In Internet Explorer, there is a very convenient Print icon located at the toolbar which you can easily and quickly print the displayed web page using default printer. If you want to bring up the printing options to choose which printer to print, go to File > Print.

Internet Explorer print icon

However, it’s not so convenient in Firefox. By default it doesn’t have the print icon at the toolbar and whenever you go to File > Print, it will bring up printing preferences. You can of course customize Firefox toolbar by adding the print icon but it won’t immediately print using default printer. I am going to show you how you can easily print with a single click in Firefox.

Adding a print icon at Firefox toolbar is very easy. Just follow the few simple steps below.

1.Go to View > Toolbars > Customize…

2. Use your mouse to select and drag the Print icon to anywhere you want at the toolbar.

3. Now you can print by clicking the “printer” icon.
Add print icon to firefox

However, when you click the printer icon at Firefox, it does not automatically print using Windows default printer. The print preferences window will appear first to let you confirm the print options. To print, you must click OK button.

Hide firefox print preferences

There’s a huge difference between Internet Explorer and Firefox print preferences. Internet Explorer always select Windows current default printer but as for Firefox, it always shows the last printer previously used, not the current Windows default printer. Currently I am unable to find a way to hack Firefox to always use Windows current default printer. If you know a method, please share it with me.

Here’s what you need to do to enable Firefox immediately print without showing the print preferences dialog box.

1. Type about:config at Firefox’s location bar and hit Enter.

2. Right click at anywhere on the page and select New > Boolean

3. Enter the preference name as print.always_print_silent and click OK.

Firefox auto print

4. Select true for the boolean value and click OK.

If you now hit the print icon that you just added to the toolbar, it will immediately print. There are pros and cons on this setting. You can easily and quickly print the page you see but you cannot select which printer to use, define the print range and number of copies to print. If you’re unable to use this feature because somehow Firefox doesn’t use the previous printer, you can manually set it. Again type about:config at the URL address bar and hit enter. At filter, type print.print_printer. Double click at the reference name and type the exact printer name as shown in Printers and Faxes located at Control Panel.

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