Re: Firefox now saves files that I only wanted to open
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I just learned some good news: Firefox 103 users can switch the case (B) to case (A) using a setting. Could you make this change, turn off the extension(s), and test again? Here's how you can check on that: (A) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click...

Hey guys

Today I got so annyed by firefox’s default behaviour of downloading each and every PDF file to my disk that I went searching for a solution until I had the problem fixed. And it seems like I have finally found it. I have linked the solution but here is the explanation in short:

Firefox determines what kind of file type it is based on the content-type header it receives from the server. Another header is the content-disposition header with which the server specifies how the file should be handled. The two most important options here are attachment and inline.

  • inline is the default if not otherwise specified, and means the browser will handle the file according to the behavior set in the browser settings.
  • attachment means to always download the file

It is therefore possible that some pdf files are downloaded by force and others are handled according to the behavior specified in the settings. To force the latter in any case, you can proceed as follows:

  1. go to about:config
  2. change browser.download.open_pdf_attachments_inline to true

Thank you jscher2000 for the solution!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/9785046

  • @[email protected]
    2•1 year ago

    THANK YOU. This behavior has been bothering me since it was introduced but I thought there was no solution

  • Eager EagleEnglish
    0•1 year ago

    Even with browser.download.open_pdf_attachments_inline set to false (default), Firefox already opens PDFs instead of downloading them, thanks to this setting:

    For what use cases is that needed?

    • PropaGandalfOP
      1•1 year ago

      For me it still downloads and then opens it in firefox. In the description it clearly says: Choose how Firefox handles the files you download from the web (…). And I don’t want it to download the file to my disk in the first place just store it in chache like a regular website.

  • ares35
    0•1 year ago

    it isn’t in right in firefox’s settings -> general -> under ‘files and applications’ ??

    ‘open in firefox’ (what you want), vs ‘always ask’, ‘always save’ (download) or ‘open in default application’ (such as adobe reader). actions are configurable for many file types.

    • @[email protected]
      1•1 year ago

      I believe even if you choose “Open in Firefox”, it will still download the PDF to the default download directory before opening it inside a Firefox tab. The behavior that OP describes above seems to prevent that downloading (and having the file around in your default download directory).

    • HumaniusEnglish
      0•1 year ago

      I don’t know whether they fixed it since, but last I checked that option was broken.
      No matter what you select, half the time it still downloads the PDF to your drive.

      • PropaGandalfOP
        0•1 year ago

        It even says in the description that these settings determine how firefox will handle them after downloading them.

        • ares35
          0•1 year ago

          i have ‘open in firefox’ enabled on this pc for pdf. i never get a dl prompt. goes right to the internal pdf viewer every time.

          • HumaniusEnglish
            1•1 year ago

            The problem is not that it gives a download prompt, but rather that it tosses the PDF file into your downloads folder unrequested.
            It opens the PDF in the internal PDF viewer as well, but that is not the thing people are having issues with.

            • ares35
              0•1 year ago

              NONE of the files i tested it on triggered the download prompt, populated the download status of the browser, or appeared in my default downloads location during their ‘viewing’ or after.

              • HumaniusEnglish
                1•1 year ago

                Great that it seems to work for you, but I’ve been experiencing this bug for months now if not longer.
                I made the changes OP suggested, and now it seems to work correctly.

  • @[email protected]
    0•1 year ago

    It does not fix the bug, i want to save in tmp & use external application like it did until last year

    I don’t want to have the same behaviour of chromium browsers, otherwise i would use chromium browsers.

    Luckily microsoft updated ms edge on linux to save on tmp the files that you want to open, but you don’t want to save. It’s the only browser left that does that with a simple check in settings and doesn’t require big workarounds. Used to be only firefox to do this… pity

    • @[email protected]
      1•1 year ago

      That sounds like browser.download.start_downloads_in_tmp_dir combined with “open with…”. That setting should download to tmp whenever you open it directly in an application. The other setting (browser.download.open_pdf_attachments_inline) should only be enabled if you want to open PDFs in the browser without downloading them.