Native way…
Open your desired folder in Finder
Don't use fullscreen in your browser, use a windowed view
Download As… rather than just Download
When the file-picker dialog appears, switch to Finder
Drag the prepared window by the icon in its title bar to the file-picker
This has now set your location in the browser's file-picker. Save.
Quicker way, not free.
Install Default Folder X
Open your desired folder in Finder
From the browser, again Download As…
When the file-picker appears, hover your cursor over where the folder is on the Desktop.
Default Folder can 'see through' any open apps [even if they're not on the same Space, though you need to set this pref, it is not on by default]Click into the desired folder location.
This will switch the file-picker to that location, as before.
Screenshot of 'through to Desktop' view - intentionally too small to read
Alternative two - Default Folder can save sets of frequently-used folders, per application. You can then access these locations by key-command.
Answer from Tetsujin on Stack ExchangeMaybe I'm exaggerating a little, but knowing this simple keyboard shortcut removes a very frequent friction point from my workflow.
Command-Option-L inside any dialog box for saving a file will move the dialog box location immediately to the Downloads folder.
Just like how Command-D will always move to the desktop folder, use ⌘ -⌥ - L to move to the Downloads folder. Works whether you're saving a file from online or just in an app like Preview.
It also works right inside Finder, letting you navigate to the Downloads folder without using the mouse.
I actually learned about this in this sub from some random comment (wish I could give you credit) and since that moment I have used this at least thousands of times. Any time your save dialog is somewhere else for whatever reason, just type this to set it to Downloads. I just remember: downLoads. (When I say the "down" part in my head I remember to hit the two modifier keys under the L).
Just a random post hoping others could get as much use out of this as I do.
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Native way…
Open your desired folder in Finder
Don't use fullscreen in your browser, use a windowed view
Download As… rather than just Download
When the file-picker dialog appears, switch to Finder
Drag the prepared window by the icon in its title bar to the file-picker
This has now set your location in the browser's file-picker. Save.
Quicker way, not free.
Install Default Folder X
Open your desired folder in Finder
From the browser, again Download As…
When the file-picker appears, hover your cursor over where the folder is on the Desktop.
Default Folder can 'see through' any open apps [even if they're not on the same Space, though you need to set this pref, it is not on by default]Click into the desired folder location.
This will switch the file-picker to that location, as before.
Screenshot of 'through to Desktop' view - intentionally too small to read
Alternative two - Default Folder can save sets of frequently-used folders, per application. You can then access these locations by key-command.
In Finder:
- You can paste a path to go to via [Go] > [Go to Folder...] (⇧⌘G).
- You can show the path at the bottom of the window with [View] > [Show/Hide Path Bar] (toggle with ⌥⌘P).
- You can copy the absolute path of an item to the clipboard by right-clicking the item in the path bar and clicking [Copy "<item>" as Pathname].
In Chrome, when the save file dialog is open:
- You can paste a path to go to by pressing ⇧⌘G, as in Finder.
You can restore the old Alt-click "Save Link As" functionality in Firefox:
Open a new tab in Firefox. In the Firefox address space, type:
about:config
Click the "I'll be careful, I promise" prompt. Type
browser.altClickSave
in the Search space. Double-click on the browser.altClickSave line to change the value from false to true. Close the about:config tab.
Now when you Alt-click on a valid download link it will open the Save As explorer screen. All you need to do is set the correct location and press Enter. Once you set the download location, if you are downloading a lot of files into the same location, all you need to do is press enter. This will greatly speed up your download process.
I did the above process in Windows 7. It should also work in Ubuntu.
The other answers are correct for Firefox.
For Chrome it's even easier:
Option+Click (Windows: Alt+Click) saves the link-target to the download folder.
Hi, if I left-click a link to download a PDF, chrome often prompts with a "Do you want to download?" or something similar, and I need to left-click a second time "Yes" or "Download" or something.
About a year ago, I discovered a keyboard shortcut where, if I hold a key, then left-click, it won't prompt the question, but it just immediately downloads the PDF to my Downloads folder.
My question — I can't seem to repeat this single key+left click, and I can't remember what key I pressed. Does anyone know what is the key?
I need to download hundreds of PDFs (nothing illegal) and would like to avoid the question prompt and second click if at all possible, would save me literally hours. Thanks for your help!
2019 Edit: Since it seems the extension below is no longer available, someone has mentioned this extension could work: Always Clear Downloads 2
Original 2012 Information: Found this Chrome extension today. It's relatively new, available since May 22, 2012:
Always Clear Downloads
A Google Chrome Extension to always clear the downloads list of all completed downloads.
User Reviews:
First extension that clears the download bar and hides it afterwards.
I have been looking for an extension that does this! Thank you. Works very well hiding the download bar after the download has completed. Saves a click.
Easier keyboard shortcuts (Windows): Ctrl+J, Ctrl+W (open "Downloads" tab and close it, which happens to also close the download bar in the original tab).
For Mac, use ⌘ (Cmd)+Shift+J.