Re: Firefox now saves files that I only wanted to open
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I just learned some good news: Firefox 103 users can switch the case (B) to case (A) using a setting. Could you make this change, turn off the extension(s), and test again? Here's how you can check on that: (A) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click...

Hey guys

Today I got so annyed by firefox’s default behaviour of downloading each and every PDF file to my disk that I went searching for a solution until I had the problem fixed. And it seems like I have finally found it. I have linked the solution but here is the explanation in short:

Firefox determines what kind of file type it is based on the content-type header it receives from the server. Another header is the content-disposition header with which the server specifies how the file should be handled. The two most important options here are attachment and inline.

  • inline is the default if not otherwise specified, and means the browser will handle the file according to the behavior set in the browser settings.
  • attachment means to always download the file

It is therefore possible that some pdf files are downloaded by force and others are handled according to the behavior specified in the settings. To force the latter in any case, you can proceed as follows:

  1. go to about:config
  2. change browser.download.open_pdf_attachments_inline to true

Thank you jscher2000 for the solution!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/9785046

    • @[email protected]
      18•11 months ago

      Because you don’t always want to permanently save to the drive the PDFs you find on the internet, often you just need to skim them and that’s it, just like a webpage

    • @krigo666
      13•11 months ago

      It keeps being downloaded as a regular download to the default download folder, filling up disk space and the file needs to be deleted by explicit command. With the change it’s a temporary download and is erased when cache is purged.

    • @[email protected]English
      7•11 months ago

      PDFs are particularly annoying like that. On one hand most browsers offer to open them in the browser, but on the other hand it’s a “file” rather than a document. Imagine if your browser decided to download all the HTML webpages that you visit to your download folder, instead of the temporary cache. That’s how PDFs are handled.

      To make it more complicated, sometimes you’ll want that and other times you don’t.

      It’s also really annoying in terms of GDPR compliance, because some users gather a lot of PDFs in their download folder without even realising it. I empty my download folder daily, just like the trashcan, just to be sure that I’m not keeping things that I’m not supposed to keep. This is only/mainly due to the browsers handling of the PDF format.

      • @GentriFriedRice
        1•11 months ago

        Excuse my ignorance but what chapter / section of the GDPR deals with end users downloading pdfs?

        • @[email protected]English
          1•11 months ago

          All of it, if the PDF contains personal information. Anything that can identify a person is personal information and can only be kept if the person has constented to you keeping it.

          It does not matter in which format or where. That includes files in your download or trash can folders.

          • @GentriFriedRice
            2•11 months ago

            Respectfully, that’s not true. GDPR Article 2(2)©:

            1. This Regulation does not apply to the processing of personal data: © by a natural person in the course of a purely personal or household activity;