Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Automatic Download

more options

Firefox will not automatically open downloaded files even though I checked the box labeled "Do this automatically for files like this from now on." I am running the latest version of Firefox on Windows XP SP3.

Firefox will not automatically open downloaded files even though I checked the box labeled "Do this automatically for files like this from now on." I am running the latest version of Firefox on Windows XP SP3.

All Replies (1)

more options

When Firefox displays the Open/Save/Cancel dialog for these problem downloads, does it indicate that it recognizes and understands the type of file it is? You can tell because the dialog will state the type of file and show a logical application to handle it. (Examples attached.)

Most web servers send a specific content type that Firefox can find on its list of file handlers here:

orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Applications

However, some servers only indicate that the file is a generic binary file, and Firefox doesn't actually save your instructions for that kind of file because the next time, it could be something completely different.

That said, it's also possible for the settings file to simply become corrupted. You may need to reset those download handler preferences back to their defaults. Here's how.

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using

Help > Troubleshooting Information > "Show Folder" button

Switch back to Firefox and Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename mimeTypes.rdf to something like mimeTypes.old (or you could delete the file).

Restart Firefox. Hopefully now your download handler preferences will be remembered.

Diubah oleh jscher2000 - Support Volunteer