Force download or open in browser Free

By default, what happens when a visitor clicks a document’s download button is up to their browser and your server: PDFs usually open in a tab, Office files usually save to disk, and different setups behave differently. FileDeck lets you take that decision back, per document — and it’s included in the free plugin.

Set a document’s delivery mode

1. Edit the document (Documents → All Documents).
2. In the Document file box, find the Delivery dropdown.
3. Pick one of:
   • Browser default — the historical behaviour; FileDeck redirects to the file and the browser decides.
   • Force download (save to disk) — the file always downloads, even file types the browser could display.
   • Open in browser — the file always displays in the browser (best for PDFs and images). The library button reads View instead of Download and opens in a new tab, so visitors never lose their place in the library.
4. Update the document.

Notes

• The setting applies to uploaded files. Documents that point at an external URL keep redirecting — the target site controls its own delivery.
• Downloads are counted the same in every mode.
• "Open in browser" is a display preference, not a protection feature — the visitor can still save the file. If you need to control who gets a file at all, use access control.
• Developers: a site-wide default can be set with the filedeck_default_delivery filter ('', 'download' or 'inline'); the per-document setting always wins.

Why file types behave differently without this

Browsers decide what to do with a file based on the Content-Disposition and Content-Type headers the server sends. Ordinary uploads are served by your web server with no disposition header, so the browser applies its own defaults per type. When you pick an explicit mode, FileDeck serves the file itself with the right header, making the behaviour identical for every visitor.