Firefox is adding a .part extension to my downloads and they won't open. Why?? Fix???

Question

When I download a file, Firefox does 2 things: changes the file name to gobbledy-gook of letters and numbers, AND, adds a .part extension -- therefore the files won't open. This is a NEW problem. If I manually remove the .part extension in the download folder, the file will open, but I still have the problem of the name change. I believe that the .part extension is supposed to go away when the download is finished, but that does not happen. Also, my downloads always used to come with their original name, not a numbers/letters name. Thoughts?

Answer 1

Hi Mitchina, which problem do you have -- the .part file not being renamed to the final correct name, or a different problem?
Did you try turning off the scanWhenDone setting? For clarity, here are the steps in full:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste '''about:config''' in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the filter box, type or paste '''scan''' and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click '''browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone''' to toggle its value from true to false.
''What this does: Normally Firefox submits the file to your AV software for an on-demand scan. Toggling this setting turns that off. It also prevents Firefox from adding a notation to the file that the source of the file was the internet. That may change how Windows treats the file. You should turn your real-time AV scanning back on when you have this feature turned off.''
If that doesn't help, there could be a permissions problem with the download folder, or another issue that doesn't come immediately to mind, but we need more information from you.