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Saving a website link by dragging its url to desktop, it doesn't save name anymore, but url address instead.

  • 14 replies
  • 21 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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To save a link for any website to my desktop, I click on the circular (i) Icon on the far left side of the URL bar (to the left of the green security padlock icon, if there's one there).

I would then hold my mouse button down, and drag it to my desktop, and a new link would appear WITH THE NAME of the page itself.

NOW, it saves website's url address (without the http://).

How do I switch it back, so it saves the NAME of the page, instead?

To save a link for any website to my desktop, I click on the circular (i) Icon on the far left side of the URL bar (to the left of the green security padlock icon, if there's one there). I would then hold my mouse button down, and drag it to my desktop, and a new link would appear WITH THE NAME of the page itself. NOW, it saves website's url address (without the http://). How do I switch it back, so it saves the NAME of the page, instead?

Chosen solution

This is not the only issue on Mac with dragging. 1330470 - NEW - Drag and drop from downloads dropdown(to finder, iTunes, etc) doesn't work on the macintosh 1358075 - NEW - Fx53 no longer assigns user-friendly names to .webloc files on OS X 1358755 - NEW - Cannot save image by drag and drop to other than Finder/Desktop

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All Replies (14)

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I used V51 and V53. The link goes to the desktop with the proper header.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

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I just tried it, on version 53.0. Didn't seem to help.

It's strange, it was working fine just the other day. And now suddenly, what should appear in the file/link name as the website header, now appears as the url address. Like, it just started doing this.

Any thoughts? It's just dragging the favicon (I think?), so that it becomes a link on my desktop. I think some people refer to this as creating a desktop shortcut. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/create-desktop-shortcut-website

Modified by Andrew_L

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Let’s do a full clean re-install; http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/ Download Firefox For All languages And Systems

Save the file. Then Close Firefox.

Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer.

Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86)

Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-download-and-install-firefox-mac

Linux: Check your user manual. If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it. See Install Firefox on Linux; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux

If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder Firefox in your home directory. http://www.mozilla.org/firefox#desktop

===============

Do Not remove the profiles folder.

Look for, and rename any Mozilla or Firefox program folders by adding .old to them. Do not rename the Mozilla Thunderbird folder if there is one.

After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner if you have one. Then run the installer. If all goes well, remove the OLD folders when you are done. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If there is a problem, start your Computer in safe mode and try again.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode This shows how to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia

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A similar issue has been reported on Mac.

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Ok, let me try this later in the day. And let you know how it turns out.

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Looks like a bug. See /questions/1158515

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When I do the full reinstall, is there a way to retain my history log? So it doesn't get wiped out? I would like to keep it.

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If it is a Firefox bug then reinstalling won't work. You will have to wait until this bug has been resolved.

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Firefox comes in two or more folders on all computers. They are;

Maintenance: (Programs Folder) <Windows Only> Firefox itself: (Programs Folder) And at least one folder in the profile of each user on the computer.

If you remove the Firefox folder, the user folders would not be affected.

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Ok, thanks.

FredMcD, what is the mac equivalent of doing this? If I understand correctly, as long as the user folder is in tact, reinstalling won't erase the history?

cor-el, do you suggest I simply wait for Mozilla to update Firefox to their next version, and that'll solve the problem automatically?

I read the Bugzilla thread, they seemed to get back on the job 3 days ago, but seems like they aren't having any luck solving it simply. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1358075

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Andrew_L said

FredMcD, what is the mac equivalent of doing this? If I understand correctly, as long as the user folder is in tact, reinstalling won't erase the history?

Your profile will not be affected if you replace Firefox.

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As long as the bug isn't fixed then you can do nothing but using a different way to create the desktop shortcuts or correct the name yourself after you have created the shortcut. This is a known regression with Firefox 53 on Mac.

You can keep an eye on the bug and possibly vote to show your interest in getting this fixed.


Please do not comment in bug reports
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html You can vote for a bug to show your interest
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=voting.html

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So possibly, every other Mac user out there is having the same problem? I thought it was just a handful of people.

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Chosen Solution

This is not the only issue on Mac with dragging. 1330470 - NEW - Drag and drop from downloads dropdown(to finder, iTunes, etc) doesn't work on the macintosh 1358075 - NEW - Fx53 no longer assigns user-friendly names to .webloc files on OS X 1358755 - NEW - Cannot save image by drag and drop to other than Finder/Desktop