Quick Tip: Change Firefox Download File Location

I prefer files being download directly to the desktop, but a lot of other people would prefer to download into a downloads folder, or a directory inside their Documents directory.

Changing this option is extremely easy. Just open Tools \ Options, and you should see the Downloads section right on the very first screen.

Click the Browse button to select a new folder. You can also choose to have Firefox always ask you where to save the files, and you can turn off the “Downloads” window (which always annoys the crap out of me, so it’s an instant disable on every Firefox install)

This article is just one in a series covering how to use Firefox. I’m assuming it’s a no-brainer for most of the geeks out there, but I want to create a good central repository of Firefox tips, so simple articles like this are a must.

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This article was originally written on 04/13/07 Tagged with: Firefox, Firefox & Web

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Comments (16)

1. July 23, 2008 4:32 pm
   MaxTheJester

   Thanks for this. I frequently download open source programs to try out, and it keeps cluttering up my desktop.

2. August 11, 2008 5:59 pm
   Jason

   Random question: do you know how to instruct Firefox where to download files from a particular site? Like you, I download all my files to my desktop, however, there is one site from which I download Excel spreadsheets that I’d like to automatically download to a specific folder.

   Rather than have Firefox prompt me to choose the download location manually, is there a way to set up site-specific download locations?

3. September 19, 2008 2:48 am
   birre

   Hi all.
   I sit here and read all the tips just for fun, but will make attention to the url about:config where you
   can see all the settings of your firefox browser.
   It has also a filter line where you can type for example download to select only settings about that.
   To change the settings for browser.download.dir or browser.download.lastDir , just double click on
   the line and type in a new value.

4. October 21, 2008 7:33 am
   Love it

   Thanks its a real help. no more file transfering.

5. February 25, 2009 7:40 am
   J

   Hey, thanks for the tip, this used to work on XP but now I’m using Vista (not out of choice) and I can’t seem to get firefox to download onto my desktop. Instead, it’s saving to a Temp folder. I think it’s Vista doing it.

6. March 11, 2009 5:03 am
   priya

   Quick and easy tip…thank you

7. March 30, 2009 10:42 am
   Baltezers

   Hi. I want to know, where to change my settings, if i don’t want to save file, but open with…, for ex., qtorrent or media player.

8. April 25, 2009 11:50 pm
   Saket

   Hey,
   Ok while i was downloading torrents i changed the settings. I clicked on save the file and automatically perform this action. Now when even i download a torrent it automatically downloads that torrent and saves it. But doesn’t open it. So i want to change the settings from save the file in a location to open it with utorrent.

9. May 5, 2009 3:05 pm
   Dhanu

   Hey,
   Thank you it is really useful!!

10. May 5, 2009 3:10 pm
    Dhanu

    Hi,
    Installed firefox on Linux and didn’t find ‘options’ in ‘toos’. By default files are downloading to root ‘/’ where the space is an issure in my case. Could you please suggest me the procedur to chage dowload destination. — Thank you.

11. June 4, 2009 10:00 am
    Deanna

    Hi,

    Yesterday in preparation to purchase a new product, I was directed to “clear my cookies” on Firefox so the promoter would be assured of getting the commission. As a newbie, I didn’t realize that by doing so, it would clear my ‘downloads’ directory, which I rely on to access my other downloads. Although I know that the downloads have gone to either My Documents of the Desktop, I have not kept a list elsewhere and rely on the downloads directory to access all my other stuff.

    Is there a way to recover/retrieve the downloads directory? I have restored my computer to the day before, but the downloads directory is still blank. I am devastated and lost without access to the directory. Can you help?

    Thanks for your input.

    Deanna Patten

12. June 24, 2009 4:49 pm
    Tony Patriarche

    Excellent. I never liked the download box much, and it’s a positive nuisance when updating a web site as it puts yet another cache in thew ay of getting the updated content. And since installing a download helper add-on it is always empty anyway! All my downloads go to my download folder, whence I move
    them to categorized subdir’s once they are installed & I have decided to keep them (which has saved by bacon several times after a crash or when I am setting up anoter computer).
    TP

13. July 17, 2009 4:31 am
    dev_info

    Hi,
    With installed firefox on Linux, you can find the ‘options’ under Edit/preferences.

    Thanks

14. August 3, 2009 1:11 pm
    Smedge

    Great tip and written in plain language with a screenshot. It took less time to change where my downloads go than it took to leave this comment.

15. September 11, 2009 7:20 am
    Jack Yan

    This was helpful, thank you. Saved me poking around the menus.

16. October 10, 2009 2:42 am
    john

    thx so much My desktop is just full of downloads.