How to Disable Built-In PDF Viewer in Firefox [Quick Tip]

Mozilla continues updating their Firefox browser and Firefox 15 Beta is the latest version to be released for testing purposes. As you must be aware of, Memory leaks have always been an issue for Firefox but in this beta version, Mozilla claims to have achieved better Memory optimization. Along with better Memory optimization, Firefox 15 also has the capability to read PDF files with its inbuilt PDF viewer. PDF Viewer is available in Firefox 15 without installing any third party add-on. It is great that you can now open any PDF file directly in your Firefox browser and don’t need to download PDF files just to check its contents.

Firefox Built-In PDF Viewer Features;

• Can view all types of PDF files


• Supports ZOOM In/Out


• Save file on Computer


• Easily Move and Up


• Toggle Slider


• Supports Thumbnail View and Outline


• Easy to use

All the above features are very basic but enough to read any PDF file directly in the browser. To read PDF files offline, you can use the Download option to download a particular PDF file on your computer. Along with these features, it has some limitations that affect its usefulness. Some limitations are – the Print option is not available, it is still in development mode, it may not open all types PDF files so you may need to install some other powerful PDF reader in the system separately.

I have just reviewed the various features and drawbacks of Firefox 15 Beta built-in PDF Viewer. After reading this article, some people might still want to use this feature while others might wish to remove it from Firefox. Now I will tell you the way to disable built-in PDF Viewer in Firefox 15.

1. First of all, start Firefox 15 browser, enter about:config in the Firefox URL bar then hit Enter.

2. The first step will move you to Firefox’s internal settings page where you can customize Firefox as you like. This is not possible in normal settings.

3. Next navigate for pdfjs.disabled and double click on it to make its value true.

Now Firefox will not open any PDF files with its built-in PDF Viewer. You can get this feature back any time, just browse the same Preference pdfjs.disabled setting and set it to false.

Source fromhhttp://www.techfeb.com