When you download any file with Google Chrome and click on a little arrow down, one of the options is "Always open files of this type". If you select this option, all files of that type will be automatically opened immediately after downloading.
It may not be immediately obvious how to reverse this option and stop files opening automatically after downloading.
If you click on this option accidentally you immediately untick the same checkbox in the download bar. But if the download bar timed out and hid or you restarted Google Chrome, the download bar will no longer appear after downloading files of the type in question.
To reset auto-opening settings and stop all files from opening automatically after downloading, perform the following:
Go to Google Chrome > Settings > Show Advanced Settings, and in the Downloads section click Clear Auto-Opening Settings.
Google Chrome 38
10.2014
Update 02.2024
Google seem to have removed the "Clear Auto-Opening Settings" option from Settings. The bottom download bar is gone as well. What you need to do now is click on the Downloads icon in the top right corner, then right-click on the affected file type and uncheck the "Always open files of this type" option.
There is no longer a download bar the the bottom. Instead, you need to click on the Downloads icon in the top right. Then right-click on the relevant file type and you should see the Alway Open... option
Thank you this works!
For the love of God, why does nobody know how to solve this?
Both solutions are outdated and neither work anymore.
Solution 1 does not work because files that auto-open do not appear in the bottom part of the browser as clickable files, only non-auto open files do. Thus there is no way to (presumably) unclick the "always open these types of file" option.
Solution 2 does not work because there is no longer an "Advanced" menu in Chrome and the setting in question was no relocation to any other section of the settings.