Safari 18.5 duplicate downloads being deleted issue

[the8thark]

Hi,

I am noticing a strange issue in the safari v18.5 on Sequoia v15.5
When I download the same file a second time, it does not download the file with a "copy" or "- 2" or similar at the end of the file name. Safari just treats the file as a pure dsuplicate and just deletes it from the system once downloaded.

I tried another browser - firefox and this actually works. The second download of the same file has the "- 1" then "- 2" etc after the name.

The question I have is, how do I restore this functionality to Safari so when I download the same file there again it actually downloads a copy and not just deleting the copy from existance.

I know I can have the "ask for file download location" setting active and just rename the file each time, but I should not have to. If other browsers can do this, why can Safari no longer do this?

Can anyone help me restore this functionality in Safari?
Or is this just a feature that Apple removed from Safari.

 

[bogdanw]

From my experience, if the file is identical to the one already downloaded, Safari will not create a new one. If the file has the same name, but it’s different in size, Safari will download and add a number at the end.

 

[the8thark]

From my experience, if the file is identical to the one already downloaded, Safari will not create a new one. If the file has the same name, but it’s different in size, Safari will download and add a number at the end.

If this functionality hard coded into Safari or is there a way to change it?

Other browsers do this but as you have mentioned Safari does not do this which is exactly what I have also experienced.

 

[bogdanw]

I don’t think there is a way to change this behavior. I don’t see any option in the Feature Flags or the Debug menu.

You could use right-click – Download linked file as and add a number.
Or a download manager like Progressive Downloader https://www.macpsd.net