Not sure if you can do that, but you can move files from the temp directory to other directories.

that's exactly what I don't want to do, i want the opened files to be stored on my downloads folder, automatically so I don't have to go to Temp and move them.

Specifically, what types of files are you referring to?

files marked as "open", the ones that open automatically after they're downloaded, zip files for instance .

Firefox uses the TEMP and/or TMP paths set in Windows (environment variables) to determine the folder for storing a file to be launched by external applications. Since you probably do not want to change this for all Windows programs (e.g., program installers), I can imagine a few workarounds.

One might be to find an extension that modifies how Firefox's Open/Save/Cancel dialog works.

Another might be to find a way to pass Firefox different environment variables than those set at the Windows level.

However, I did a websearch and didn't find such an extension or such a hack...

That said... if you choose download instead of open, you can use the "green arrow" and download panel to open the file quite quickly in the default application for that file type. Will that work for now?

well if there's no other choice then I'll have to save things instead of just opening them.

A possibility could be to launch Firefox via a cmd.bat file using the start command that sets the TMP and TEMP environment variables when launching Firefox, but that will (can) cause a lot of files to appear in that location.

you mean change the entire temp folder, not only the files marked as Open. well I think that what I'm going to do is set the Temp folder as my default download folder and then make a shortcut. it would be nice if in the future the firefox team could fix this, allowing opened files to be save in downloads. thanks for the replies to all of you.

Oops. Let me try again.

If you select to download a file, it goes to the chosen download folder. If, however, you choose to open the file instead, the system thinks you just want to look at the file and not save it. Therefore, it is a TEMPORARY file, and that is how it is stored. Note that temporary folders get cleaned out now ant then.

I just confirmed it. When you choose Save, the file goes into the Downloads folder. When you choose Open, the file goes into the Temp folder. Thanks to the two gentlemen who pointed this out.