You receive an error message when you try to use FireFox to edit a document in a SharePoint 2010 document library

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010

Symptoms

Consider the following scenarios:

Scenario 1
  • You view a Microsoft SharePoint 2010 document library in Mozilla Firefox.
  • The SharePoint 2010 plug-in is enabled in Firefox.
  • The Require Check Out setting for the document library is set to Yes.
  • You click Edit in application_name.
In this scenario, you receive an error message that resembles the following:
The document could not be opened for editing. A Microsoft SharePoint Foundation compatible application could not be found to edit the document.
Scenario 2
  • You view a SharePoint 2010 document library in Mozilla Firefox.
  • The SharePoint 2010 plug-in is enabled in Firefox.
  • The Require Check Out setting for the document library is set to Yes.
  • You click Check Out and Edit, and then you click OK.
In this scenario, you receive an error message that resembles the following:
This document could not be checked out. You may not have permission to check out the document or it is already checked out or locked for editing by another user.

Workaround

To work around this problem, follow these steps:
  1. In the document library on the Documents tab, click Check Out.
  2. Point to the document that you want to edit, click the down arrow, and then click Edit in application_name.
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.