Firefox's download manager is simple on the surface but has some useful features worth knowing, especially for developers who download a lot of packages and files.
Basic Download UI
Click the down-arrow icon in the toolbar (or Ctrl+J) to open the Downloads panel. It shows recent downloads with progress bars, file sizes, and options to open or remove items.
While downloading: A progress indicator appears in the toolbar download button. You can hover to see remaining time and speed.
Where Downloads Go
Default location: Your system's Downloads folder.
Change location: Settings → General → Downloads → choose folder or "Always ask."
Per-download location choice: Enable "Always ask you where to save files." Firefox prompts for each download location, which is useful when you want to save files to project-specific directories.
Keyboard Shortcut
Ctrl+J — Opens the Downloads panel in a sidebar view or jumps to the download page.
From the address bar: You can also type about:downloads for the full downloads list.
Download Continuation and Resuming
Firefox supports resuming interrupted downloads if the server supports HTTP Range requests. If a download was cut off (network drop, browser close), re-initiating it from the same URL will resume from where it stopped — if the server supports it.
Note: This is server-dependent. Most major file hosts (GitHub releases, CDNs) support range requests. Dynamic download links (time-limited signed URLs, API endpoints) may not.
Downloading with "Save As"
Right-click any link → "Save Link As…" to download a file without opening it, and choose the save location and filename immediately.
For images: right-click → "Save Image As…"
Download from Context Menu
Right-click on a page → "Save Page As…" — Saves the full current page (HTML + assets) to disk. Firefox creates a folder with the assets alongside the HTML file.
This isn't a perfect mirror (JavaScript and external resources may not load offline), but it's useful for saving reference documentation for offline reading.
Automating Downloads with yt-dlp and Similar Tools
For advanced download workflows, Firefox pairs well with command-line tools:
yt-dlp (YouTube/video downloads): Firefox cookies can be exported to the format yt-dlp understands via the browser's cookie export.
wget/curl: Copy a link's URL, then use it with wget or curl directly. For authenticated downloads, you'll need to export your cookies.
about:config Settings for Downloads
browser.download.useDownloadDir — Whether to always use the default directory (true) or always ask (false). Overrides the UI setting.
browser.download.dir — The default download directory path.
browser.download.folderList — 0 = Desktop, 1 = system Downloads, 2 = last used folder, or the path in browser.download.dir.
browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone — Whether to scan downloads with the OS antivirus when complete. On Linux, defaults to false. On Windows, passes files to Windows Defender.
browser.download.manager.closeWhenDone — Close download dialog when complete. Default false (keeps panel visible).
Handling File Types
When Firefox encounters a file type it doesn't handle natively, it checks your configured application handlers:
Settings → General → Applications — shows all file types and how Firefox handles them.
You can configure:
- Open with [application] — Opens with specified app
- Save File — Downloads without prompting
- Always ask — Prompts each time
This is useful for PDFs (open in Firefox vs. save vs. open in external viewer) and for formats like .torrent, .ics, etc.
Download Directory Per File Type
Firefox doesn't have native "always save .pdf to /documents/pdfs" routing. Workaround:
- Enable "Always ask" for file location
- Manually choose each time
- Or use a browser extension that adds this capability
Handling Downloads in Private Browsing
Downloads in private windows work normally — the files are saved to disk. Private browsing only affects in-browser history, not files you've saved.
Important: Files downloaded in private mode stay on disk after you close the window. Private mode doesn't auto-delete downloaded files.
The most practical tip here: if you frequently download files to project-specific locations, enabling "Always ask" is faster than navigating from Downloads every time. The per-download save dialog defaults to the last-used location, so after the first save to a project directory, subsequent saves in that session land in the right place.
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