Automatically Clear Download History In Firefox
One thing that annoys me about Firefox is when the Download window pops up showing me all of the past downloads. I am sure this feature may come in handy for some and must be an appreciated feature as it allows you to search them, but I typically remember what I download, when I downloaded it, and why I downloaded it. So, for me it is more of a nuisance than a privacy concern. However, if you have a shared computer or laptop, privacy and security may very well be the main concern. Either way, changing a couple settings can certainly help.
Open Firefox and click on Tools \ Options and then the Privacy tab. Under Private Data check the box “Always clear my private data….” and uncheck “Ask me before clearing …” then click on the Setting button.
In the Clear Private Data box check “Download History” and any other download add-on you might have which appears. For instance you can see I have Download Them All enabled, now click OK.
Finally while still in Options, click on the Main tab and under Downloads, uncheck “Show the Downloads window …” and click OK to get out of options and accept all the changes.
Viola! Now you will not see the Download box pop up and every time you close out of Firefox all download history is cleared.
As I previously mentioned, I came up with this post as a means to rid what I consider an annoyance. On the other hand, this is also a great privacy and security tip.
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another annoying popup with firefox downloads is the box that says "download complete" that shows up in the corner and hangs there
@ 0zSpitt
you can remove this message by doing this:
Tools> Options> Downloads
Uncheck the " Show the Download window while downloads a fie"
Why not just use the Download Statusbar? Downloads in the same window in a neat little bar at the bottom and automatically clears history.
I also use the Download Statusbar. Very good add-on!
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/26
Thanks a bunch! I thought I had somehow installed firefox2 wrong and it's been really annoying everytime the past downloads show up, especially on this old laptop.
Thanks again!
The easiest way is just to uncheck the "Remember what I've downloaded" checkbox at the top of the Privacy tab
Thanks Dave. reverse is the situation I have before. i want to retain all of my downloads in the download manager, but it always cleared-up. i have now the handy option in opening my downloaded files especially youtube flv files.
In OSX, it can be even more elegant. For me, it is a privacy concern, I don't want people seeing my downloading or browsing history, no matter how innocent it may be. However, keeping some history is nice. I set up what this post suggests, only checking many more of the boxes. When you only close your Firefox window, no history is erased, everything is maintained. Only by doing an Apple+Q, or quitting the application entirely does everything get cleared. When it's just me working on my machine all day, I'll just close the window when I'm finished. When I'll be away from the machine for a bit, or just feel like clearning my history, a quick apple+Q closes Firefox entirely, and everything is clear.
Unlike the PC, it's nice to make the easy choice what I want.