Firefox should remember the last download folder used (browser.download.lastDir)

[Leofirefoxy]

Firefox no longer reopens the last folder used in the Save As dialog.   Tested on multiple Windows 11 computers with a clean Firefox profile.   Configuration: browser.download.folderList = 2 browser.download.useDownloadDir = false   browser.download.lastDir is updated correctly with the last folder used, but the Save As dialog always opens the Downloads folder instead of the last used folder.   This significantly affects workflows involving large numbers of downloaded documents

[DanailYanev]

Exactly the same problem here. The same settings as above on Win 10.

It's very frustrating when you have to manually find the desired folder each time you save a file. 

[dftf]

Go to Menu > Settings > Downloads

On that page do you have:
- "Ask where to save files before downloading" ticked?
- "Ask to open or save files" ticked (at the bottom, below "What should Firefox do with other files?")

[ferrettony]

I'm also experiencing the same issue ever since updating to Firefox 157, when I save a file to a destined location, the "Open" dialog opens to the destined location a file was saved to when it shouldn't be the case. It does this every time until I relaunch the browser.

I'm on Windows 11 and never had this issue with previous Firefox versions, guessing they must've messed up how the file pickers work. Hoping they fix this in the next patch.

[dftf]

If you go to Menu > Settings > Downloads , on that page do you have:
- "Ask where to save files before downloading" enabled?
- "Ask to open or save files" at the bottom (below "What should Firefox do with other files?")

[ferrettony]

I only have "Ask where to save files before downloading" enabled but that's besides it, I only started running into this issue recently after updating since I never had this happen on previous Firefox versions.

Also speaking of the "Open" dialog, it appears it opens the same folder the file was last opened/uploaded from rather than specific separate folders a file was uploaded from per-site. There goes nothing I guess.

[dftf]

I've just gone to a website with images on.

Right-clicked and done "Save Image As..." and it opened my Downloads folder.

I went into a different folder and saved the image.

I then scrolled down to a different image and did "Save Image As..." on that one, and it opened to the same folder I chose a moment ago.  Seems working to me.

Is this only happening on particular sites or types of files?

[Leofirefoxy]

Thank you for your input. However, working with images is not the same as working with documents.

For example, you have to open a document attached to an email in order to understand its nature and then choose the folder where you want to save it. But in that same email there may be 32 attachments related to the initial document. Imagine having to manually select the destination folder 32 separate times for each file.

That is how it works now. Previously, it was not like that. You only had to choose the folder when saving the first document, and after that you did not have to worry about it anymore because you could download all the remaining files at the same time to the same location.

I have been using Firefox as my primary browser for years, and this is the first time I am seriously considering stopping using it. It is unfortunate, but that is how it has to be.

[TreyC]

Same for me on Windows 10. This behavior has just started. Using Firefox/Netscape since 1994. My use case is saving PDF documents from my bank. I need to save one doc per month.  Each PDF opens in a new tab then for download the dialog box always now starts in the "Downloads" dir rather than the last dir (as it always did before). Every download requires me to select the directory where I really want to store these docs.

[dftf]

Hmm, if the PDF is being previewed in Firefox first, then you save it from that screen, maybe the update has caused an issue in that area. 🤔

As a workaround, if you bank site has a "click here to download PDF" type option (some sort of link you click on, which then opens the PDF), try right-clicking it instead and look for "Save file as...", and save it that way without opening it first.

[dftf]

Assuming we are talking Firefox (you're not meaning Thunderbird, are you -- you are using a web-based e-mail in the Firefox browser), then two suggestions:

1. Menu -> Settings -> Downloads
Under "Files and applications" has a particular file-type (e.g. .DOCX or .XLSX) you're having an issue with changed to "Always ask" instead of "Save file"?  If so, it would ask where to save every file in a download.  You could also change "What should Firefox do with other files?" to "Automatically save files"

2. In most e-mail apps or web-based clients now, when there are multiple attachments there is usually a "download all as ZIP" option.  Maybe that might help, rather than selecting all files, then doing a save?

[johp]

Happens for me to, Firefox version 157.0 on Ubuntu Linux.

Happens every time I preview a PDF in Firefox and then decide I want to save it: despite my last file being saved to some other directory, the file picker always shows the "Downloads"  directory. 

I have "Ask where to save files before downloading"  checked in the Settings and I have browser.download.lastDir.savePerSite set to false (because I hate the way how Firefox decides to choose the download directory-- the site is not important, the file type is). 

This worked before, but this now broken behaviour is extremely annoying!

[Mars4i]

I have a similar issue with firefox 157. The upload folder is always the last used download folder. 

I use a site that identifies and stores insect observations. Since version 157, the upload folder is always the last used download folder in Firefox. As a workaround I save something to my folder with photo's, before starting with uploading photo's.

Tried different suggestions from the internet, also suggested here. but none of them work. 

[bdouglass]

I'm posting here because my issue, although different, is similar enough that it is perhaps related:

I frequently both save/download from Firefox as well as using the file select field in web browser forms to upload files.

Previously, Firefox would separately remember the last used save/download and file select/upload folder, even if different, while I frequently switching between upload and download, which was extremely convenient for my work.

2-3 updates ago, the behavior changed: the program still always remembers the save/download folder. And as long as I'm using file select to upload (uninterrupted by any saves/downloads), the program will remember the separate file select/upload folder. However, if I file select/upload, then save/download, the next time I use the file select/upload, the remembered file select/upload folder will have reverted/reset to the remembered save/download folder, requiring me to navigate back to my preferred file select/upload folder.

The behavior is consistent, repeatable, and inconveniently different from Firefox's previous behavior.

I am running Firefox 157.0.1 64 bit on Windows 10.0.19045 64 bit

[Leofirefoxy]

It's a completely a headache.

[bdouglass]

Additional note: I have 'Ask where to save files before download' checked in the Firefox preferences.