Open with firefox and save file
Well, there is a bug with your downloading files configurations that REALLY ANNOYS me, which is, i want to always select where to save my downloaded files, no problem with that, i just set all configurations to "always ask", but sometimes, especially for pdfs, i want to just open them, without the need to save them to my computer, so the only one i have set as "open with firefox" is the pdfs, and if i want to download them, i just do so by clicking the download button on the corner. BUT, with this configuration, if there is a button to download a pdf, without opening it previously, it will skip the "ask where to download" pop-up, which is a pain in the ass, as usually want my stuff in specific folders, not the general downloads one. And even iff i set pdfs to "always ask" and then chose to open with firefox, it will automatically download it (???????) to the downloads folder, and then open it from my pc, even tho it could open it from the file in the server, which is what i wanted. I just switched to firefox, please fix this awful feature and dont make me find another browser.
All Replies (4)
Hi,
First, welcome to Firefox!
Unfortunately, you can't open a file locally without downloading it. That's just how it works. So "Open in Firefox" will download the file to your Downloads folder and then open.
Could you please clarify what you mean by "button to download a pdf, without opening it previously"? Maybe share some examples of the websites where you see this?
There's some previous discussion if you think that's your case: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1563690
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-0980-2
here, i dont know if this is a good example because i dont know if you have access to download the pdf, but there is a button "download pdf", and when i click it, it wont let me choose where to download. and also, it makes no sense that "you can't open a file locally without downloading it", and "That's just how it works" its just so bad of a excuse, other browsers do it (like opera gx, my previous one). seriously, im really liking firefox, this is the only thing that i didnt like about it so far
(No, that content is not accessible without a subscription.)
You're conflating two things. PDFs that are served "to be read" (not downloaded) do not need to be downloaded to be shown. But exactly as you mention "clicking the download button" is a site functionality that overrides that (does not serve the PDF in a way that can be read until fully downloaded locally and recognized as PDF when fully downloaded) — so that's the part of displaying PDF content vs. sites sending it as an attachment for download.
The other part however is, when you for those downloaded files set Firefox back as the handler for the local PDF content, yes the "always ask" option is bypassed and is tracked as a bug:
If you believe it's not covering your description completely, or want to add any of your use–cases (or open a separate bug for these), please do so.
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