topic Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer in Discussions

Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

Annoyed1 — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 15:31:02 GMT

Firefox Android now opens PDF files in the browser. This is not something that I want. Is it possible to disable this "feature"?

If the answer is "move to nightly builds and muck about with about:config" then I will be uninstalling and canceling my Firefox subscription.

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

joeiznogood — Thu, 04 May 2023 18:47:15 GMT

I agree, it is incredibly annoying! At least add an "Save as" button so we can save to file. The problem is when it is fancy URLs, not just something ending in *.pdf

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

UbdU — Mon, 08 May 2023 19:29:01 GMT

Yeah, I'm pretty tired of the forced pdf viewer in firefox at this point. Make it an on/off toggle in the settings.

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

Diridibindy — Tue, 16 May 2023 07:15:59 GMT

Agreed here. It also makes downloading pdfs so difficult. I don't want to be stuck in my browser while some file is downloading. I just want to click "download" and forget. I want to see the progress of the download in case it fails.

Current pdf functionality of Firefox on android offers none of that. It's unusable. I have to resort to launching chrome just to download a single pdf file.

Meanwhile it is possible to make Firefox usable again by setting pdfjs.disabled to true

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

techsupport — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 14:49:45 GMT

This is beyond annoying. The Firefox PDF viewer does not work! It produces a jumble that is totally unreadable. I'm attaching two files; the first is a pdf file downloaded and displayed in Firefox on a Windows 11 machine, the second is the same pdf downloaded and displayed on a Samsung Galaxy S6Tab tablet.

I have used Firefox as my browser of choice since its inception. This "feature" now has me considering if I should switch to Chrome... which, incidently displays the pdf file just fine on the pad.

Well, it appears I can't attach 2 files so the one you will see is Android Firefox. You will have to take my word that this displays just fine everywhere else.

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

allud1t — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 15:24:34 GMT

Try to find this option by typing `about: config` in the search bar. Search for `pdfjs.disabled`. Toggle its value to True.

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

UbdU — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 16:04:29 GMT

That only works in nightly perhaps; not in regular Firefox for android.

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

marco — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:22:18 GMT

You can click the "Download" button to save the PDF file and open it with another app.

If you want to download a PDF behind a link without opening it first in Firefox, you can long tap on the link to open the context menu and select "Download link".

Do these two options cover your use cases?

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

_P_ — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 16:37:18 GMT

Adding extra steps for something that worked fine is not an improvement. An option to pick between built-in and default would solve this.

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

ardintion — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 22:56:13 GMT

I would prefer "Share" button

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

rogerfirefox — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:55:34 GMT

This is the way, thank you... but they should add an option in the settings to configure this behaviour, as it is possible in the desktop version.

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

miminini — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 22:33:03 GMT

The "Download link" option does not always work since web developers decide to interfere with (user) expectations. E.g. the "Download pdf" button here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=68686

All mentioned options are annoying for everyday use.

With pdfjs.disabled I always have to confirm the filename.

Please allow us to make 3rd party pdf viewers as comfortable to use as the integrated one. No extra clicks on 'download' or 'open'. Just forward me to the pdf viewer.

Re: Disable the Firefox Android PDF Viewer

miminini — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 22:37:04 GMT

You can open the config on regular firefox android with a different URL: chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml

You can enable the normal about:config url with aboutconfig.

Source: https://www.askvg.com/how-to-access-about-config-page-in-firefox-on-mobile-phones/