Any way to get "old school" downloads?
I have used Firefox for years, Mozilla before that. Back in the day when you started a download it would pop up a download window that you could move or minimize and then you could close the browser and the download would continue.
Ever since the download manager has come along, this behavior has disappeared and frankly, it's extremely annoying. I don't want downloads to load the download manager need a download manager, I don't need to see a list of every file I've ever downloaded. I don't want the browser to prompt me when I close it if I want to continue downloading. All I need is the nice little progress bar for the download that is currently running and I want to be able to close the browser window without cancelling the download progress, pretty much how it worked in version 1.0 was simple download perfection.
This "classic" interface was simple and useful. Sure download managers have their uses, but we should not be forced to use them. If the manager can't be turned off, does anybody know of a plugin that restores classic style behavior?
All Replies (16)
The download dialogs changed many months ago, in Firefox 20, as described in this support article: Where to find and manage downloaded files in Firefox.
Temporarily, you can switch back to the old "Download Manager" dialog (the separate dialog that isn't integrated into the toolbar through the arrow icon). This thread has the setting for that: Got new version, want to go back to previous download box.
I say "temporarily" because I read in another thread that this legacy dialog has been removed in Firefox 26 (current beta) so after that you would need an add-on to launch a separate download window.
I appreciate the effort and the timely response, but unfortunately it doesn't really completely address my gripe.
The old download manager is still a download manager. It still shows all of my downloads past and present, all grouped together and annoying like.
Call me crazy but I liked "netscape" style or even "ie" style downloads. Every download was it' own little window that popped up when the download started and had the option to close or not when the download was finished.
I liked that for the same reason I to this day find extremely limited use for browser tabs. I know most people love them but I can't stand them. I like each browser window as it's own taskbar slot. In this way I can toggle from any other application directly to the browser window I want without having to first click the browser then hunt for the right tab. It may seem trivial but it is a matter of efficiency for me. Likewise I like to be able to click the big red x in the corner and close what I'm looking at without having to hunt for the button to close the correct tab, or have the browser pop up an ask me if I intended to close every tab.
I guess that's the end of my little rant. I know most people won't agree or will laugh and call me old school, whatever. That's fine, everybody has an opinion. In my mind, however, new features should be optional, not forced down our throat.
I don't know of a way to create a separate progress dialog for every download. Possibly there is an add-on for that.
It sounds as though you probably are successful in avoiding tabs, so you aren't looking for a workaround for any particular unwanted tab-related behavior.
The default is to pause a download and resume the download automatically the next time.
You can set the browser.download.manager.quitBehavior pref to 2 on the about:config page.
That will make Firefox ask for confirmation if you want to cancel the download when you close Firefox.
See also:
Just downloaded and installed the final version of Firefox 26. It is now impossible to the restore the old download manager window. Setting browser.download.useToolkitUI in about:config to either true or false makes no difference. Until someone writes an add-on to fix this, we are now stuck with Mozilla's animated green ghost answer to Clippy, The Microsoft Office Assistant every time we download anything and the ability to monitor downloads in a small separate window has evaporated. Firefox is wonderful but removing the option for a User to change this is most certainly not. Shame on you, Mozilla. For me, for all of us teachers and our students here at this school, it is avoid Firefox 26 and go back to Firefox 25.0.1 until a solution is found.
Modified by LisaLovesFirefox
You can set the browser.download.manager.quitBehavior pref to 2 on the about:config page.
That will make Firefox ask for confirmation if you want to cancel the download when you close Firefox.
See:
You can click on the down arrow the show downloads open the Library where it will list your downloads including the ones in progress. Not as nice as the old download manager but still a option. You can also go to Tools->Downloads or Ctrl+ShiftY to get the Downloads Library.
Modified by James
How do we get the old download window back?
Hi Guymax, there's no built-in way to restore the dialog. The closest built-in display is the Library dialog ("Show All Downloads" from the green arrow on the toolbar, or on Windows: Ctrl+j).
Add-ons compatible with Firefox 26 are starting to appear, but I haven't seen one that behaves quite the same way yet. If you'd like to search:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/search/?q=download&platform=windows&appver=26.0
https://addons.mozilla.org/pt-br/firefox/addon/download-manager-tweak/ EDIT: Really it doesnt work anymore
Modified by Diego Victor
Hi toddy_victor, the reviews for that extension indicate problems in Firefox 26. Were you able to use it successfully?
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/downloads-window/
There is this new one.
Edit this is the author's only extension and only has three reviews so far so be cautious.
Modified by James
This doesn't work the same. The window pops up separate from the browser but then it goes away when the download is done. It's also fatter within the window and not streamlined like in the old download window.
I wish you "developers" would listen, the pause function is simply broken, and commonly used addons should be worked with so that the new and worsened download manager functions right with them. pause is grayed out, end of story, and an addon i used to restore pause doesn't work either, it merely cancels the the downloads. and whose genius idea was it to limit a user's ability to customize such a major component and to force everyone instead to conform to the developer's personal taste? what idiot hid the speed indicator? this is why chrome is gaining more users: you are not listening.
I wish you "developers" would listen, the pause function is simply broken, and commonly used addons should be worked with so that the new and worsened download manager functions right with them. pause is grayed out, end of story, and an addon i used to restore pause doesn't work either, it merely cancels the the downloads. and whose genius idea was it to limit a user's ability to customize such a major component and to force everyone instead to conform to the developer's personal taste? what idiot hid the speed indicator? this is why chrome is gaining more users: you are not listening.
The download related Extensions that do not work anymore in Firefox 26.0 and newer was made for the old download manager and not the new one that has been the default since Firefox 20.0
Some of these extensions have been updated by the authors so look for updates or somebody else has continued them since often under very similar names.
Also the pause and resume feature works for me. The server however needs to support resume feature.
Modified by James