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Download of pdf attachments

  • 9 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Sparrox

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Hello,

I'm using Firefox 102.0 (64-bit) on Win 10. When I click on the download icon of email attachments or Whatsapp files, firefox opens the pdf files in a new tab instead of downloading them. All other file formats are downloaded correctly instead. How can I correct this problem, please?

Best regards, Giovanni

Hello, I'm using Firefox 102.0 (64-bit) on Win 10. When I click on the download icon of email attachments or Whatsapp files, firefox opens the pdf files in a new tab instead of downloading them. All other file formats are downloaded correctly instead. How can I correct this problem, please? Best regards, Giovanni

Modified by Sparrox

All Replies (9)

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Hi giovannis87, Try changing the action for PDF files in your Settings -> General -> Applications from Open in Firefox to Save File

How file downloads are handled in Firefox version 98 and above https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/manage-downloads-preferences-using-downloads-menu

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RobertJ said

Hi giovannis87, Try changing the action for PDF files in your Settings -> General -> Applications from Open in Firefox to Save File How file downloads are handled in Firefox version 98 and above https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/manage-downloads-preferences-using-downloads-menu

Dear Robert,

Thanks for your time. Your suggestion would make sense if I wanted to click on a pdf file either to open or save it, but my problem is with an action button to directly download a pdf file.

I want to keep the "open in firefox" as a default action any time I click on a pdf file on the web to read it, and at the same time I want to be able to directly download when I click on the "download" button of email attachments. Is it possible by any chance? I have firefox 91.10.0esr (64-bit) on another Win10 computer, and it works well there, but not with the new version of firefox. I wouldn't like to use the "always ask" option, as it adds an additional step.

Regards, Giovanni

Modified by Sparrox

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In version 91 the PDF file should be downloaded to \TEMP folder and also opened in Firefox.

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Hi Giovanni, in Firefox 98+, when the user has the default setting of "Open in Firefox", the browser tries to open all the PDFs. It ignores instructions from the server that a PDF is for download only (Content-Disposition: attachment). For a while, sites were able to fool Firefox by disguising the file as not-a-PDF (for example, setting the Content-Type: application/force-download). However, in Firefox 102 that might not be working any more, either.

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In v102 - When I "open in Firefox" the file is downloaded to \Cache2

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Hi Robert, it depends on whether the server honestly identifies the file as a PDF or not in the Content-Type:

Honest: https://www.jeffersonscher.com/res/servepdf.php?f=bugzilla-home.pdf&ct=application/pdf

Lying: https://www.jeffersonscher.com/res/servepdf.php?f=bugzilla-home.pdf&ct=download/only

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@jscher Good to know info. Thank you.

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Dear Robert and Jefferson,

Thanks again for your contributions and explanations.

From my understanding, there is no way to go back to the old behaviour then. Nowadays, pdfs attached to emails generally have three action items: preview, save to online drive, and download. If I choose the download option is because I do want to download the file, so I don't understand why Firefox has decided that this no longer has to happen, but I'll live with it.

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It's being harder than expected to live with the "Always ask" option! Now, every time I choose "Open with Firefox" from the "what should firefox do with this file?" pop-up window, any pdf is opened AND downloaded. Why??? Now I have to manually delete these unwanted, saved pdf files from the Download folder!! I'm going crazy...

Better if I'll keep the "Open in Firefox" option in the general settings then, so any pdf will be simply opened and not downloaded. If I want to download a pdf, I'll just do it manually from the opened file, which is less time consuming than deleting every unwanted pdf from the Downloads.