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how can i set files to be opened by clicking on them instead of downloading everything, such as .pps files in email, or traffic cams, like for cal trans in California. Every time i want to view these files your browser wants to put them in my downloads folder instead of just opening them like IE.

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Questions about browser functionality are more appropriate at Super User. – Al Everett Dec 12 '12 at 19:06
@AlEverett Don't post suggestions like that, it leads to double posting. Flag the question for a moderator and add that suggestion so they can potentially migrate the question. – ekaj Dec 13 '12 at 1:20

closed as off topic by Al Everett, Dez, Alex, Eight Days of Malaise, phwd♦ Dec 19 '12 at 0:56

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1 Answer

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Internet Explorer has plugins from the installed programs on the OS that allows the opening of these files. This only works if you have the program that supports the document type installed on your OS.

This isn't something that you can force on your site, but you can message the user in text around the download link what will happen.

Just a note: The same thing will happen if that user doesn't have a PDF reader installed on their OS and clicks on a link to a PDF.

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