To open the file you can press Ctrl+J and double-click or right-click it.

Note that if you choose to open the file in an external application Firefox will save the file to the temp folder where it can be removed at any time, so you need to save the file first to be able to keep the file. You can click the Download button on the Navigation Toolbar to open the download list and open the file.

If the Download button isn't present then drag it out of the Customize palette to the toolbar. You can click the button to have it always visible.

Thanks for your replies. I *know* how to save and open a file. My question was about saving and opening the file IN ONE STEP. If I first save it, then have to navigate to the download folder, then have to locate the file (what was the name of the file again? Can't find it - ok, there it is...), then double-click it, then this seems rather complicated. If there was a "Save AND Open" button in the Download dialog, this would simplify the task. But there is not - so I have to do it the complicated way.

For some file types that are considered executables it isn't possible to open then file, but for other it should be possible. If you would open the file then the file is downloaded to the temp folder and is set to read-only to prevent data loss in case you would modify the file.

Didn't you try what I wrote above to download the file to the preferred location and then open the file via the toolbar Downloads button by double-clicking its entry in the drop-down list ?

If you hover an item then you should see "open file" appear.

Hello cor-el, now I understand your reply. Sorry for the confusion. I misunderstood "Download window" as "Downloads folder". Yes, that (more or less) solves the problem. It is still a few clicks, but much better than locating the file in the Downloads folder.