Do you still see the downloads in the Downloads folder in the History Manager?

• History > Show All History

Do you keep that history if you do not use Clear Recent History?

• Tools > Options > Privacy : History: [X] Clear history when Firefox closes > Settings
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Clear+Recent+History

You can check the browser.download.manager.retention pref on the about:config page and make sure that it has the default value of 2 (manual).

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).

• Don't click the Reset button on the Safe mode start window or otherwise make changes.
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode

Hi cor-el.

I just went back and reset Firefox  to Remember History. Yes the history is there and so is the download I did after the reset and after closing Firefox. My point is I want to customize Firefox to erase the Browsing History and Cache after it closes I did that by using Custom Settings For History then clicking on Clear history when Firefox closes then going to Settings and only checking the Browser and Cache buttons, therefore, the Downloads should stay because I did not choose to remove them in the settings but they go away when I close Firefox. All I want is the Browsing History and Cache to be removed after  I close Firefox. I should be able to do that by customizing but is causing the Downloads to disappear too, even tough, that box is unchecked in the Settings.

Note that Firefox doesn't use the disk cache at all if you set the cache to be cleared when you close Firefox.
You can see that on the about:cache page.
This doesn't mean that the current cache content is cleared (remove the cache in clear recent history to have the cache entry reappear).
See also:

• Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Cached Web Content

So if you want to keep using the disk cache then you need to clear the cache manually yourself.

Hi co-rel,

 I am OK with the cache issue. What about the other setting to Clear the Browsing History? I can do that one too manually every day but it defeats the purpose of customizing Firefox. Why is it that the downloads disappear when I have these settings if the Download History box is not checked?

Do you keep the downloads when you are using Clear Recent History to clear the browsing history?

You can also check the values of the privacy.clearOnShutdown.* prefs on the about:config page.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config

Hi co-rel, I guess I just realized that the Browsing history and the Downloads are tied together. If I Clear Recent History then the Browsing and Downloads would be erased. I guess I just have to decide whether to erase Browsing History and Downloads or keep them both.

Also on the values of the privacy.clearOnShutdown.* prefs on the about:config page, all of the values are false except the one the says history. The one that says history the value is true.

If you use "Firefox > History > Clear Recent History" then you can only clear both the browsing history and the download history and not only the browsing history.
So you need to clear the history in the sidebar or the history manager to keep the download history.

Hi co-rel, I don't have a sidebar to clear my history. I have a bar with on top with

File- Edit -View- History- Bookmarks -Tools -Help 

Under History I have: Show all History, Restore Previous Session, Recently Closed Tabs and Recently Closed Windows. I just went to Show all History and deleted it. The downloads were deleted too.

Under Tools I have the Clear Recent History which also deletes the downloads. 

What do you mean by History Manager? Like I showed in the pictures above, I have gone to Tools -Options-Privacy-Use Custom Settings for History Clicked on Clear History when Firefox closes-Settings and only checked Browsing History and Cache boxes. Still the downloads were deleted. Is there any other way that I am missing to go to the History manager? So far the only way for the downloads to stay is by going to Tools -Options -Privacy and choosing Firefox will: Remember history

The History Manager is History > Show All History

You can toggle the History sidebar on/off via "View > Sidebars > History" or Ctrl+H

Hi co-rel That was one of the things I did before. Go to History-Show all History. I clicked on Delete and it deleted all of my history but also my downloads. I just did it again right now. I made a download, then deleted the history in the history manager and the download was deleted it with it. I don't know what to else try.