Firefox selectively removing completed downloads?
I have discovered that if I download my Netflix viewing history (it's a file named "NetflixViewingHistory.csv") then while this file, once completed, remains in the download history for the remainder of the session, when I next restart Firefox it has disappeared (from the Firefox downloads history I mean, it remains on my hard drive). This has happened both times I downloaded that file.
Whereas other completed files I have downloaded remain in the downloads history until I manually clear them.
My question is, why would Firefox automatically remove this specific completed download from history, but not others?
A thought that occurred to me is that maybe Firefox auto-clears completed downloads if it detects that the download page / link is no longer accessible? (And maybe Netflix is creating this file in a temporary location that disappears once the user has downloaded it, unlike a more traditional download where the url path to the download is a perma-link?)
Or is this just an old-fashioned bug and Firefox should not be selectively auto-clearing any specific completed downloads at all? They should all persist until manually cleared? Thanks.
All Replies (4)
Two thoughts:
(1) Privacy Settings
Firefox history and download history are linked, so this could happen if you have Firefox set to delete history when it closes. Or if you downloaded the file in a private window (private windows have temporary history only.)
(2) Windows TEMP folder
If you choose Open rather than Save in a download dialog, Firefox uses the the Windows TEMP folder for the file, and Windows can remove those at any time. But even if a file is physically deleted, the download history entry should remain, it just wouldn't work. Also, you said the file remained, so this probably is not the issue.
No Private Windows, all downloads saved not opened, all going into the same folder (and not the system temp folder). Yet that one CSV file disappears from the downloads history when I check next session, while others remain there until I manually remove them. Sounds as if this is not expected behaviour?
I don't expect it! But I don't download a lot of CSV files. Maybe there is something unusual about those.
Start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or userChrome.css is causing the problem.
- switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
- do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Troubleshoot Mode start window