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my downloads are not appearing in the download folder

  • 3 replies
  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by ideato

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(using mac) My download window--I can click on items that are there and "show in finder" and then they appear in the finder...but otherwise, my downloads folder has no new items in it and even if I search with the right file name, it will not appear.

I recently--the same date that the most recent file is appearing--went from one Mac to the other. No idea what is happening..

(using mac) My download window--I can click on items that are there and "show in finder" and then they appear in the finder...but otherwise, my downloads folder has no new items in it and even if I search with the right file name, it will not appear. I recently--the same date that the most recent file is appearing--went from one Mac to the other. No idea what is happening..

All Replies (3)

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Did you check the settings for the download manager?

  • Firefox > Preferences > Privacy > History: "Remember download history"

You can also see all downloads in the Downloads folder the Library (History > Show All History).


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

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Yes both those elements (the about:config//retention is set to 2, and the "remember download history") are set as you mentioned and it is still not posting downloads in the download folder. But if I go to download window ( commnd-J) I can see what has been downloaded recently and can "view in finder" ---which then shows me the downloads folder with ALL the recent downloads. So I am still confused... Thank you for the help!

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Hi sundaygroup, check also in about:config, the browser.download.folderList still has the (default) value of 1 ?

[When set to 0, Firefox save all files downloaded on user's desktop. Set to 1, downloads are stored in the Downloads folder. Set to 2, the location specified for the most recent download is utilized again.]


thank you