It's just for a short block of time once a week? The simplest thing would be to change the setting from Always Ask to Save File before doing your bulk downloading and change it back afterwards. I'm sure there are more complicated ways using a separate profile or an add-on.

If the download still triggers a dialog even with Save File set, there are three possible reasons for that:

(1) The server sends a Content-Disposition: attachment header with the file

This triggers Firefox to always display the dialog regardless of your saved setting. You can use an add-on* to work around this.

(2) The server sends a generic Content-Type header with the file instead of application/pdf

This triggers Firefox to always display the dialog and ignore saved settings (because Firefox accepts the Content-Type instead of using the file extension). You can use an add-on* to work around this.

(3) The PDF is generated "in page" by a script, which isn't allowed to do an automatic download

This is less common, but if the download path refers to a blob:, this is what the site is doing.

* I have an add-on for this: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/content-type-fixer/

Sorry, left out the article with the steps for changing between Always Ask and other options. You probably know this already... View PDF files in Firefox or choose another viewer.

i am afraid it will be for a long time, i don't really think there would be an easy answer, but i had my fingers crossed. it would be so useful that one sit :(

oh well, what can you do?

thank you, i appreciate your help

Well, one thing you could do is create a dedicated profile. I think the main negative would be that your download history for the site won't be available in your main download history.

One-Time Setup Steps

This takes about 3 minutes.

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it. (I bookmark this page for easier access.)

Take a quick glance at the page and make a mental note of which Profile has this notation: This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted. That is your current default profile.

Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next. Assign a name like SavePDF, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.

Firefox will switch your default profile to the new one, so click the Set as Default Profile button for your regular one to avoid an unwanted surprise at your next startup.

Scroll down to SavePDF and click its Launch profile in new browser button.

Firefox should open a new window that looks like a brand new, uncustomized installation. (Your existing Firefox window(s) should not be affected.) Please ignore any tabs enticing you to connect to a Sync account so preferences do not cross over between SavePDF and your regular profile.

Visit the Settings page and choose your alternate PDF preference here. I also suggest changing the theme so it's easier to recognize that it is a different profile. See: Built-in themes in Firefox - alternative to complete themes.

If you don't have any downloads to make at the moment, you can close the extra window without affecting your regular Firefox profile.

Using Your Separate Profile

When you want to download PDFs with the Save File setting:

If there are no windows open in the SavePDF profile, return to the about:profiles page, scroll down to SavePDF and click its Launch profile in new browser button.

Use this profile for your bulk downloads and close its window when you're finished.

Having a separate profile also is a way to isolate add-ons that you just need occasionally but you don't fully trust to run against all of your browsing.