Option to disable opening PDF directly in Thunderbird

[Michal]

Hey

Please give us a option disable opening pdf in mozilla thunderbird directly or option to choose which program will open them.

Implemented reader is slow. There is often problem with opening pdf files - last very long to open files and if there is more pages program open them very slow - way slower than standard program. Your implemented reader need some time to be improved. For now its just pain to use, especialy if i have a lot of work and need to work quickly. 

Thanks

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[mkmelin]

That option already exists. See Settings | Files & Attachments.

[fung0]

Email is currently the number-one entry vector for hacks and malware attacks. Therefore, email should - by default - open nothing, just display plain text. I like the 'simple HTML' option as well - formatting is nice and should be a no-brainer. Anything more than that greatly increases risk.

If someone sends me a PDF, I don't want it to be easy to open. I want to be forced to take my time - to verify the sender, and open the file carefully in the secure app of my choice.

[OneStopShop]

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'That option already exists. See Settings | Files & Attachments.' Well: Settings | General | Files & Attachments.

[bitsfritz]

 It's right: the option exists to stop this feature. But as @fung0 writes, it should not be the default setting.

It's Ok to offer this as one option to handle PDF files.

[Seamaiden]

Yes, there are options in Thunderbird's settings for the user to specify how to open a PDF file and how to open other types of files. However, the Thunderbird Team should be more safety and security conscious with Thunderbird's default settings.

The first time you install Thunderbird and try to open a PDF file, a prompt should display asking how you want to open the file, or if you want to open it at all! In 2023, some PDF files are infected with malware or hacking tools and are unsafe to click on and open. Even JPG files can be infected these days.

fung0 wrote:

"Email is currently the number-one entry vector for hacks and malware attacks. Therefore, email should - by default - open nothing, just display plain text..If someone sends me a PDF, I don't want it to be easy to open. I want to be forced to take my time - to verify the sender, and open the file carefully in the secure app of my choice."

bitsfritz wrote:

"the option exists to stop this feature. But as fung0 writes, it should not be the default setting."

[Jon]

Hey all,

Quick update…

This idea is now a “Trending idea” here on Mozilla Connect, which means it’s one step closer to reaching our internal teams for review—learn more about The Idea Journey.

Please keep the conversation going (the more details to support your case, the better) and stay tuned for updates 😃

[fu]

@mkmelin wait, if this option already exists why is it now a trending idea? 

[MattAuSupport]

@fu my guess is people simply don't read the topics,  just click the little thumbs up icon as they scroll after reading the titles in the list.

One thing is certain, the setting exists and has done for years.  It is not new.

@SeamaidenThunderbird does nothing with an attachment,  PDF or otherwise, unless you ask for it to be saved or opened.  What can be more security or safety conscious than to do exactly nothing unless the user specifically asks for something to be done.

In the case of PDF's Thunderbird uses its own PDF viewer to open the attachment when asked, or you can change that to open using any other application you want.

[Michael_K]

I would like a button where i can choose to open only some files in an external pdf viewer.

Because some (large) pdf´s can not be opened or printed correctly!

[marco]

The reader is fast enough in the general case. If you have specific PDFs where it is slow, we'd be happy to improve performance for them.

Regarding security, the PDF viewer in Thunderbird is the safest PDF reader available, there are almost never security problems with it. Since it is built in JavaScript, many classes of security problems are completely avoided.