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I am having a problem with my email which I read off of Comcast webmail.

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Until yesterday whenever I got an attachment with my email I could click on the attachment, read it then have the option to print it then or save it to a folder. Yesterday, suddenly, it changed to when I clicked on the attachment, a box opened asking me where I wanted to save the attachment. The option to preview the attachment went away. I called comcast and they got into my email. They are still showing a preview option. So they said, it must have been a change that happened with my Firefox browser. I tried looking under your preferences and don;t see anything it could be. Can you help me get back the preview option?

Until yesterday whenever I got an attachment with my email I could click on the attachment, read it then have the option to print it then or save it to a folder. Yesterday, suddenly, it changed to when I clicked on the attachment, a box opened asking me where I wanted to save the attachment. The option to preview the attachment went away. I called comcast and they got into my email. They are still showing a preview option. So they said, it must have been a change that happened with my Firefox browser. I tried looking under your preferences and don;t see anything it could be. Can you help me get back the preview option?

Modified by TonyE

All Replies (2)

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If you know what kind of document it is, you can check in the application options here:

orange Firefox button or classic Tools menu > Options > Applications

For example, if it is a PDF file, type or paste pdf in the search box and pause while Firefox filters the list. Then you should be able to change to drop-down on the right side to select "Always Ask" or another available option.

If it already says "Always Ask" trying changing it to something else, OK'ing out of the dialog to update the setting, then go back in and switch it back.


If the dialog choices seem to be ignored for files you care about, you can flush the application options and return to the initial defaults. To do that, you need to rename a settings file, as follows:

Open your personal settings folder (AKA your Firefox profile folder) using

Help > Troubleshooting Information > "Show Folder" button

Switch back to Firefox and Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename mimeTypes.rdf to something like mimeTypes.old

Restart Firefox and restore your session (History > Restore Previous Session) to get back to where you were in email. Test the attachments again. Any improvement?

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Generally speaking, when you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.

1. Bypass Firefox's Cache

Use Ctrl+Shift+r to reload the page fresh from the server. Any difference? If not...

2. Clear Firefox's Cache Completely

orange Firefox button or Tools menu > Options > Advanced

On the Network mini-tab > Cached Web Content : "Clear Now"

3. If needed, remove the site's cookies in this dialog

While viewing a page on the site, right-click and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?