Firefox Community Forum

Firefox fails to download any files. I've asked for help before, but did not receive a response. Files download well when using MS Edge. Using Windows 10 and latest version of Firefox. Help please.

Friday February 6, 2026

Been using Firefox since 2014 and as my primary browser for personal research, etc. and Google's Chrome about half the time for company-related work. It's been my favorite browser. I'm using the current updated Firefox 147.0.3 (aarch64) and and Apple's O/S macOS Sequoia Version 15.7.3.

However, for at least 8 months or more now, Firefox has become completely unreliable for downloading files to save on my virtual drive in my MacBook Pro M3 Max because it often if not always freezes up in the process. I have to curse again (!) then Force Quit, reboot, and everything instantly comes back up on the monitor as if nothing happened, only of course I did not accomplish the task of downloading and saving the file I needed to handle.

I have discovered by talking to folks and by researching Firefox's support information library that I'm "not alone".  Not by far.  This problem IS a Firefox issue.  I've tried to follow Firefox's several different solutions to overcome whatever the root cause of the problem is, but without success.  The TIME required to really go through this problem-solving process is a killer.  And, yea, since I'm physically practically in OPEN AI's backyard, I have consulted CHAT GPT and it also confirmed this issue between Firefox and Apple's O'S macOS Sequoia Version 15.7.3 and practically gave me a Masters thesis about.  Who has time for this?  Why can't Firefox solve this problem to make this easy for us?

S0 now, before I update my O/S to macOS Tahoe 26.3, does anyone know if between Apple and Firefox this problem has been solved? For 10 years it was never a problem. What the heck happened? Firefox is no longer my primary browser, for I never know for sure whether or not I'll need to download and save to my Mac's virtual drive a file.

Thanks for any constructive comments anyone may make! And Happy Friday. ~ GPB

Hello,

Firefox will not download files. It fails every time me I try. I refreshed Firefox, but that did not fix the problem. Downloads work every time with MS Edge. Please help. Thank you.

When I try to download a statement from my bank I just get a blank page pop up. This used to work with Firefox and it works OK with Chrome. What has changed ...or is there a Firefox setting that is wrong?

The first time i'm installing Firefox it quickly made me fall in love with this browser and wanted to fully migrate from Chrome to Firefox, it's more lightweight, has more customization, fully private & secure. But there is only one thing that made me just almost migrate to Firefox, or just 99% complete transitioning to Firefox, and that is me unable downloading. Yes, thats it and it's pretty annoying. I just able downloading pictures, but not when i'm downloading an apps or software like Discord for example. PLEASE HELP ME, MY LAPTOP (X240) IS VERY OLD AND I NEED EVERY PERFORMANCE ON MY LAPTOP FOR WORKSTATION PLUS WITH THIS RAM PRICES (ykwim). Tomorrow i'm planning to switch to Linux (Mint MATE) and i have to do dual-boot just incase there is some software i'm unable to use at Linux. So please, help me. Give each step with no technical explanation, and use beginner languange so i'm easier to understand.

Доброго времени суток.

Недавно столкнулся с проблемой невозможности установки файлов из различных источников (не только с одного конкретного файла), сами файлы тоже разные, от папок до установщиков. Всегда один и тот же паттерн, сначало загружает 30кб, потом загрузка приостонавливается, проходит 3-4 минуты и он обозначается как "не удалось". Пробовал решить проблему, ничего не вышло.

Right now, when I open firefox up, I ALWAYS get the pop that a download was stopped because of a virus and it's really annoying that I have to dismiss it EVERY SINGLE TIME even though I remove it from downloads and clear history. How do I even stop this from happening???

EDIT: Even setting browser.download.alwaysOpenPanel to false does NOTHING so I have NO IDEA what to do.

Trying to download 3.3 GB file. Around 500-600 MB download then fails and displays either, "pause" (permanent) or "failed - cachefly.net". Have tried several times over several days w/o success.

Beim Herunterladen von Dateien wird mir immer angezeigt "Originaldatei heruntergeladen. API Schlüssel ungültig. Lizenz überprüfen. Die heruntergeladene Datei finde ich aber nirgendwo. Was muss ich machen?

Hi! I want to download the "Photoshow" add on. I can't because it says "Download the new Firefox and get the extension". When I check for updates it for Firefox it says I'm all updated. When I click the "download new firefox" I get the message "Your download was interrupted. But all is not lost." I really want this add-on. Is there another way to get it or to solve my problem? Thanks!