Hi!
Have you ever had a problem with Safari where you couldn’t view the files currently being downloaded in the Downloads window—meaning after pressing the shortcut Cmd + Opt + L? I want to clarify that this is definitely not an issue with the shortcut itself, because when I do the same thing via Safari’s menu, nothing happens either.
On top of that, as if that weren’t enough, on a second APFS volume where I have the same version of macOS installed in parallel, everything works perfectly. The shortcut works there, and so on. So clearly something is wrong on this volume. I just don’t understand what’s going on. Can anyone help me?
Comments
Could it be a permissions thing?
Apps do need oppression to actually access the downloads folder, so perhaps you need to go into privacy and security in settings and verify that Safari has access to the downloads folder. That’s the only thing I can think of directly.
Thanks for the comment, but that’s not it.
I really appreciate the suggestions, but this isn’t the issue. Everything downloads normally and works fine in general, it’s just that Safari can’t open that Downloads window directly. Because of that, I’m not always sure how much time is left until a file finishes downloading, and so on.
Yes, I know I can try closing the browser, and if a file hasn’t finished downloading, a message will pop up asking whether I really want to close Safari while a download is still in progress. But I never know whether a file has finished downloading completely or whether something went wrong. I can’t resume downloads, and so on.
In short, this really annoys me and also surprises me that it works perfectly on one disk, but not on the other.
What specifically happens?
What happens when you attempt to access the Downloads window while a file is being downloaded? In other words, at what point in the process of opening the Downloads window and navigating the table do things not work as expected?
Hi Tyler,
The thing is, I can’t open that overlay window. I just can’t get to the table because the window with it doesn’t show up at all.
Here’s what happens: I open Safari, click a link to download a file, the download starts, and then I want to check how much of the file has already been downloaded. So, while still in Safari, I press Command + Option + L. After I press it, absolutely nothing happens.
I’m not exactly sure when this issue started, but I can say for sure that it’s been there for at least a few system updates now. What’s interesting is that everything works perfectly on the other volume on my Mac. That’s why I’m thinking it might be some kind of Safari bug.
I’ve been considering resetting Safari to its factory settings, but I honestly have no idea how to do that. And to be completely honest, I’m not even sure it would help. Maybe it’s still worth trying? I really don’t know.
This is odd
Do you have a keyboard command that could be interfering? I.e, keyboard commander, something that includes command l since you have to press option key to trigger keyboard commander commands? Also if your in finder, does pressing command option l work as normal? This one is odd for sure, I'm not sure what could be going on.
Yes, I agree — it’s strange, actually very strange.
So here’s the situation: I don’t have any shortcut that conflicts with Command + Option + L. When I press that shortcut in Finder, everything works fine — the Downloads folder opens as expected. It’s only when I’m in Safari that nothing happens.
But this isn’t really a shortcut issue; it’s a problem with the function itself. Even if I go into the Safari menu, choose History, and then click “Show Downloads” (which is the equivalent of pressing Command + Option + L), nothing happens either. So I’m basically stuck.
What makes it even more confusing is that when I created a second volume with the same macOS version, everything works perfectly there. I press the shortcut while in Safari and the overlay window opens normally. It’s only on my original disk that there’s a problem for some reason. Even reinstalling macOS didn’t help.