Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

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.

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Opened PDF from site is missing: "File moved or missing"

ilikegamesnstuff
ilikegamesnstuff
more options

Hello Everyone,

Last Friday (10/16/20) I opened a pdf file from a link that expired at the end of the day. I believe I clicked "open" instead of "save" and was able to view the pdf from the browser with a URL destination leading to a directory in my computer. No sweat, its on the computer... I figured I can access it later on. Today I look in my temp folder (URL destination) and my downloads, and can't find the file. I go to my firefox Library and see that the file is in the "downloads" section. However, it says that the file is moved or missing, and I don't remember moving or deleting this file...

Any idea what firefox did with this file? Is there any way i can restore it or restore firefox history containing the file data? Appreciate any help. Thank You.

Hello Everyone, Last Friday (10/16/20) I opened a pdf file from a link that expired at the end of the day. I believe I clicked "open" instead of "save" and was able to view the pdf from the browser with a URL destination leading to a directory in my computer. No sweat, its on the computer... I figured I can access it later on. Today I look in my temp folder (URL destination) and my downloads, and can't find the file. I go to my firefox Library and see that the file is in the "downloads" section. However, it says that the file is moved or missing, and I don't remember moving or deleting this file... Any idea what firefox did with this file? Is there any way i can restore it or restore firefox history containing the file data? Appreciate any help. Thank You.

Chosen solution

You also might need an "undelete" program. A popular one is:

https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva

Please note that you need to use it ASAP when you discover a file is gone because Windows may re-use that disk space at any time.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (4)

Václav Trpišovský
Václav Trpišovský
more options

The Temp folder, as name suggests, gets cleared regularly. The file may be lost forever, but check the Recycle Bin, maybe the file was moved there upon "deletion".

ilikegamesnstuff
ilikegamesnstuff Mwenye swali
more options

Václav Trpišovský said
The Temp folder, as name suggests, gets cleared regularly. The file may be lost forever, but check the Recycle Bin, maybe the file was moved there upon "deletion".

Would you know if the file is deleted whilst keeping its original name? I'm new to firefox. If that's the case, I can maybe use recovery software to find it?

Václav Trpišovský
Václav Trpišovský
more options

I am sorry, I do not know the inner workings of the Temp folder and associated archival rules. Please search Windows help on the topic. I believe that upon closing the program that used the file temporarily, the file is marked as "ready for deletion", and deleted soon after. I may be wrong, so search for other sources.

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

Suluhisho teule

You also might need an "undelete" program. A popular one is:

https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva

Please note that you need to use it ASAP when you discover a file is gone because Windows may re-use that disk space at any time.