The Firefox download history is controlled by Firefox settings. Your file manager is controlled by your operating system. For the first have a look at the Privacy & Security page of Settings (available from the menus).

Do you wish to download files to a temporary folder? If so, there is a preference you can set for that in about:config.

Thanks for replying to me. Are these settings correct? link text or do i have something wrong?

The downloaded files are still in my downloads folder, they don't go anywhere or get deleted. But the download history of the browser gets deleted automatically after reopening the browser

Update: I have found out that some type of files don't get removed from the Firefox's download history, such as .zip files. But some type of files like PDFs and JPEGs get removed after reopening the browser.

Hmm, that is strange. Your settings look fine.

Does any other history get erased (downloads are stored in the same database as history)?

Do you have any external cleaning software running, such as CCleaner or Advanced SystemCare? These can be set to NOT remove browser data so that you can rule those out as a factor.

This may be another case of Firefox not saving data because it isn't exited as it requires. You could try quitting by using the menu command or keyboard shortcut and allow sufficient time after that for data to be saved before restarting. I allow a minute but 30 seconds is probably enough.

Note that the download history is part of the browsing history and has a special annotation to mark it as a download, so if you clear the history or otherwise do not keep history then you lose the download history as well.

Nothing really works. I never clear my history, its always there. I don't have any softwares like CCleaner or Advanced SystemCare installed, and waiting for a while after download the file doesn't work too, the download history still clears. I had windows 8 installed previously in which i had the same problem. But even after upgrading to windows 10, the problem still persists.

Wait for a while after quitting. And quit in the way required.

So Ctrl+J only shows items from the current session, never from previous sessions? I wonder if there is some kind of corruption in the Places database. Could you let us know what you get when you run the "Verify Integrity" diagnosis and repair function. That's here:

Open Firefox's Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

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

Near the bottom, there is a section titled Places Database -- that's the file which stores history and bookmarks. Click the button labeled Verify Integrity. There may be a 10-15 second delay before results appear.

If all is well, the report that appears below the button should start with:

> Task: checkIntegrity
+ The places.sqlite database is sane
+ The favicons.sqlite database is sane
> Task: invalidateCaches
+ The caches have been invalidated
> Task: checkCoherence
+ The database is coherent

Does yours say that, or something else? You can select and copy the report, and then paste it into a reply for review and comment.

This table stores the path where the file was saved, and download list status, but it also has some other data, so it probably never goes to zero:

+ Table moz_annos has 2446 records

Wait for a while after quitting. And quit in the way required.

I waited for like 1 minute after the download, and quitted using Alt + F4, but the file still gets removed after reopening the browser.

So Ctrl+J only shows items from the current session, never from previous sessions? I wonder if there is some kind of corruption in the Places database. Could you let us know what you get when you run the "Verify Integrity" diagnosis and repair function. That's here: Open Firefox's Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

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

Near the bottom, there is a section titled Places Database -- that's the file which stores history and bookmarks. Click the button labeled Verify Integrity. There may be a 10-15 second delay before results appear. If all is well, the report that appears below the button should start with: > Task: checkIntegrity + The places.sqlite database is sane + The favicons.sqlite database is sane > Task: invalidateCaches + The caches have been invalidated > Task: checkCoherence + The database is coherent Does yours say that, or something else? You can select and copy the report, and then paste it into a reply for review and comment. This table stores the path where the file was saved, and download list status, but it also has some other data, so it probably never goes to zero: + Table moz_annos has 2446 records

It seems to be right

> Task: checkIntegrity + The places.sqlite database is sane + The favicons.sqlite database is sane > Task: invalidateCaches + The caches have been invalidated > Task: checkCoherence + The database is coherent

That sounds good.

I'm struggling to think of any logical reason for "web content" like PDFs and images to be removed from the list but not ZIP files. There must be something, but nothing is coming to mind.

Make sure Firefox isn't set to run in permanent Private Browsing mode (Always use Private Browsing mode; Never Remember History).

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/common-myths-about-private-browsing

• Settings -> Privacy & Security
  Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history"
• remove checkmark: [ ] "Always use Private Browsing mode"

Make sure Firefox isn't set to run in permanent Private Browsing mode (Always use Private Browsing mode; Never Remember History).

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/common-myths-about-private-browsing

• Settings -> Privacy & Security
  Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history"
• remove checkmark: [ ] "Always use Private Browsing mode"

https://i.imgur.com/JCETmBL.png