842355 - about:downloads in a tab: there is no button to clear history

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Downloads Panel, defect)

Description

[Dan Wolff]

about:downloads should have a button to clear history, also when loaded in a tab

Steps to reproduce
1. Go to "about:downloads" in a new tab
2. Notice that there is no button to clear the download history

While the standard scenario (Download button in the toolbar -> Show all downloads) usually opens the history window which *does* have a "clear download history" button, that is not the case in a private window (and rightly so).

A workaround is to close the private window, but that might not be desirable.

Comment 1

[Marco Bonardo [:mak] (Away July 4-13)]

Hi and thanks for the feedback.
about:downloads is indeed currently intended to be used only in private browing, and in private browsing there is no history to remove, everything just disappears when you close the last private browsing window. So the need for a clear download button there is nonexistent since no harm is done by keeping the list populated.
If in future we should decide to use about:downloads in other cases out of private browsing, then we'll most likely add the button.