Firefox Is Automatically Dowloadimg Files But I Don't Want It To!
Hi.
I've tried searching for the answer to this problem for hours but everything's telling me how to make Firefox download things automatically but I want to stop it doing that.
I've always had my 'phone (Samsung S9+) set to ask me every time how I want to open files when I tap on them. However, this afternoon, when I tapped on a pdf link and it popped up to ask if I wanted to download the document or simply view it (in Google Viewer, I think it was), download was already highlighted and I accidentally (and very stupidly) tapped 'Always'.
Now, every time I tap on a pdf link in Firefox, my 'phone is automatically downloading the file, instead of offering me the option to simply view it without downloading it, which is what I want to do.
I've tried deleting cache files, uninstalling and reinstalling Acrobat Reader (in case it forced something to give me options again) and if I was using the Windows version of Firefox, the solution appears to be no more than a couple of clicks away. However, that doesn't seem to be the case in Firefox on my Android 'phone!
Please could someone help because I don't want to waste any more of my life searching for the solution to a single errant finger tap!
Izbrana rešitev
Yay! I've fixed it!!!!
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p.s. I've just discovered that I also now can't open the file that Firefox is downloading because when the notification pops up to tell me that the file has downloaded and I tap 'Open', a list of the apps that are installed on my 'phone pops up but when I tap on Acrobat Reader and then tap 'Just Once' as I always (errr.....usually) do, my instruction seems to be completely ignored and Firefox tries to open the pdf file but is apparently unable because all it displays is a blank page.
Oh and when I try and open it from my file manager, the downloaded file isn't downloading as a .pdf, rather it's being named '*-pdf', so in order to get Acrobat Reader to even open the file, I'm then having to Rename the file to '*.pdf', at which point when I tap on it, it opens perfectly well in Acrobat Reader......finally!
You can see why I want the option to simply view the file without having to download it, just like I was able to this morning
Hi Dan
As a first step, I recomend that you update your copy of Firefox for Android at the Google Play store. The information that you have provided with your question indicates that you are using an older version of Firefox for Android and may be missing important security and ability updates.
Seburo said
Hi Dan As a first step, I recomend that you update your copy of Firefox for Android at the Google Play store. The information that you have provided with your question indicates that you are using an older version of Firefox for Android and may be missing important security and ability updates.
Hi Seburo,
Thanks for your reply.
I've updated Firefox as you suggested (I thought it would be auto-updating like my desktop version does) and was hoping that there would be some new setting in the updated version that was going to solve the problem that I reported for me but it seems that this is not the case.
Now that I've got the latest update, do you know how I can solve my original problem?
Many thanks.
Hi Dan
I have found this article that should help:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-reset-default-apps-in-android/
Hi Seburo,
Thanks for your message.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my original post, I'd already tried changing the default apps settings, save for resetting everything, which I've now done to no avail, so the article didn't solve the problem.
I'm confident that it's not a default app setting that is causing the issue because the problem isn't that one app is opening where I'd prefer another to open, the problem is that when I click on a pdf link (or link to any file), where I used to be offered the option of either downloading the file or simply viewing it, following my errant button tap, I am no longer given the option, so every pdf link I tap now results in the document being downloaded, which is littering my download folder with loads of documents that I don't want.
This means that I'm now having to go to my download folder via my file explorer app every time I tap on a pdf link to firstly view the pdf, where I was previously able to simply tap 'View', and then to delete it. In addition, again, as I mentioned previously, I'm also having to rename the pdf file before I can even view it because, for who knows what reason, they're downloading and being saved as 'Document-pdf', instead of 'Document.pdf', so, until I've made the filename change, they're not even recognisable files, so won't open with anything.
All-in-all, this single errant button tap has caused a phenomenal number of issues, which is wasting a significant amount of my time and is simply frustrating!
Izbrana rešitev
Yay! I've fixed it!!!!
