Safari won't display PDFs

Question

Level 2

313 points

Safari won't display PDFs

I have five Macs - from MacBook Pros to Mac Pros and I have never been able to view a PDF in Safari. I needed some legal documents and they were placed online as PDFs. I tried to view them but was presented with a blank black page in Safari and no option to download the PDF.

This happens on all five of my Macs. I went to my neighbor who has a new MacBook Pro and went to the same site and presto! There were the documents. I had to download, copy to Flash and bring them home.

What is the problem here? What is it on my systems - which are cloned from one main system - that stops me from viewing or downloading a PDF. I've removed the Adbobe Acrosbat plugin, as suggested, and any other pdf plugins. Reinstalled Lion. Reinstalled Safari - all to no avail. This is ridiculous!

Does anyone have an answer?

I can easily view the pdfs on my iPad but there, I cannot download them (and yes, I've tried opening them in iBooks, GoodReader, and the familiar productivity apps.

Where do I go on my system to fix this?

3.2Ghz Mac Pro w/16GRam, 12TBHD, 2 SuperDrives; MBP 2.53GHz w/4G Ram;, iOS 1.x, 2-30" Cinema, HPColorLJ Printer, 12TB Ext HDs, 32G iPhone 4

Posted on Jul 5, 2012 10:31 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Jul 5, 2012 10:40 AM in response to OS2Guy

Select Help ▹ Installed Plug-ins from the Safari menu bar. Besides the following, what plugins are listed?

iPhotoPhotocast

Java

QuickTime

Shockwave Flash

WebKit built-in PDF

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Answer 2

OS2Guy Author

Level 2

313 points

Jul 5, 2012 11:09 AM in response to Linc Davis

Adobe Acrobat NPAPI Plug-in, Version 10.1.3

Adobe® Acrobat® Plug-in for Web Browsers, Version 10.1.3 — from file “AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/pdf Acrobat Portable Document Format pdf

application/vnd.adobe.pdf Acrobat Portable Document Format (Interim) pdf

application/vnd.adobe.pdfxml Acrobat XML Portable Document Format pdfxml

application/vnd.adobe.x-mars Acrobat XML Portable Document Format (Interim) mars

application/vnd.adobe.xdp+xml XML Data Package xdp

application/vnd.adobe.xfd+xml FormFlow99 Data File xfd

application/vnd.adobe.xfdf Acrobat Forms Data Format in XML xfdf

application/vnd.fdf Acrobat Forms Data Format fdf

DivX VOD Helper Plug-in

DivX VOD Helper Plug-in — from file “OVSHelper.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-divxovshelper DivX OVS Helper Plug-in app

DivX Web Player

DivX Web Player version 2.1.2.265 — from file “DivXBrowserPlugin.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

video/divx DivX Video File divx,div

Flip4Mac Windows Media Plugin

The Flip4Mac WMV Plugin allows you to view Windows Media content using QuickTime. — from file “Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/asx Windows Media Plugin

application/x-mplayer2 Windows Media Plugin

application/x-ms-wmp Windows Media Plugin

audio/x-ms-wax Windows Media Playlist wax

audio/x-ms-wma Windows Media Audio wma

video/x-ms-asf Windows Media Video asf

video/x-ms-asf-plugin Windows Media Plugin

video/x-ms-asx Windows Media Playlist asx

video/x-ms-wm Windows Media Video wm

video/x-ms-wmp Windows Media Video wmp

video/x-ms-wmv Windows Media Video wmv

video/x-ms-wmx Windows Media Playlist wmx

video/x-ms-wvx Windows Media Playlist wvx

Glims

Glims Plug-in for Safari — from file “GlimsAdditions.webplugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-glims-js Glims Plug-in for Safari

iPhotoPhotocast

iPhoto6 — from file “iPhotoPhotocast.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/photo iPhoto 700

Java Applet Plug-in

Displays Java applet content, or a placeholder if Java is not installed. — from file “JavaAppletPlugin.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-java-applet Basic Java Applets javaapplet

application/x-java-applet;jpi-version=1.6.0_33 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.1 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.1.1 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.1.2 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.1.3 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.2 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.2.1 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.2.2 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.3 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.3.1 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.4 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.4.2 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.5 Java applet

application/x-java-applet;version=1.6 Java applet

application/x-java-vm Java applet

application/x-java-vm-npruntime Java applet

Microsoft Office Live Plug-in

Office Live Update v1.0 — from file “OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/officelive Office Live Update v1.0

MoveNetworks Quantum Media Player

npmnqmp 071303000006 — from file “Move_Media_Player.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-vnd.movenetworks.qm MoveNetworks Move Media Player Plug-In qmx

application/x-vnd.moveplay1.qm MoveNetworks Move Media Player Plug-In qmx

PDF Browser Plugin

View PDF documents within your web browser. — from file “PDF Browser Plugin.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/pdf PDF document pdf

application/postscript Postscript document ps,eps

QuickTime Plug-in 7.7.1

The QuickTime Plugin allows you to view a wide variety of multimedia content in web pages. For more information, visit the QuickTime Web site. — from file “QuickTime Plugin.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/annodex Annodex Media anx

application/ogg Ogg Multimedia Bitstream ogg, ogx

application/sdp SDP stream descriptor sdp

application/x-annodex Annodex Media anx

application/x-mpeg AMC media amc

application/x-ogg Ogg Multimedia Bitstream ogg, ogx

application/x-rtsp RTSP stream descriptor rtsp,rts

application/x-sdp SDP stream descriptor sdp

audio/3gpp 3GPP media 3gp,3gpp

audio/3gpp2 3GPP2 media 3g2,3gp2

audio/aac AAC audio aac,adts

audio/ac3 AC3 audio ac3

audio/aiff AIFF audio aiff,aif,aifc,cdda

audio/amr AMR audio amr

audio/annodex Annodex Audio axa

audio/basic uLaw/AU audio au,snd,ulw

audio/mid MIDI mid,midi,smf,kar

audio/midi MIDI mid,midi,smf,kar

audio/mp3 MP3 audio mp3,swa

audio/mp4 MPEG-4 media mp4

audio/mpeg MPEG audio mpeg,mpg,m1s,m1a,mp2,mpm,mpa,m2a,mp3,swa

audio/mpeg3 MP3 audio mp3,swa

audio/ogg Ogg Audio oga

audio/speex Ogg Speex audio spx

audio/vnd.qcelp QUALCOMM PureVoice audio qcp,qcp

audio/wav WAVE audio wav,bwf

audio/x-aac AAC audio aac,adts

audio/x-ac3 AC3 audio ac3

audio/x-aiff AIFF audio aiff,aif,aifc,cdda

audio/x-annodex Annodex Audio axa

audio/x-caf CAF audio caf

audio/x-gsm GSM audio gsm

audio/x-m4a AAC audio m4a

audio/x-m4b AAC audio book m4b

audio/x-m4p AAC audio (protected) m4p

audio/x-midi MIDI mid,midi,smf,kar

audio/x-mp3 MP3 audio mp3,swa

audio/x-mpeg MPEG audio mpeg,mpg,m1s,m1a,mp2,mpm,mpa,m2a,mp3,swa

audio/x-mpeg3 MP3 audio mp3,swa

audio/x-ogg Ogg Audio oga

audio/x-speex Ogg Speex audio spx

audio/x-tta True Audio tta

audio/x-wav WAVE audio wav,bwf

image/jp2 JPEG2000 image jp2

image/jpeg2000 JPEG2000 image jp2

image/jpeg2000-image JPEG2000 image jp2

image/pict PICT image pict,pic,pct

image/png PNG image png

image/tiff TIFF image tif,tiff

image/x-bmp BMP image bmp,dib

image/x-jpeg2000-image JPEG2000 image jp2

image/x-macpaint MacPaint image pntg,pnt,mac

image/x-pict PICT image pict,pic,pct

image/x-png PNG image png

image/x-quicktime QuickTime image qtif,qti

image/x-sgi SGI image sgi,rgb

image/x-targa TGA image targa,tga

image/x-tiff TIFF image tif,tiff

video/3gpp 3GPP media 3gp,3gpp

video/3gpp2 3GPP2 media 3g2,3gp2

video/annodex Annodex Video axv

video/avi Video For Windows (AVI) avi,vfw,vfw,avi,gvi,divx,vp6

video/flc AutoDesk Animator (FLC) flc,fli,cel

video/mp4 MPEG-4 media mp4

video/mpeg MPEG media mpeg,mpg,m1s,m1v,m1a,m75,m15,mp2,mpm,mpv,mpa

video/msvideo Video For Windows (AVI) avi,vfw,vfw,avi,gvi,divx,vp6

video/ogg Ogg Video ogv

video/quicktime QuickTime Movie mov,qt,mqv

video/sd-video SD video sdv

video/x-annodex Annodex Video axv

video/x-flv Flash Video flv

video/x-m4v Video (protected) m4v

video/x-mpeg MPEG media mpeg,mpg,m1s,m1v,m1a,m75,m15,mp2,mpm,mpv,mpa

video/x-msvideo Video For Windows (AVI) avi,vfw,vfw,avi,gvi,divx,vp6

video/x-nuv NuppelVideo nuv

video/x-ogg Ogg Video ogv

SharePoint Browser Plug-in

Microsoft Office for Mac SharePoint Browser Plug-in — from file “SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-sharepoint Microsoft Office for Mac SharePoint Browser Plug-in

Shockwave Flash

Shockwave Flash 11.1 r102 — from file “Flash Player.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/futuresplash FutureSplash Player spl

application/x-shockwave-flash Shockwave Flash swf

Shockwave for Director

Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 11.6.1 — from file “DirectorShockwave.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-director Shockwave for Director dcr,dir,dxr

Silverlight Plug-In

4.0.60531.0 — from file “Silverlight.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-silverlight Microsoft Silverlight xaml

application/x-silverlight-2 Microsoft Silverlight xaml

WebKit built-in PDF

— from file “”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/pdf Portable Document Format pdf

Yahoo! Installer Plug-in (3)

Yahoo! Installer Plug-in provides application installation support — from file “Yahoo! Installer 3.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-yahoo-platform3 Yahoo! Installer Plug-in Component (3) ydp

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Jul 5, 2012 11:15 AM in response to OS2Guy

Back up all data.

Quit Safari. In the Finder, select Go ▹ Go to Folder... from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-G. Copy the line of text below into the box that opens, and press return:

/Library/Internet Plug-ins

From the folder that opens, remove any items that have the letters “PDF” in the name. You may be prompted for your login password. Then launch Safari and test.

If you still have the issue, repeat with this line:

~/Library/Internet Plug-ins

If you don’t like the results of this procedure, restore the items from the backup you made before you started. Relaunch Safari again.

Reply

Answer 4

OS2Guy Author

Level 2

313 points

Jul 5, 2012 11:31 AM in response to Linc Davis

Yes, I read this tip in another posting and I have removed all pdf plugin items, I now have this:

CoolirisWebKitPlugin.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

Disabled Plug-Ins

DivXBrowserPlugin.plugin

DRM Plugin.bundle

Flash Player.plugin

flashplayer.xpt

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

GlimsAdditions.webplugin

GoogleGadget.webplugin

GoogleOneClickPluginDeluxe.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

OVSHelper.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

RealPlayer Plugin

RealPlayer Plugin.plugin

RealPlayer Plugin.xpt

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

Silverlight.plugin

Yahoo! Installer 3.plugin

I emptied my Safari cache, closed and reloaded it but the problem remains. I went to a pdf and changed the viewer to Safari (change all) and still unable to view a local pdf.

I'm at square one. Still unable to view a PDF with Safari or to save a PDF with Safari.

I tried changing my system preferences (Admin user) to log on as a guest to check that avenue and cannot get the system to stop booting directly into my system and stop to present a list of users so I can select the guest account.

Most annoying.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Jul 5, 2012 11:52 AM in response to OS2Guy

At 11:09 AM, you had not removed the Adobe PDF plugin. If you have since removed it and relaunched Safari, please post that information again.

Reply

Answer 6

OS2Guy Author

Level 2

313 points

Jul 5, 2012 2:21 PM in response to Linc Davis

Sorry Linc - I had to get those pdf's downloaded, printed, signed and notarized then back in the mail...

But my problem is still not resolved. I removed all pdf plugins from the internet plug-ins folder, cleared the Safari cache, closed down Safari, restarted the whole system and still finding no PDF display, just a black screen. I'm stumped on this and if it were just one machine I'd let it go but it affects all five of my machines - all of which are clones of the original Mac Pro.

In another posting you advise deleting the

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist

but I don't have one and assume Apple dropped that plist with Lion or an updated Safari. This is all I have in the area where such a plist would reside:

com.apple.security.appsandbox.plist

com.apple.security.plist

com.apple.security.plist.bak

com.apple.security.systemidentities.plist

com.apple.servermgrd.plist

com.apple.SetupAssistant.plist

com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist

com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist.lockfile

com.apple.systemuiserver.ec.plist

I even removed all of the plugins, pdf or not, to a folder on the desktop, closed down Safari and reopened and still had the same problem. I returned all of the plugins except for the pdf ones.

So I'm stumped. Mystified.

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Jul 5, 2012 2:43 PM in response to OS2Guy

Have you again selected Help ▹ Installed Plug-ins from the Safari menu bar and verified that no PDF plugin is loaded, other than "WebKit built-in PDF"? You had two different ones before.

Reply

Answer 8

OS2Guy Author

Level 2

313 points

Jul 5, 2012 4:51 PM in response to Linc Davis

Can't thank you enough link. Looking at plug-ins again and found the pdf-browser plug-in was still on the system. Removed it in the main system and in the backup, shut down Safari, opened it and the pdf displayed nicely. I then went online and tested it there and it worked.

Thanks for hanging in there and thinking logically. I can breath easier now. Round of applause my friend!

Reply

Answer 9

GParker

Level 1

23 points

Aug 10, 2012 6:56 PM in response to Linc Davis

Could you please help me with this issue? I tried the Help>Installed Plug-ins and this is what I have left...

Coupons Inc., Coupon Printing FireFox Plugin

Coupons Inc., Coupon Printing FireFox Plugin — from file “CouponPrinter-FireFox_v2.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/couponsinc-moz-printer-plugin-v401 Coupons Inc., Mac FireFox Coupon Printer Manager v401

application/couponsinc-printer-plugin Coupons Inc., Mac FireFox Coupon Printer Manager

Facebook Plug-In

http://www.facebook.com/fbplugin/ — from file “fbplugin_1_0_3.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-facebook-plugin_1_0_3 Facebook Plug-In

Facebook Video Calling Plugin

Facebook Video Calling by Skype — from file “FacebookVideoCalling.bundle”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/skypesdk-plugin Facebook Video Calling plugin provided by Skype

Flip4Mac Windows Media Plugin 2.3.8

The Flip4Mac WMV Plugin allows you to view Windows Media content using QuickTime. — from file “Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/asx Windows Media Plugin

application/x-mplayer2 Windows Media Plugin

application/x-ms-wmp Windows Media Plugin

audio/x-ms-wax Windows Media Playlist wax

audio/x-ms-wma Windows Media Audio wma

video/x-ms-asf Windows Media Video asf

video/x-ms-asf-plugin Windows Media Plugin

video/x-ms-asx Windows Media Playlist asx

video/x-ms-wm Windows Media Video wm

video/x-ms-wmp Windows Media Video wmp

video/x-ms-wmv Windows Media Video wmv

video/x-ms-wmx Windows Media Playlist wmx

video/x-ms-wvx Windows Media Playlist wvx

Garmin Communicator Plug-in Version 2.9.3.0

Garmin Communicator Plug-in Version 2.9.3.0 — from file “GarminGpsControl.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/vnd-garmin.mygarmin Garmin GPS Control mygarmin

Musicnotes

Musicnotes Viewer plugin 1.18.6 http://www.musicnotes.com — from file “Musicnotes.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-musicnotes Musicnotes mtd,mgt

Silverlight Plug-In

4.0.51204.0 — from file “Silverlight.plugin”.

MIME Type Description Extensions

application/x-silverlight Microsoft Silverlight xaml

application/x-silverlight-2 Microsoft Silverlight xaml

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Answer 10

Sep 25, 2012 1:47 PM in response to OS2Guy

Where do you find the plug-ins to remove them? I've looked in the Libraries and Application Support folders. Have searched the hard drive, but come up with nothing. Theres are a number of Acrobat Plug-ins installed, but I can't figure out where they are to get rid of them. Please help.

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Answer 11

Oct 8, 2012 2:36 PM in response to Carole Aldrich

I was unable to view or print a .pdf from Safari. I uninstalled Acrobat viewer. Still no luck. I Then re-installed Acrobat Viewer X. Still no luck.

Finally, I did a spotlight search for this single file:

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

It was located here: Macintosh HD/Library/Internet Plug-Ins

Found it, then promptly deleted it. Restarted Safari and now everything works fine.

Thanks for the help everyone!

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Answer 12

Nov 23, 2012 12:52 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you so much, Linc! Peeking in the second location (~/Library/Internet Plug-ins) led to the solution, as my Schubert plugin apparently won't work with OS 10.7.5.

PDF Browser Plugin.plugin

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Answer 13

Dec 19, 2012 6:04 AM in response to Blake Pilgreen

Thanks for this post. Was having similar trouble with loading pdf into Safari being broken since I installed new Adobe Reader (XI). Deleting AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin and restart of Safari fixed the problem.

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