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

Can't Resume Failed Downloads

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

I am on version 84.0.1 for windows and can't resume downloads without restarting them from the beginning. The internet can be pretty slow and inconsistent where I live so getting a file in one go is pretty unlikely. I saw a couple things saying to save the old .part or both the .part and 0 byte regular file and replace the new ones but when I hit resume the download instantly fails. It will show that while paused it has the old one's download progress, but when it resumes it fails. I'm pretty sure that the sites I'm using allow downloads to be resumed because I can do it on chrome.

I am on version 84.0.1 for windows and can't resume downloads without restarting them from the beginning. The internet can be pretty slow and inconsistent where I live so getting a file in one go is pretty unlikely. I saw a couple things saying to save the old .part or both the .part and 0 byte regular file and replace the new ones but when I hit resume the download instantly fails. It will show that while paused it has the old one's download progress, but when it resumes it fails. I'm pretty sure that the sites I'm using allow downloads to be resumed because I can do it on chrome.

All Replies (5)

more options

Go to the Mozilla Add-ons Web Page {web Link} (There’s a lot of good stuff here) and search for a download manager.


This download manager works separately from the browser. The browser tells it what to download, and off it goes.

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org It is a powerful modern download accelerator and organizer for Windows and Mac.

more options

Just got it downloaded and after figuring out how to use it, it feels cumbersome. I have to open every download in a new tab, copy the link in the second that it's up there, and then paste it into the downloader. Now to wait an hour to see if it at least works.

more options

Some websites use a special link that is only temporary valid and if it is a different link then resuming may not be possible.

Make sure you keep the download drop down visible while doing the step to pause the download, then replace the two files and then resume the download without closing the pop-up in between.

more options

cor-el said

Some websites use a special link that is only temporary valid and if it is a different link then resuming may not be possible. Make sure you keep the download drop down visible while doing the step to pause the download, then replace the two files and then resume the download without closing the pop-up in between.

It fails on resume, even if I don't mess with any files. Also they can be resumed on chrome so the problem is specific to mozilla.

more options

So, it fails as well if you shortly pause the download and then resume the download ?

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or userChrome.css is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window

Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support to see if that has effect in case security software is causing problems.