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This may be a bit pedantic, but I like to see my full download history, and see the progress of my current downloads in a larger format than the tiny arrow on firefox's navigation/search bar. I have searched around the web for some time, and the most I can come up with is a reference to the config setting browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting, which no longer appears to be used by Firefox. Adding this value and setting it to true had no effect.

Does anyone know how I can show the download library every time I initiate a download?

Druministrator
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  • I don't know the answer to your question, but CTRL-J is the shortcut key that works in most major browsers, including chrome, firefox, internet explorer and opera, to show the downloads in a separate big window. – LPChip Jul 24 '15 at 20:53
  • Why not just open the dialog manager and minimize it until you start a download (or leave it in the background)? You should include Firefox and OS versions in your question as sometimes there are feature differences. – user3169 Jul 25 '15 at 05:07

3 Answers3

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In Firefox Quantum, you can get close to this.

The Downloads icon now has an option to auto-hide it, so if you don't see it, you can access it from a feature called "Library" with an icon that looks like this:

enter image description here

I believe the default is to include it as a displayed icon on the toolbar, but you can also access it from the "hamburger" menu. Opening that gives you access to a collection of your historical references, including Downloads:

enter image description here

From the Downloads icon, accessed by either route, select Show All Downloads. This opens a separate, resizable window with a menu for most of the Library components, including the download manager:

enter image description here

I'm not aware of a way to open this automatically any time you download something, but the first time you do, just click on Show All. You can then leave this window open so it is accessible any time you need it (also providing ready access to your History and Bookmarks).

fixer1234
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  • To get that [with a shortcut](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/keyboard-shortcuts-perform-firefox-tasks-quickly#w_windows-tabs) it's Ctrl+Shift+Y. – cipricus Mar 10 '21 at 22:35
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Seamonkey

It is Firefox+Thunderbird - all in one and more suitable for people who care about fine grain settings and want less mozilla spying. It's do what you want.

Alex
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This answer was originally written for Firefox Legacy. At least one new add-on for Firefox Quantum has been found and suggested at below.

Use this Firefox Add-on called Download Manager Tweak (DMT). This seems to be the only add-on that works with recent Firefox releases (after Firefox 30).

Follow the steps to configure DMT in Firefox Legacy:

  1. Go to Add-ons Manager > Extensions (or press Ctrl+Shift+A)
  2. Look for Download Manager Tweak and click on its Preferences, then a dialog window "Download Manager Tweak Options" will appear
  3. In File/Window - Download Manager window, change from Open in a separate window to Open in a tab
  4. In Advanced - Advanced Options, deselect/remove option for Load the Download Manager tab in the background
  5. Click Close to finish

The default setting runs DMT download manager in a separate window. By following above steps, when user initiates a download, the DMT download manager will open in tab and switches immediately to the tab (This behavior can be changed in step 4).

DMT download manager: The add-on has its own download manager that is different from the built-in. The location bar will show chrome:// instead of about:Downloads for Firefox current built-in ones.

Works with Firefox 56 and earlier (Deprecated), but no longer available from Firefox Add-ons. Tested with Firefox 41.0 on Linux. No screenshot.

For Firefox Quantum (version 57+)

Download Manager Tweak (DMT) has since not been rewritten yet for Firefox Quantum. As of today (late 2018), at least one new add-on offers similar feature like DMT.

Download Manager (S3) by Oleksandr

View and manage downloads from a tidy status bar

This is a new life in Firefox 26+ for old well-known addon Download Statusbar

New Features: Replace Downloads Library page.
Now you have full control of your downloads history!

Download Manager (S3) settings for download history

Follow the steps to configure S3 in Firefox Quantum:

  1. Go to Add-ons Manager > Extensions (or press Ctrl+Shift+A)
  2. Look for Download Manager (S3) and click on its Preferences (choose from the "three dots" icon towards the right), then the settings will open in a new tab
  3. In Download History, select checkbox for the option Switch to Downloads Tab at start of download and the changes will be saved automatically
  4. Close the tab to finish

The feature is otherwise disabled by default. By following above steps, when user initiates a download, the Download History will open in tab and switches immediately to the tab. User can also open on-demand using the keyboard shortcut.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+J (default for Download History)

Download History: The add-on has its own download manager that is different from the built-in. The location bar will show moz-extension:// instead of about:Downloads for Firefox current built-in ones.

Works with Firefox 57 and later. Tested 5.12 with Firefox 70 on Linux.