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How to vary behavior when handling PDFs: download some, show others

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  • Last reply by zeroknight

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When Content Type PDF is set to Open in Firefox in Settings, some hyperlinks (see 'Download PDF' on https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.00923) will navigate to the hosted PDF without downloading to my computer. Others (see 'Download PDF' on https://www.overleaf.com/project/65c142c6d78ec5a8a34636b0) will download to my device then open the downloaded file in browser. (I am also interested in what causes this distinction in the first place.)

When it is set to Save File, both types of links will download to my device without opening.

In my experience with other browsers, the behavior is similar to the first case, but downloaded files are not opened upon finishing downloading, only doing so if the file is clicked on in the download menu during or after downloading. Is there any way to replicate this behavior?

When Content Type PDF is set to Open in Firefox in Settings, some hyperlinks (see 'Download PDF' on https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.00923) will navigate to the hosted PDF without downloading to my computer. Others (see 'Download PDF' on https://www.overleaf.com/project/65c142c6d78ec5a8a34636b0) will download to my device then open the downloaded file in browser. (I am also interested in what causes this distinction in the first place.) When it is set to Save File, both types of links will download to my device without opening. In my experience with other browsers, the behavior is similar to the first case, but downloaded files are not opened upon finishing downloading, only doing so if the file is clicked on in the download menu during or after downloading. Is there any way to replicate this behavior?

Chosen solution

Files can be "inline" (open) or "attachment" (download) according to Content-Disposition. You can make attachment PDFs save without opening by changing browser.download.force_save_internally_handled_attachments to true in about:config.

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Apologies, the Overleaf link above will not work. Here is a new one https://www.overleaf.com/read/qkccsbnthvgb#a06e10

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Chosen Solution

Files can be "inline" (open) or "attachment" (download) according to Content-Disposition. You can make attachment PDFs save without opening by changing browser.download.force_save_internally_handled_attachments to true in about:config.