See if these links can help; https://www.bing.com/search?q=.fileloc&pc=MOZI&form=MOZSBR

That sounds like a potential "ransomware" situation. But everything else on your computer is operating normally?

A couple users mentioned a similar issue in past weeks, but I don't see any replies:

• pdfs downloading as html with file name Users/.fileloc instead of pdf on mac os
• all files downloaded are internet location - when dragged to desktop

How are you downloading?

If you are clicking a link or button, do you get the standard dialog with choices to Open or Save?

If you are using Save Page As on a PDF, try using the download button on the PDF Viewer's top bar instead (down-pointing arrow on the black bar -- see attached screenshot).

Those other posts are exactly what I am experiencing... and everything else does seem to be operating normally. I think this started with a Firefox software update a week or so ago.

If we can't find some sort of malware, I'll just move to a different browser (all others are working fine)

Thanks

Are you convinced it's either malware or a built-in behavior that affects all Firefox for Mac users? I think it's possible there is a particular setting or add-on that is causing it.

To try to chase that down:

What kinds of downloads are affected? For example: PDFs, images, other kinds of files?

If you are clicking a link or button, do you get the standard dialog with choices to Open or Save?

Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the option/alt key when starting Firefox. (On Windows, hold down the Shift key instead.)

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement? (More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode)

I'm not really convinced of anything... It's happening to all downloaded files, MS Word, .eps, .jpg, .pdf etc. I restarted in safe mode and it did not effect the outcome. I am downloading files through the standard dialog you mention above, all through my Gmail account.

I just tried a download from a third-party website (with Firefox) and the same thing happens, so I can only assume it is a browser issue.

This could also be related to a similar reported problem with .webloc files on Mac about creating an internet shortcut on the desktop.

• bug 1358075 - Fx53 no longer assigns user-friendly names to .webloc files on OS X

Please do not comment in bug reports
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html

Thank you for testing that. I think we can rule out add-ons as the source of the problem.

Can you tell whether the .fileloc files are the real attachment files with the wrong file extension on them, or whether are they links/shortcuts to the real file either on your system or on the web?

While display the download dialog, Firefox starts saving the file to a temporary location and then if you choose Open it stays in that location, and if you choose Save, once the download completes, Firefox moves the file either to your chosen location (if you have Firefox set to ask you every time) or to the default download folder set on the Preferences page. On Windows, some users encounter a problem with that last step of moving the file due to permission issues, but I don't know if that could be related to what you're experiencing.

Does it make any difference if you change your default download location or set Firefox to ask you where to save the file? See: Startup, home page, tabs, and download settings.