Share this article

Improve this guide

Fix: Download Cannot Be Saved Because an Unknown Error Occurred

Reinstalling third-party firewalls might help

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

Share this article

Improve this guide

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

Key notes

You have found this article because the download cannot be saved. After all, an unknown error occurred on Firefox.

Firefox is one of the top recommended browsers, but is not without issues. And just like all tech, from time to time, you may be faced with some bugs.

This download error is one such bug, and we will explore this issue and give you all the best fixes to help you download your files again.

Why are my downloads failing on Firefox?

While users have complained about failed downloads, there are a few reasons why you may experience this.

From our experience, here are the common culprits:

This is not an exhaustive list, but they are the most rampant reasons your Firefox downloads may fail. However, whatever the reason, the solutions discussed in this article should help resolve the issue.

How can I fix file could not be saved because an unknown error occurred error?

1. Reset the download folder settings via the about:config page

2. Clear the Firefox Downloads folder

This will not delete the actual files on your PC but only erase them from Firefox history. One of our readers suggested this solution because his browser was clogged with downloaded files, which unblocked the Firefox download feature.

3. Select an alternative download folder

4. Switch off Firefox extensions

You can enable them one after the other while trying to download. That way, you may discover which of the extensions is problematic.

5. Disable Firefox download plug-ins

6. Temporarily disable antivirus software

Third-party antivirus software might be blocking Firefox downloads. So, temporarily disabling antivirus utilities might help fix this issue.

These steps work for Avast antivirus. However, you can temporarily switch most antivirus utilities off by right-clicking their system tray icons and selecting a disable or turn-off option.

7. Reinstall third-party firewalls

In order to have a clean and error-free reinstallation, we recommend you usededicated uninstaller software.

If you remove your third-party firewall apps using their uninstaller wizards or with the help of the Add or remove programs utility within Windows, there are high chances that some files will be left behind.

Not only will these take up precious memory space, but they may also prevent you from safely reinstalling the firewall. For example, your installation wizard may detect that the app is already on your PC and stop.

Uninstaller software can detect and remove all leftover files, so there is not any trace of the app you want to remove.

They are easy to use and pretty similar to the Add or Remove programs utility. They display a list of all apps on your PC, and you select what you want to uninstall.

Wait for the process to end, and then you can download the installer wizard and rerun it.

Restart your PC and see if the problem persists.

8. Refresh the Firefox browser to its default settings

When the download cannot be saved because an unknown error occurred, at least one of these fixes should resolve the issue so that you can download software and documents in the Firefox browser again.

Additionally, you may consider opening the browser in Safe Mode. This launches your browser with only the basic functionality. Once you do this, the browser can download, even though some other functions may be cut off.

We hope that our solutions were helpful to you. However, if you’re having additionalFirefox issues on Windows 10 and 11, our guide provides further troubleshooting tips.

Fix: Download Cannot Be Saved Because an Unknown Error Occurred#

Why are my downloads failing on Firefox?#

How can I fix file could not be saved because an unknown error occurred error?#

1. Reset the download folder settings via the about:config page#

2. Clear the Firefox Downloads folder#

3. Select an alternative download folder#

4. Switch off Firefox extensions#

5. Disable Firefox download plug-ins#

6. Temporarily disable antivirus software#

7. Reinstall third-party firewalls#

8. Refresh the Firefox browser to its default settings#