

Firefox's current print experience is more similar to those browsers. What problems does this approach create for you? If you want to discuss in detail, I suggest starting a new question:

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

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Sigh . . . we're doing this again? Using Mac OS computers and Firefox 97 update. Last year we had the same issue. Firefox print dialog suddenly was added and ended up being an added (unnecessary) extra step that wasn't compatible with our multiple (different types of) printers at our business. Found the print.tab.modal workaround. All was good.

Now they've disabled it completely and screwed up our workflow again. Why? What's the point? Why disable this workaround entirely and force us to use dialog that doesn't work any better or different than the system print dialog?

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I also have this issue. We also need the system dialog by default. I also used the workarounds in the past and am upset they are gone. Can you fix? This adds a layer of additional steps for our business as well (unnecessarily).

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Although it wont help me entirely with this issue.... Does anyone know how to set the default print copies to something other than "1" by default?

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clintstelfox said

I also have this issue. We also need the system dialog by default.

There is a bug on file to add this option, but I can't tell whether it will be arriving in next month's Firefox 98 update or later.

clintstelfox said

Although it wont help me entirely with this issue.... Does anyone know how to set the default print copies to something other than "1" by default?

It looks like Firefox reads that from Windows every time rather than storing it after you modify the value. If I set the copies to 2 at the system level, then Firefox shows that when I select the printer (screenshot composite attached for reference).

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jscher2000 sagde

There is a bug on file to add this option, but I can't tell whether it will be arriving in next month's Firefox 98 update or later.

Please provide a bug number or a link to the bug, so we can go and show our support for this feature.

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Can we just have the ability to use the "system printer dialogue" as default, call it a feature if you will, or call it putting back "print.tab_modal.enabled"

obviously lots of people have a need for it, so please give it back

And if you must know, there are many features of my printers often need access from using the system print dialogue also

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johnny1000 said

jscher2000 sagde

There is a bug on file to add this option, but I can't tell whether it will be arriving in next month's Firefox 98 update or later.

Please provide a bug number or a link to the bug, so we can go and show our support for this feature.

There's Bug 1754630 setting print.tab_modal.enabled to false does not enable system diaglogue ... which was marked a duplicate of: Bug 1712104 Implement the DisablePrintPreview policy from Chrome and Edge

There's also: Bug 1667950 Create keyboard shortcuts to directly open the system print dialog


Please see Bugzilla Etiquette before commenting in bug reports.

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I have a solution to this problem. It's called Safari

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Simply unbelievable that something so useful was removed. I could get by with using the Firefox dialog if it include one simple option - the ability to collate multi-page documents. Looks like I am going to have to drop Firefox. Hopefully sanity will return to the development team, and this simple functionality will be restored.

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Hi k9hx, I look forward to having more options in the future. For now, there is an extra click.

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Thank you very much, Alice, for the pointers :o)

AliceWyman said

There's Bug 1754630 setting print.tab_modal.enabled to false does not enable system diaglogue ... which was marked a duplicate of: Bug 1712104 Implement the DisablePrintPreview policy from Chrome and Edge

The wording in bug 1712104 seems to make it a solution. Hopefully it will not be another 9 months before the solution arrives.

There's also: Bug 1667950 Create keyboard shortcuts to directly open the system print dialog

Unfortunately, it is not a solution to our users to have to remember a new/extra keyboard shortcut. Especially for the occasional users that rely on point and click as their memory. Putting an extra print option in the File menu will not make the confusion less. There needs to be a way to set up Firefox so that the standard print method is directly via the system print dialog that users know, and that they use in practically all other applications. The current breakage of usability continuity is not helpful for our users.

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There are now several posts about this on the new feedback site connect.mozilla.org (which has replaced mozilla.crowdicity.com). You can access this new site using your Firefox login. I would encourage anyone who has an opinion about this to visit the new site and leave some feedback.

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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 also will be a reset arrow at the right end of the row when the preference has a non-default value.