Occasionally, we have folks write to us with a unique problem. They are downloading animations and clip art images, but instead of the items downloading, they are automatically opening, and they’re opening in programs that either ignore transparency, remove animation, or other tricky problems. If you happen to be using Google Chrome as your internet browser and notice this phenomenon, don’t worry, we can help!
When you click “Download” on one of our items (in Chrome) you’ll have this icon show up in the lower left corner of your computer screen:
So, if you click the dropdown arrow (right next to the word “gif” in the image above) you get 3 options:
Note that at this point, the file is already downloaded to your Downloads folder on your computer, clicking the dropdown menu only gives you additional options.
- Open – this will open the file in the default program for this file type (for GIF it is typically Internet Explorer, PNG / JPEG is usually Paint, WMV is usually Windows Media Player, and PPTX is PowerPoint)
- Always open files of this type – this changes the default setting so instead of saving the file, it will open it in the default program and let you choose whether or not to save the file. This is where it gets very tricky and can easily wreck havoc later.
- Show in folder – this opens the folder (usually downloads folder) containing the file, so you can then move it, open it etc. at your discretion.
So, if you click “Always open files of this type – … what happens is that the file will automatically open instead of downloading to the folder, and will open in whatever the default program is for the file type.
To change this setting, start by clicking the “Tools” icon on your Chrome browser
When you click on the three small lines (tools icon), you’ll see a dropdown box appear.
Click on “Settings” and you’ll see a new page pop up in your Chrome browser window. Scroll down to Advanced Settings, find the Downloads group, and clear your Auto Open options. Next time you download an item, it will be saved instead of opened automatically.
