Windows 7: Chrome and inability to open downloads without having to save?

I am getting a little peeved with Google Chrome, because I cannot find a way to download anything without saving it to the download folder. Often items such as pdfs are just intended for viewing only.

Is there somehow that I may avoid saving everything downloaded?

Wouldn't this be a Google Chrome problem, not a Windows 7 problem? Try searching the Google Chrome forum:

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!categories/chrome/windows

You will have to join to post.

HTH

As I have already asked there and received no reply, which clearly you would not know, surely I am not wrong to ask elsewhere, in case a member has had similar problems. Please do not treat other members like idiots.

I use Comodo Dragon and have always wondered the same thing. There must be some logical reason why Chromium does this, but I have never read why. Maybe a security thing? You can download the installer and check it thoroughly before launching. I don't use any desktop shortcuts so I changed Dragon's default download location to desktop so I can see what is there, and delete it after each session so stuff doesn't pile up.

My reply was intended to provide you with a better source for obtaining a solution to your problem. As you state, I had no way of knowing where else you may have searched.

It may benefit you to provide the steps you have taken to find a solution, rather than infer, wrongly, I might add, that you are being treated like an idiot.

HTH

If you have a PDF viewer extension for Chrome, PDF files are not downloaded when you click on them - they open inside of Chrome and are not saved to the download folder. The same goes for text files, photos, etc. The only things I see downloaded are application files, zips/rars, and things like that.

What specific file types are automatically downloaded for you?

@ Sir George

I was out of order with my response and apologise.

@ kegobeer AFAICS all types. I'll have to try and find the extension you mentioned.

@all I wonder if Chrome may be losing its way, or Google becoming too almighty. The queries and problems on their forum that seem intractable seem legion.

If anything you click is automatically downloaded, then there's something out of whack with your particular configuration, because that's definitely not the default action. You could create a new user on your computer, then download Chrome again using that new profile, install it, and see if the same problems continue.

They are actually Plugins. Go to aboutlugins to enable them. Chrome should have its own built in PDF viewer which you can enable.

Chrome calls them extensions, under settings -> extensions.