When accessing some static files such as hudoig.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2016-FW-1007.pdf (random example) with Selenium using ChromeDriver, the file is automatically downloaded to my default download directory.
Is there a way to disable this default behavior and prevent files from being saved ? Thank you.
NB: My question is similar to the following unanswered question but in my case I actually want to disable downloads even when clicking download links: Is it possible to disable file download in chrome using selenium
Preferences for ChromeDriver are an experimental options.
You could set download preferences explicitly and have PDF documents opened directly in the Chrome browser.
For example:
from selenium import webdriver
options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
prefs = {
"download.open_pdf_in_system_reader": False,
"download.prompt_for_download": True,
"plugins.always_open_pdf_externally": False
}
options.add_experimental_option(
"prefs", prefs
)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(
options=options
)
driver.get(
"https://www.hudoig.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2016-FW-1007.pdf"
)
driver.close()
Or you could set the download location to write the document to a virtual device file as /dev/null effectively discarding it.
For example:
prefs = {
"download.open_pdf_in_system_reader": False,
"download.prompt_for_download": True,
"download.default_directory": "/dev/null",
"plugins.always_open_pdf_externally": False
}
options.add_experimental_option(
"prefs", prefs
)
You could set download restrictions to block all downloads.
prefs = {
"download_restrictions": 3,
}
options.add_experimental_option(
"prefs", prefs
)