Forum Discussion
Provide run / open / save / save as options when downloading files - Discussion
Hello everyone and thanks for your significant interest in our feedback item of “Provide run / open / save as options when downloading files”. This has been a very interesting problem to think through. The downloads team would love your thoughts on whether we have identified the main customer needs such a feature would need to address.
We believe that there are three main things being asked for:
- You would like a way to open a file without having to keep it on your computer so that your downloads folder remains “clean” (eg. You want to view your bank statement, but want it deleted after you are finished looking at it)
- You would like a way to choose the filename and location to save the downloaded file so that you can better organize your downloads (eg. You download a family photo IMG_1502.jpg and want to rename it to Reunion2019.jpg and save it in your Photos folder)
- You still want a light-weight downloads process that does not require many clicks (eg. User wants to download multiple photos in succession and move them in bulk afterwards without having to click “Save” each time). This is what our downloads flow currently addresses; one click to download.
- You would like a way to easily switch between (1), (2), and (3) for different files you are downloading; one size does not fit all (eg. For bank statements, you want to just open it, and have it deleted afterwards. But for family photos, you want to be able to rename and save to a specific location).
Do you think we are thinking in the right direction? We are still exploring possible solutions to this problem and any additional feedback is most welcome!
Hello everyone,
Thanks so much for all the feedback provided regarding Open/SaveAs. We are now introducing an option for users using Edge version 87.0.629.0 and above to choose, for each download, whether they want to Open, Save As, Save, or Cancel a download. To enable this option, navigate to edge://settings/downloads and enable, "Ask me what to do with each download." Once you download a file after enabling that setting, you will have the option to Open, Save As, Save, or Cancel it. If you choose to open it directly, it will be downloaded to a temporary folder.
Additionally, we have exposed an option to directly delete downloaded files from your computer, in the browser so that you can easily clean up after downloading your files without leaving the browser.
To learn more about these features, please check out our post.
216 Replies
That message is nice to see when you are downloading a file from the internet. It is very convenient so you can choose where a file is being saved, and it also allows you to see where it is going, and allows you to decide what to do with it. That was a really handy feature that I really liked in the new Edge. It really is just handy and useful, I can't really explain why, but I would definitely appreciate to see it in the new Edge.
Hey everyone, thanks so much for your interest in this feature and for all your feedback and ideas. We appreciate your patience while we work through improvements to the downloads experience. It is super exciting that many of you are so passionate about the experience and it’s been a pleasure reading through the thoughtful and constructive solutions proposed by this community.
We are still working to plan and implement improvements to the downloads experience. Our goal is to better support all of our customers, no matter which browsers they’ve previously used and are most familiar with. We hope to roll out some improvements for you to try in the Canary channel soon.
I just wanted to let you know that we are super appreciative of the interest and patience as we work to improve this feature for all of our customers.
i-am-kent Elliot Kirk Looking forward to hearing your update when it's ready. I personally would prefer you to take whatever time is necessary simplifying the Chromium backend first, so that Edge can more easily implement the minimum features requested in this thread but then still be easily able to add all other requested features as well (especially the admin previously noting certain requirements for configuration in Group Policies -- I bet that needs really significant changes to the backend).
The Vivaldi moderator at https://forum.vivaldi.net/post/362500 said Chromium's downloader implementation and file path determination is very complex, and any changes need careful scrutiny to avoid opening security vulnerabilities.
My assumption is that the Edge developers are aware of these same limitations and are looking into it just like the Vivaldi devs are. It would be great if y'all could work together to contribute the necessary improvements to the Chromium codebase, instead of duplicating each other's work.
This all sounds like a ton of work to me -- thank you to everyone working so hard on this to listen to users and support their unique needs, rather than just making a Chrome clone and calling it a day.
- Hi all.. So I've had two customers today say they can't move from old Edge or google chrome to edge Chromium because the additional check to confirm the running of a potentially harmful file (exe etc) doesn't happen in edge Chromium..
This is a requirement currently for cyber essentials plus certification...
RobQuickenden wrote:
Hi all.. So I've had two customers today say they can't move from old Edge or google chrome to edge Chromium because the additional check to confirm the running of a potentially harmful file (exe etc) doesn't happen in edge Chromium..
This is a requirement currently for cyber essentials plus certification...Edge does scan downloaded files.
- Scans yes.. But it doesn't prompt the user "are you sure you wish to open/run" which is a requirement for cyber essentials... Edge old and Google chrome do...
The save or open dialog used in Legacy Edge & IE is perfectly fine and should be ported to Edge.
Another issue I have with the current experience is the standard chromium bottom downloads bar. I'd much rather have the Shelf UI from Legacy Edge that combines history, bookmarks & downloads. If not the whole shelf experience then for downloads there should be something mimicking the Legace Edge sidebar or at least do it the Firefox way as a drop down menu.
- Please just add the options Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox have from the beginning and for so many years. All serious users want to quickly view files without cluttering their downloads folders.
slazaris wrote: "Please just add the options Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox have from the beginning and for so many years. All serious users want to quickly view files without cluttering their downloads folders."
Yes for IE and reasoning (avoid cluttering download with files we don't want to save), but I don't believe Firefox fully offers the requested feature here. There is no Run option in Firefox that I've ever seen. Only IE and Legacy Edge supported this important feature.
- Spoiler
GraniteStateColin wrote:slazaris wrote: "Please just add the options Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox have from the beginning and for so many years. All serious users want to quickly view files without cluttering their downloads folders."
Yes for IE and reasoning (avoid cluttering download with files we don't want to save), but I don't believe Firefox fully offers the requested feature here. There is no Run option in Firefox that I've ever seen. Only IE and Legacy Edge supported this important feature.
I use Firefox as my main browser,
when I download something, the downloads icon appears on the toolbar and clicking on the file runs it.
before download however it gives me these options
- if I choose open, it saves it in a temporary directory (Temp folder) and opens it right away after download.
- the file will be still visible on the download button on Firefox toolbar, even after opening it, so I can reopen it/Run it again for some time.
- the file won't go to the downloads folder and gets deleted after some times, If i choose to only view/open/run it.
- If i choose download, it goes to the main Downloads folder in OS.
- Download button is smart, it doesn't always stay on toolbar to occupy unneeded space, only appears when something is actually download.
so Firefox download logic is superior to chrome and Edge
Elliot Kirk Something just occurred to me. So I'm downloading word docs for the quarantine schoolwork. I clicked the bottom banner to open it and it opened in the app. It would be nice if there was an option to open it in word online.
This is the way it currently is, and if it doesn't change to the pop-up found in legacy edge, then you could add an option in these 3 dots:
If they do decide add the pop up, they could change it to something like this(and pardon my Paint 3D photoshops):
Apologies for the late response. I believe that you are heading in the right direction, especially with numbers 1 and 3. What I believe that most of us want is the option to choose what to do with each file before we download it, instead of being forced to have a File Explorer window prompt us where to save the file each time, or just have it saved it to the default downloads folder. The open/run options are definitely necessary, as almost all of the files I download I will just be deleting after viewing them. The system old Edge used was great, and I am glad that you are looking into changing the downloads system from the Chrome style that I find so annoying. I actually created another discussion about this before I realized that this one was here, sorry. Here is the link: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/discussions/download-method-suggestions/m-p/1235825
The download method is pretty much the only thing that I dislike about the new Edge, everything else it great. Thanks for listening to all of out feedback.
Hi Elliot! Why is it so difuclut, to implemnet the feature, to open a file with only one click in the standard program (eg jpg png in photos, docx in Word, ...), without download, without "open file", without the "three dots ..."? When we can expect this feature? I am not alone with this whish.
- Spoiler
Johannes66 wrote:Hi Elliot! Why is it so difuclut, to implemnet the feature, to open a file with only one click in the standard program (eg jpg png in photos, docx in Word, ...), without download, without "open file", without the "three dots ..."? When we can expect this feature? I am not alone with this whish.
it can't happen "without download". browser always downloads the file somewhere on your local computer. be it in main download folder or the temp folder, but still downloading is necessary for installed programs to be able to open the file.
even when you watch a YouTube video, you're actually downloading the video files on your computer, in a cache folder.
but yeah I get your point, you want something that Edge classic and Firefox has, to be able to download files in a temp folder, view them quickly and don't worry about finding and deleting them manually later.
well This conversation is a dead end.
We discussing a feature that MS support on ALL their other browsers, but they are not even consider implementing anything like it on Chromium EDGE.
I don't think anything will happen on this case in next couple of year, if at all.
Johannes66 agreed.
Elliot Kirk, this is a near daily pain point for me. Now that I've replaced Edge with Chromium Edge, I find I go to IE just for this feature. Here's another place where the current method is just a brutal UX: I receive emails in Outlook (the Office Application, not the web site) with links to PDF files. I want to click on the link and look at the PDF file so I can decide what to do with it or if I can just trash the email. If I click on that link with the new Chromium Edge, it pops up a Save dialog box. Grrrr! WTF!?!? I just want to look at the PDF, not save it, then open the folder than contains it (necessary so I can get back there later to delete it), then open it, then delete, etc.
That whole process is so painful, I find that I instead right click on the link in the email, copy it, open IE, then paste it in there so I can view the PDF without having to save and manage the file. That may look like as many steps, but they are MUCH faster. Having to save and delete a file is a much more painful process.
And this is not limited to PDFs. Same thing with voice mail messages as MP3 links or certain kinds of images. Just give us the Open/Run option already! As others have said, the way it worked in old Edge (and IE) is fine. Rather than endless debate on this, at least give us that. If you want to tinker with it after that, fine. I don't deny that it could be further improved, but get us something now to end the pain, rather than holding off for the "perfect solution."
the usefulness of having just a popup (like IE) as a download window, would also avoid the consumption of resources (compared to IE always)
That's a lot just for 1 download 🙂
Legacy Edge works perfectly for me.
I'm a developer and spend a lot of time downloading docs that I only want to view once - when using chrome or new edge my downloads folder rapidly gets cluttered and I then can't find the things I want to keep.
Lots of other files I only want to view once, e.g. Newsletters from son's school (docx for some reason) or run once (installers) and most of the rest, I just want to save to downloads. One extra click in these cases is well worth it to be able to find it without all the clutter chrome gives me.
Occasionally, it's really nice to just put a file where I need it rather than save to downloads, open downloads, select file, cut, navigate to folder I want it in, paste, close explorer.
Also I really HATE the chrome ui where it takes up a big chunk of my screen space with that ugly bar. Old Edge's overlay was much more elegant.
The use case of downloading lots of files that I want to keep just doesn't ever happen for me. The services where I do this all zip the files for me. If they didn't, I just wouldn't use them. The problem the default ui in chrome is trying to solve is irrelevant to me, which is whyi like the option in classic edge to switch to a better mode.
- This should be done as a cooperation between Windows and Edge team:
Windows 10 should have a global download section that handles all downloads from all applications including browsers.
this has lots of advantages, probably the biggest one is that the downloads can run without the need for browser to stay open.
