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Cancelled downloads return after a restart

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The other day I started downloading some files from some website, but I cancelled the downloads before they finished.

Now, every time I start Firefox, the same files re-appear in the downloads pane, offering to retry the cancelled downloads. Even if I right-click and "remove from history" or "clear list", the files keep coming back on the next restart of the browser.

The other day I started downloading some files from some website, but I cancelled the downloads before they finished. Now, every time I start Firefox, the same files re-appear in the downloads pane, offering to retry the cancelled downloads. Even if I right-click and "remove from history" or "clear list", the files keep coming back on the next restart of the browser.

All Replies (5)

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Are you using Sync to Sync the history?


You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database file in the Firefox profile folder.


You can check for problems with the sessionstore.js file in the Firefox profile folder that store session data.

Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost and you will have to recreate them (make a note or bookmark them if possible).

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Thanks, cor-el, but it doesn't look like either places.sqlite or sessionstore.js was the problem. I tried closing the browser, renaming both of those files away and starting the browser again, and the cancelled downloads still showed up.

I am using Sync and syncing history, yes.

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Open the Downloads Manager <Control> J. Right click on those entries and select Cancel.

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You can check the home page setting:

  • Tools > Options > General > Startup: Home page

Firefox supports multiple home pages separated by '|' (pipe) symbols.


You can check for problems with preferences.

Delete possible user.js and numbered prefs-##.js files and rename (or delete) the prefs.js file to reset all prefs to the default value including prefs set via user.js and prefs that are no longer supported in the current Firefox release.

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Well, I'm not sure what happened but after a few days, the cancelled downloads went away by themselves.