1804152 - Auto-downloaded PDF getting deleted after exiting Private Mode

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1790641

(Firefox :: Private Browsing, defect)

Description

[RelayUser]

Steps to reproduce:

On Arch Linux, in a fresh profile on Firefox Developer Edition (108.0b9):

1. Open New Private Window
2. Visit url https://libgen.is
3. Enter the search term "Free software free society"
4. Click on [2] on any of the search results OR visit https://libgen.rocks/ads.php?md5=861C055B960E7F36D95164CAB34E0E97
5. Click on GET (might open an advertisement first) OR visit https://libgen.rocks/get.php?md5=861c055b960e7f36d95164cab34e0e97&key=WHE1T8517PQKXNIO

Actual results:

Firefoxe showed in the Downloads popup that it was downloading the PDF. Once downloaded the PDF was automatically opened in the PDF viewer of Firefox.

So far, good. Now, look in the Downloads folder of your PC. The PDF file would be there. Not in a temporary directory but in Downloads folder. By default, a user expects the file would stay if a file exists in the Downloader folder, even if the browser is closed.

Now. Close the Private Window. The PDF file in the Downloads folder would be deleted automatically!

Expected results:

Expected: the file should not have been deleted.

If Firefox wants to maintain status-quo than the user can at least be warned that Downloaded files would be auto-deleted after Private browsing session is closed.

Better approach would be to warn the user as well as to NOT download the PDf in the default Downloads folder but in a temporary location, so that the user never gets confused that they had a file they had downloaded once and now they cannot find it.

Comment 1

[Monica Chiorean]

I was able to reproduce the issue on Ubuntu 20.04 using Firefox build Beta 108.0b9 (20221201192006), once the pdf file from https://libgen.rocks/get.php?md5=861c055b960e7f36d95164cab34e0e97&key=WHE1T8517PQKXNIO is downloaded and correctly displayed on Private Window same pdf file is deleted from download folder once Private Window is closed. Issue reproduces only on Private Window on Normal Window pdf is not deleted.

Comment 2

[:Gijs (he/him)]

It's probably not super useful to track this separately from bug 1790641 which is basically the same issue.