In Safari, when I right click (or double-tap) a hyperlinked image in order to open the link in a new tab, Safari wants to download a file instead. How do I make this stop?

Question

Level 1

8 points

In Safari, when I right click (or double-tap) a hyperlinked image in order to open the link in a new tab, Safari wants to download a file instead. How do I make this stop?

It's been happening for a couple weeks now, and it's driving me crazy. I'm used to opening many new tabs in Safari by double-tapping (trackpad) or right-clicking (usb mouse) a hyperlink or hyperlinked image. The images now cause Safari to bring up 2x "Confirm you file download location" windows, which I then have to close back to back. Doesn't make sense. Tried disabling my few extensions & my programs in the background, and it doesn't help. I'm not sure what to do. See images for reference. Thanks for any suggestions!

(Macbook Air Mid-2012, macOS Mojave 10.14.2)

MacBook Air

Posted on Jan 24, 2019 12:58 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,263 points

Jan 24, 2019 1:13 PM in response to Geno12

If you control - click on the image, do you get an Open in new tab option?

Reply

Answer 2

Geno12 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 5, 2019 11:34 AM in response to Eric Root

No, if I control-click the image, the exact same thing happens, "Confirm your file download location". For what it's worth, this problem seems to come and go for days at a time. It'll give me this problem for a while, then disappear and double-tapping images will work normally for awhile, and then back to this problem.

Reply

Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

685,263 points

Feb 5, 2019 1:18 PM in response to Geno12

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. Please post back on whether or not this worked. Also try the Safe Mode. Please post back on whether or not this worked.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

Safe Mode - About

If it works in the Safe Mode, try running this program when booted normally and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

If the log won’t post, try posting it in Pastebin and provide a link in a reply Pastebin

Reply

In Safari, when I right click (or double-tap) a hyperlinked image in order to open the link in a new tab, Safari wants to *download a file* instead. How do I make this stop?

Similar questions

In Safari, when I right click (or double-tap) a hyperlinked image in order to open the link in a new tab, Safari wants to download a file instead. How do I make this stop?