Window.print() Doesn't Work in Safari When Viewing PDFs

Question

Level 1

12 points

Window.print() Doesn't Work in Safari When Viewing PDFs

Using `window.print()` in Safari when viewing a PDF does not bring up the print dialog and it causes the browser tab to freeze.

The behaviour only seems to exist in specific versions of Safari.

Steps to Reproduce:

Open any PDF in Safari (eg. https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tests/xhtml/testfiles/resources/pdf/dummy.pdf)
Open console and enter window.print() or document.execCommand('print', false, null);
No print dialog is displayed and the browser tab now seems to freeze (eg. PDF contents don't react to window resizing).

It feels like Safari thinks the print dialog is open and is blocking the thread, but nothing shows up visually.

Safari Version: 14.1.1 (16611.2.7.1.4)

macOS Version: Big Sur (11.4)

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 11.4

Posted on May 31, 2021 12:18 PM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,042 points

May 31, 2021 6:59 PM in response to UmarKh

The window.print() will work in Safari 14.1.1 when tied to a button onclick event per this link.

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Answer 2

UmarKh Author

Level 1

12 points

Jun 1, 2021 8:00 AM in response to VikingOSX

The issue I'm having is specifically when viewing PDFs in Safari.

In the link you provided, I can enter `window.print()` in the console and it will bring up the print preview dialog. It doesn't have to be tied to a button click.

In the original link I provided, entering `window.print()` in the console causes the tab to become unresponsive.

The workflow that I was working on which uncovered this issue was:

User clicks `Print` button
We open a new tab with the PDF and trigger the print dialog to open using javascript

I believe this worked on older versions of macOS / Safari but I don't have access to an older environment now to confirm.

It also works in the other major browsers (Chrome / Firefox).

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,042 points

Jun 1, 2021 3:30 PM in response to UmarKh

There are posts on the net going all the way back to Safari 5 timeframe where problems were encountered with window.print() and document.execCommand('print', false, null). I don't know how to solve your current issue with an opened PDF.

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Window.print() Doesn't Work in Safari When Viewing PDFs

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