Bypass Forced Download

Remove "Content-Disposition: attachment"

Bypass Forced Download: Firefox Add-On to Halt Forced Downloads

'Bypass Forced Download' is a user-friendly Firefox add-on. It prevents websites from imposing downloads on users, instead allowing Firefox to handle files how it typically would - by directly accessing the content or opening it in another program. Optional settings allow for selective action based on website domains.

Add-on stats

By: Lukas Mai
Users: 479
-5
Rating: 4.64
(36)
Version: 0.2.1resigned1 (Last updated: 2024-04-25)
Creation date: 2015-03-08
Weekly download count: 16
Firefox on Android: Yes
Risk impact: High risk impact
Risk likelihood:
Manifest version: 2
Permissions:
  • *://*/*
  • storage
  • webRequest
  • webRequestBlocking
Size: 10.34K

Other platforms

Not available on Chrome
Not available on Android
Not available on Edge
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Add-on summary

Some websites force users to download/save certain files, even if Firefox knows how to handle them (e.g. by displaying them directly (HTML, PDF, ...) or by opening them in another program). This add-on completely disables this functionality; i.e. if Firefox knows what to do with a file, it will do it, and all download requests are ignored. (You can still explicitly save files by right-clicking on a link and choosing "Save Link As..." or by using "Save Page" in the Firefox menu.)

Technical details: A website can force a download by setting the Content-Disposition: attachment header. This add-on intercepts such headers and rewrites them to Content-Disposition: inline, restoring the default behavior.

It is possible to selectively disable this add-on on some sites by editing the add-on settings in the add-on manager (about:addons). The values should be a list of space separated host names (*, **, and ? are supported as wildcards). The patterns are matched against the host a download is coming from. This add-on doesn't tamper with downloads if the host name doesn't match a whitelist pattern ("hosts to run on") or if the host name matches a blacklist pattern ("except for").

? matches a single non-dot (.) character. matches 0 or more non-dot characters. ** matches 0 or more characters (including dots). For example, the pattern .example.com matches foo.example.com but does not match foo.bar.example.com, whereas **.example.com matches both.

The default whitelist is ** (bypass forced downloads everywhere). (The default blacklist is subject to change but currently includes some soundcloud and mediafire hosts because you probably do want to start a download if you click on a "download" button on those sites.)

User reviews

These summaries are automatically generated weekly using AI based on recent user reviews. Firefox Browser Add-ons does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.
Pros
  • Works great for some users.
  • Allows immediate sending of files to applications like media players.
  • Eliminates repetitive confirmation prompts for the same type of file downloads.
  • Works with newer versions of Firefox including FF57.
Cons
  • Does not work at all for some users.
  • Does not work on certain sites like NY times and Google Drive.
  • Could create security vulnerabilities by disabling forced download for user-uploaded content.
Most mentioned
  • Issues with blacklisting certain websites or configuring the add-on for specific sites.
  • Concerns about security risks when using the extension.
  • Functionality with specific file types like .torrent and pdf files.
User reviews
Thanks, it works as expected.
by Nahuel, 2024-09-01

by smishe, 2024-01-19
View all user reviews

Add-on safety

Risk impact

Bypass Forced Download requires some sensitive permissions that could impact your browser and data security. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk likelihood

Bypass Forced Download is probably trust-worthy. Prefer other publishers if available. Exercise caution when installing this add-on.

Upgrade to see risk analysis details