04-16-2012, 03:07 PM

I just tried to download a pdf file and nothing happened. It was working OK yesterday and I have never had this happen before.

I am at a total loss as to what is wrong. Anyone know what has happened?

I am using Lion.

04-16-2012, 03:15 PM

Which browser are you using? Have you tried resetting your browser?

A few browsers don't download PDF files in the traditional sense but instead, open them inside the browser. Safari and Chrome are of the latter type, Firefox and Opera of the former (unless you install a PDF plugin).

04-16-2012, 03:19 PM

I use Firefox but I also tried Safari with no joy. The only thing I did recently was download an update for Adobe Reader but I wasn't using Reader before anyway.

04-16-2012, 03:22 PM

Adobe's reader plugin only works with Safari so that wouldn't have affected Firefox in any way. The fact that this occurs across browsers makes me believe that the issue is actually the website and not the browser. Are you trying to download the same PDF in each browser?

04-16-2012, 03:27 PM

I tried 2 different sites and neither time did it download. Reader kept putting up messages saying that it was not the default pdf reader so I cliced to make it the default. How do Iget back to what i was using .... not sure what it was though!

04-16-2012, 03:35 PM

Are you opening Reader after the file has been downloaded? I ask because, as I noted above, the Reader plugin doesn't work with Firefox so you should never see it.

When you click a PDF in Firefox, you should get a dialog like so (ignore the fact that it's not a PDF):

Screen Shot 2012-04-16 at 3.33.09 PM.jpg

What are you clicking when that pops up? Are you telling it to save or open? Did you perchance check the "Do this automatically..." checkbox at some point?

04-16-2012, 03:41 PM

Nothing pops up at all when I click to download a pdf. I wondered about this as it used to do that. When I downloadeda couple of files yedterday, they just appeared in the Downloads Stack.

BTW, when I click to download a pdf, a blank Firefox window opens. I just used to close it but this didn't used to happen.

04-16-2012, 03:45 PM

Sounds like you checked that box. Go to Firefox > Preferences > Applications > search for PDF > make sure PDFs (applications/pdf) are set to "Always ask" under the action.

04-16-2012, 03:52 PM

I have done that and all I get when I try to download a PDF is a blank window with the https address and nothing happens.

04-16-2012, 05:53 PM

I've exactly the same problem. A blank tab or window opens up and nothing happens. Google chrome downloads the file fine, and it happens with every pdf file on every site I've visited.

04-16-2012, 07:25 PM

Hey everyone, I suspect the problem lies with Mozilla Firefox, of which I am a loyal user but this is disappointing. Like Donncha77, I was not able to download any PDFs from any website within the last week or so using Firefox. I repeatedly reinstalled Adobe Reader, restarted my iMac, etc., but to no avail. I installed Chrome and no problems whatsoever.

04-16-2012, 07:40 PM

I have been having the same problem using Firefox 11.0. A blank page opens. What I discovered is if you use File>Save Page As>PDF file while viewing the blank page, the PDF is saved to where ever you have specified.

This thing drove me nuts, and I uninstalled Adobe Reader and reinstalled the latest version, and updated Firefox to the newest version, but the above action is the only thing that has worked.

04-16-2012, 10:08 PM

A Mozilla forum briefly describes the problem, reports that ~600 people have reported the same problem this week, and offers an easy solution (although it shouldn't be necessary IMO):

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/qu...55?e=es&as=aaq

Solution: in Firefox, Tools>Add-ons>Plugins>Adobe Acrobat NPAPi Plugin>Disable

Works for me but boo-hiss on having to do it after a week of growling!

04-17-2012, 01:24 AM

MDGiovanni,

That is the answer!!

Thanks for the help.

Mozilla really screwed up this time.

04-17-2012, 03:18 AM

That worked for me as well. Ta.