How to open files without downloading them after version 98
Hello. I am extremely annoyed with Mozilla after this update and am DESPERATE for a fix.
I am a college student. I have to open several notes, lectures, syllabi, sample assignments, etc. a day. Obviously, I can't download every single one of these files to my computer. I'd run out of space. The SOLE REASON why I picked Firefox as my browser was because of the dialogue box that appeared whenever I went to download something, giving me the option to simply open a file without saving it.
They made it so that dialog box wasn't the default. Okay, fine, annoying. But all I have to do is go into settings and change it to "Always ask," right? Wrong. EVERY SINGLE FILE GETS DOWNLOADED TO MY COMPUTER NOW. Every PDF and MS Word document is sent straight to my download folder.
Is there ANY way I can open up files (specifically PDF and MS Word files) without saving them to my computer? I remember these files would be saved to a "temporary" file area, how can I re enable that again? If not, I will be switching to another browser that offers this option.
All Replies (4)
This article summarizes the changes made to download behavior in Firefox 98: How file downloads are handled in Firefox version 98 and above
If you don't find an answer there you can look through these questions tagged v-98download for possible solutions or workarounds; for example, see this one: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1370494 Firefox saves file when "Open with" is selected.
So basically, Mozilla just took away the sole reason why I use their browser? And didn't provide a workaround, and my only solution is to either learn to live with it or edit something in the config menu (which will most likely not work forever)?
This is ridiculous. Firefox was one of the only browsers to allow you to open things without downloading them. Taking that away is a huge mistake. At least provide that option.
Other than the workarounds given in the links I posted, there's not much you can do but you could submit feedback to Mozilla developers.
The people who answer questions here, for the most part, are other users volunteering their time (like me), not Mozilla employees or Firefox developers. If you want to leave feedback for Firefox developers, you can go to the Firefox Help menu and select Submit Feedback... or use this link. Your feedback gets collected by a team of people who read it and gather data about the most common issues.
You can also file a bug report or feature request. See File a bug report or feature request for Mozilla products for details.