This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Downloads drag-and-drop to folder on OSX

  • 2 cavab
  • 4 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by rmpolski

more options

When I download a file on Firefox, I'm used to finding the file by clicking on the down arrow in the task bar to the right of the URL/search box. Then I transfer the completed download to a given folder by simply dragging and dropping the icon to the desired folder in Finder. I use this all the time because I commonly need to download and drop several files into alternating folders, so I want to know: what happened to that functionality? Now, if I drag and drop, a link (to the file held in the Downloads folder) just appears in the destination folder. The efficiency drops dramatically if I have to open a "save as" box each time or find each downloaded file in the Downloads folder (as opposed to just opening the several desired files and doing drag-and-drop to each of them as needed). Is there a way I can get that functionality back?

When I download a file on Firefox, I'm used to finding the file by clicking on the down arrow in the task bar to the right of the URL/search box. Then I transfer the completed download to a given folder by simply dragging and dropping the icon to the desired folder in Finder. I use this all the time because I commonly need to download and drop several files into alternating folders, so I want to know: what happened to that functionality? Now, if I drag and drop, a link (to the file held in the Downloads folder) just appears in the destination folder. The efficiency drops dramatically if I have to open a "save as" box each time or find each downloaded file in the Downloads folder (as opposed to just opening the several desired files and doing drag-and-drop to each of them as needed). Is there a way I can get that functionality back?

All Replies (2)

more options

The functionality is still there for me, but to make sure I am following your steps: 1. I download a file 2. I then click on the down arrow icon in the Firefox toolbar 3. I click on the magnifying glass next to the newly downloaded file 4. It opens the containing folder and then I click on the file, when it is down downloading and drag it into the folder I want on the left side of the Finder window.

Are you dragging the file name from the down arrow icon? That does not work for me when I try to drag it to the desktop. If in general the Finder is not letting you drag and drop folders/files try these troubleshooting steps provided by the apple forum to restart Finder: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7516853?tstart=0

Sometimes Firefox will store a preference for what to do with downloaded files. You can also check to see if any preferences were stored differently recently with these troubleshooting steps: Manage file types and download actions in Firefox

more options

guigs said

The functionality is still there for me, but to make sure I am following your steps: 1. I download a file 2. I then click on the down arrow icon in the Firefox toolbar 3. I click on the magnifying glass next to the newly downloaded file 4. It opens the containing folder and then I click on the file, when it is down downloading and drag it into the folder I want on the left side of the Finder window. Are you dragging the file name from the down arrow icon? That does not work for me when I try to drag it to the desktop. If in general the Finder is not letting you drag and drop folders/files try these troubleshooting steps provided by the apple forum to restart Finder: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7516853?tstart=0 Sometimes Firefox will store a preference for what to do with downloaded files. You can also check to see if any preferences were stored differently recently with these troubleshooting steps: Manage file types and download actions in Firefox

Sorry, I was actually looking for how to drag files directly from the arrow icon without having to click on the magnifying glass. Clicking on the magnifying glass works, but it's just not quite as efficient. Before a few days ago, it worked perfectly well to drag right from the dropdown list under the arrow.