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.zip files

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I want to upload .zip files to my site for download. I get the error message 'invalid file type' trying all day and then I tried Microsoft Edge and it uploaded no problem. So what do I do to have Firefox do this?

I want to upload .zip files to my site for download. I get the error message 'invalid file type' trying all day and then I tried Microsoft Edge and it uploaded no problem. So what do I do to have Firefox do this?

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This can occur when Firefox has associated an unusual content-type like "application/download" with the .zip file extension. The handlers.json file which stores these associations is difficult to edit, but you can rename the file and have Firefox rebuild it. Here's how:

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows File Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Exit
  • (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename handlers.json to something like handlersOLD.json.

Start Firefox back up again. Did that fix it?

Note: you may need to update a few downloading preferences again, for example, if you don't want PDFs to open in a tab in Firefox.