How can I make Firefox always ask to download mp4/m4v/mov/webm/etc video files?
Using Firefox 65, I'm trying to get back a basic functionality I've had for years (prior to Quantum). I have a link to an .m4v video file that I need to download (I don't ever want links directly to m4v, mp4, mov, etc playing in the browser, I need to download these files to my computer). Whenever I click the link, it automatically opens up a blank page and starts playing the video. Nothing I do will give me the 'Ask what to do' prompt. How can I fix this? Things I've tried: Changing the default action to 'Mpeg-4 movie' under Options/Applications to 'Always Ask'. Even if the link is an mp4, it still plays it in the browser. Manually added an entry for .m4v by editing handlers.json, and setting it to 'Always ask'. Still plays in the browser. Set both Mpeg-4 Movie and the manual m4v entry to 'Save File'. Still plays in the browser. Tried doing a 'Save As' while it was playing to just save my file, but Firefox then tries to save the file as 'FileName.m4v.mp4' instead of just 'FileName.m4v'. I'm not sure if it's actually re-wrapping the file into another container, or just arbitrarily adding an extra extension to the filename, but I need it to, by default, save as the file name that is used on the server... (If it's just renaming the file, I can live with this one bug if I can make the rest of the functionality work.)
Can anyone offer any tips on this? Can anyone explain an easier way to manually add an extension into the Application section?
Here's a test page: http://camendesign.com/code/video_for_everybody/test.html Underneath the thumbnail image/embedded video there direct links to an mp4, ogg video and WebM video. The action I want, when I click on any one of those, is for Firefox to prompt me with a download location to save the file to (the usual 'Always Ask' dialog box). NOTHING should attempt to play in the web browser itself. I've been able to do this with every version of Firefox 'pre-Quantum', but I just can't make the latest version do it...
(Another work-around that may seem obvious is to right-click the file name and click 'Save Link As'. While this works on the sample page, it doesn't work on the pages I have to download these videos from... It's a scripted button that sends back the link to the file when clicked on.)
Valitud lahendus
You can set this pref to false on the about:config page to prevent Firefox from playing media files via the HTML5 media player.
- media.play-stand-alone = false
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.
Loe vastust kontekstis 👍 1All Replies (12)
That rabbit sure got angry.
I noticed that there are links under the player window.
I Right-Clicked on the Bunny video itself and there's a 'Save Video As' option.
~Pj
Pj said
I Right-Clicked on the Bunny video itself and there's a 'Save Video As' option.
Yep, but that does not answer my question. I'm not trying to find alternative ways of saving a video, I'm trying to get Firefox to work like it's supposed to (and used to). The videos I need to download I can't right-click on, they are buttons I have to 'normal-click' on, then I get the download prompt, but the functionality is the same as if you clicked the 'MP4' link under the video in the sample link. Only now, since the 'Always Ask' functionality is broken, I never get the download prompt, it just starts playing.
If there's some way to make clicking on the MP4 link give me an 'Always Ask' style dialog so I can chose download instead of play, that will fix my problem. That's why I provided that link to test so others can see the problem I'm having.
I have Firefox set to 'Always Ask' for .MP4 files, and it ignores that setting and plays the video anyway.
FredMcD said
That rabbit sure got angry. I noticed that there are links under the player window.
Yes, those are exactly the links I referenced in my original post. I want to be able to click (normal click, not right-click) on any one of those links, and immediately have Firefox ask what to do with the file. That way I can chose 'save file' and just download it directly to my computer.
Right now, even though I have .MP4 files set to 'Always Ask', Firefox ignores that setting and just starts playing the video... I'm curious if anyone has (or can) find a setting to fix that.
Muudetud rik1138 poolt
Is this a specific behavior solely for Firefox to perform or do you want it to be the same across all browsers for the user experience?
Browsers in general are producing a seamless experience by enabling video display direct in the View so that there is less downloading and swapping of technology to render the video. With so many video playing apps in the market, it just makes the experience more fluid and easier to manager by having the web browser handle it.
If you are wanting to force the download of the files you can do this from the server side by adding something like (for e.g. an Apache server) adding an .htaccess file with:
AddType application/octet-stream .m4v
Lee S said
Is this a specific behavior solely for Firefox to perform or do you want it to be the same across all browsers for the user experience? Browsers in general are producing a seamless experience by enabling video display direct in the View so that there is less downloading and swapping of technology to render the video. With so many video playing apps in the market, it just makes the experience more fluid and easier to manager by having the web browser handle it. If you are wanting to force the download of the files you can do this from the server side by adding something like (for e.g. an Apache server) adding an .htaccess file with: AddType application/octet-stream .m4v
Well, I only use Firefox, so I'd be fine if it's specific to Firefox... I'm trying to download from someone else's server, so have no access to the settings on it. (In this case, I am the user... :) ) And, in general, I'd want this functionality to work from any server with a direct link to a file... (And, in many cases, I can just do the right-click thing, but sometimes I forget, and on one server I don't have that option, so it's actually more 'seamless' for me to never have the browser try to play video from direct links.)
I understand the dumbing-down of browsers for the average masses, but then why have a setting that I can manually change, specifically for files with an .mp4 extension where I can state 'Always Ask what do with this' and then completely ignore that setting? (Keeping in mind, this setting worked PERFECTLY on all versions of Firefox prior to Quantum.) I'm not trying to PLAY the video file, I need to download it so I can put in Final Cut, burn to a disc, play on a hardware player, etc... That's the reason I have direct links to the files themselves, vs embedded player links or something.
Have you tried changing the Download Actions on the browser?
Valitud lahendus
You can set this pref to false on the about:config page to prevent Firefox from playing media files via the HTML5 media player.
- media.play-stand-alone = false
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.
rik1138 said
I'm not trying to find alternative ways of saving a video, I'm trying to get Firefox to work like it's supposed to (and used to).
The videos I need to download I can't right-click on, they are buttons I have to 'normal-click' on, then I get the download prompt, but the functionality is the same as if you clicked the 'MP4' link under the video in the sample link.
Only now, since the 'Always Ask' functionality is broken, I never get the download prompt, it just starts playing.
If there's some way to make clicking on the MP4 link give me an 'Always Ask' style dialog so I can chose download instead of play, that will fix my problem.
That's why I provided that link to test so others can see the problem I'm having.
I have Firefox set to 'Always Ask' for .MP4 files, and it ignores that setting and plays the video anyway.
So, where's a link to one of these sites you've noted?
Also, it may that some of these sites may not want downloading available. They will make it difficult if not outright impossible to download a video.
Some video/audio links don't end with 'MP4' or 'MP3'. I gotta dance through hoops to get some Twitter videos to download. I can't do a simple 'Right-Click' 'Save Video As'.
You didn't find an Extension that provides 'downloading' of videos? A 'screen' recorder to capture videos?
~Pj
Lee S said
Have you tried changing the Download Actions on the browser? http://mzl.la/1xKrLAq
Yes, as mentioned above, setting it to Always Ask does nothing... But solution provided below...
Muudetud rik1138 poolt
cor-el said
You can set this pref to false on the about:config page to prevent Firefox from playing media files via the HTML5 media player.You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.
- media.play-stand-alone = false
Ahhhh, THANK YOU! This is what is over-riding the preferences set under Options/Applications... Turning this to False prevents the auto play of the videos and gives me the 'Always Ask' dialog.
Thanks again! I was hoping it was just some simple setting I couldn't find...
Pj said
So, where's a link to one of these sites you've noted?
Also, it may that some of these sites may not want downloading available. They will make it difficult if not outright impossible to download a video.
Some video/audio links don't end with 'MP4' or 'MP3'. I gotta dance through hoops to get some Twitter videos to download. I can't do a simple 'Right-Click' 'Save Video As'.
You didn't find an Extension that provides 'downloading' of videos? A 'screen' recorder to capture videos? ~Pj
The sites are password protected (studio content) so I wouldn't be able to share them if I wanted to. That's why I used the Bunny link, if it works there, it will work on the password protected sites. I'm not trying to download videos that people don't want downloaded (like YouTube, etc...), these are links directly to files for the purpose of downloading for local work. That's why I don't want them to ever play, but just download... I was just trying to get back the old functionality, which cor-el figured out for me. It was just a hard thing to search for because all the Google provided results were for people that were having problems getting the videos to play, where mine was the opposite... :)