Firefox 108.0.2 64-bit on Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (1809) download history disappears on every new session
Some pernicious change occurred with the latest version of Firefox because now I have to do an extra click and go through the library to then open my downloads folder. I don't like the separate library window...it's not convenient and it's more work to use than it's worth. I used to be able get to the downloads folder directly by clicking on the down arrow in my extension tool bar which showed all recent downloads (even after rebooting) and then access to the download folder was right next to any of the recent downloads. Worked great that way. It used to be a quick way to get to the downloads folder and now I have to download a file before I can use that method, but then it disappears again if I close Firefox. How do I get that back permanently. I don't want that list to disappear each time I exit and restart Firefox. I already tried "privacy.clearOnShutdown.downloads" and that has no effect. What would be the correct setting in about:config ? Steve
All Replies (4)
In case you use "Clear history when Firefox closes" or otherwise clear history.
- do not clear the "Browsing history" as that includes downloads
- Settings -> Privacy & Security
Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history":
[X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" -> Settings - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox
- using "Clear history when Firefox closes" in Firefox 102+ honors exceptions and keeps cookies with an allow exception, previous versions removed all cookies
- clearing "Site settings" clears exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, and software installation and exceptions for passwords and other website specific data
Downloads are considered history items: clearing history removes corresponding download items and vice versa
Hello Cor-El, Mine is set to "Remember history" and I never clear history or cache. I always keep it and load the previous session everytime I start Firefox. So this is definitely something else that changed with a recent update. I just haven't figured out how to get that back to how it was working. I never had to click "Show all downloads". I just clicked the folder icon next to a recent download. The Library window is an extra step compared to what I had to do before. It's a total nuisance. In this case the computer was reimaged and apps newly installed and that's when I noticed this problem. Steve
The toolbar Download icon drop-down list only shows the download history of the current session and is thus empty when you start Firefox and haven;t downloaded anything yet. You can only see the full download history in the Library (bookmarks and history manager). This behavior has been the case for quite some time in Firefox. Note that in private browsing mode the about:downloads page is used.
Thanks Cor-El, All I can say is that hasn't been my experience or I wouldn't have said anything. The change was very noticeable. The download history seemed to have no issue surviving closed and reopened sessions before. I may have been on a late 9x.xx version possibly. If that feature can be returned as an option I'd be extremely grateful. Steve