We're calling on all EU-based Mozillians with iOS or iPadOS devices to help us monitor Apple’s new browser choice screens. Join the effort to hold Big Tech to account!

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

Firefox downloads of PDF files drive me crazy, help me get it to work like Chrome!

more options

If I save a file, it saves to downloads. If I open a file it saves to c:/users/me/appdata/local/temp... but is NOT saved in downloads. So if I want it in downloads I have to "Save As" - this is an extra step, and sometimes I forget and then have to find the temp directory. This wastes time because who can remember "oh, I didn't save the file so I need to look somewhere else".

In addition, C: drive is an SSD with space constraints so the temp folder is there. Downloads is on D: where space is not an issue.

Chrome downloads everything to downloads.. how sensible... and then opens in "program" so it is all in one place.

If I save a file, it saves to downloads. If I open a file it saves to c:/users/me/appdata/local/temp... but is NOT saved in downloads. So if I want it in downloads I have to "Save As" - this is an extra step, and sometimes I forget and then have to find the temp directory. This wastes time because who can remember "oh, I didn't save the file so I need to look somewhere else". In addition, C: drive is an SSD with space constraints so the temp folder is there. Downloads is on D: where space is not an issue. Chrome downloads everything to downloads.. how sensible... and then opens in "program" so it is all in one place.

All Replies (1)

more options

In theory, you can set a new Temp folder for Firefox, but that won't really help; I don't think you want Firefox to use your Downloads folder as a Temp directory.

Perhaps what you should do if you always want to download to the Downloads folder is set PDFs to save automatically. Then to open them you can click them on the Downloads arrow drop-down panel. You can change your PDF handling preference from Always Ask to Save File on the Options page. This article will get you to that dialog: Manage file types and download actions in Firefox.

Also, for future reference, if you open the Downloads list (either "Show All Downloads" or Ctrl+j), you can use the disk icon to the right of a download to open the Temp folder with the file selected for cut-and-paste or drag-and-drop).