Selenium Webdriver in Python - files download directory change in Chrome preferences

Question

I'm using Selenium Webdriver (in Python) to automate the downloading of thousands of files. I want to set Chrome's download folder programmatically. After reading this, I tried this:

chromepath = '/Users/thiagomarzagao/Desktop/searchcode/chromedriver'
desired_caps = {'prefs': {'download': {'default_directory': '/Users/thiagomarzagao/Desktop/downloaded_files/'}}}
driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path = chromepath, desired_capabilities = desired_caps)

No good. Downloads still go to the default download folder ("/Users/thiagomarzagao/Downloads").

Any thoughts?

(Python 2.7.5, Selenium 2.2.0, Chromedriver 2.1.210398, Mac OS X 10.6.8)

Answer 1

This work in 2024 with windows chromedriver 121.0.6167.85

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
from time import sleep 

chromeOptions = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
prefs = {"download.default_directory" : r"C:\Users\adm\OneDrive\\"}
chromeOptions.add_experimental_option("prefs", prefs)
browser = webdriver.Chrome(options=chromeOptions)

Headless = False  

browser.get("url")

sleep (2)

Answer 2

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
import time

chrome_options = Options()
# chrome_options.add_argument('--headless')  # Add any additional options if needed
chrome_options.add_argument('--no-sandbox')
chrome_options.add_argument("--start-maximized")
chrome_options.add_argument("--disable-infobars")
chrome_options.add_argument("--disable-extensions")
chrome_options.add_argument('--disable-dev-shm-usage')
#
chrome_options.add_experimental_option('prefs', {
    'download.default_directory': 'C:\\Users\\61478\\PycharmProjects\\WebScraper\\',
    #'download.default_directory': r'C:\Users\61478\PycharmProjects\WebScraper\\',
    'directory_upgrade': True,
    'download.directory_upgrade': True,
    'safebrowsing.enabled': True
})

# Pass the combined options to the Chrome WebDriver
driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options)
driver.maximize_window()
driver.get('https://fastest.fish/test-files')
time.sleep(1)

# Wait for the download link to be clickable
download_link = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "(//*[@class=\"table\"]/tbody/tr/td/a)[1]")
download_link.click()

# Let the download complete
time.sleep(10)  # Adjust this wait time as needed

# Close the browser
driver.quit()
#
# Both path worked for me
# Spend some time tweaking this, finally find it.
#
# Chrome browser version: 120.0.6099.71  
# Selenium Version: 4.15.2

Answer 3

It worked for me using the following code:

options  = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
options.add_argument("--start-maximized")
prefs = {'profile.default_content_settings.popups': 0,
    'download.default_directory' : r'C:\Users\user\folder\\',
    'directory_upgrade': True}
options.add_experimental_option('prefs', prefs)
chromedriver = r"C:\Users\user\folder\chromedrivermanager.exe"

browser = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)

You could try to change the parameters of webdriver.Chrome() as it asks for a single parameter as I did, and it worked.

Answer 4

The following worked for me:

chromeOptions = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
prefs = {"download.default_directory" : "/some/path"}
chromeOptions.add_experimental_option("prefs",prefs)
chromedriver = "path/to/chromedriver.exe"
driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path=chromedriver, options=chromeOptions)

Source: https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/chromedriver/capabilities

Answer 5

this seems to work for me

chrome_options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
settings = {
       "recentDestinations": [{
            "id": "Save as PDF",
            "origin": "local",
            "account": "",
        }],
        "selectedDestinationId": "Save as PDF",
        "version": 2,

    }



prefs = {'savefile.default_directory': '/Users/gregreynders/PycharmProjects/Webscraper'}
chrome_options.add_experimental_option('prefs', prefs)
chrome_options.add_argument('--kiosk-printing')


driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=chrome_options , executable_path="/Applications/chrome/chromedriver" )
driver.get("https://google.com")
driver.execute_script('window.print();')
driver.quit()

Answer 6

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
from selenium import webdriver 
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
import time
temp_directory = ""
chrome_options = Options()
chrome_options.add_argument("--headless")
chrome_options.add_argument("--window-size=1920x1080")
chrome_options.add_argument("--disable-notifications")
chrome_options.add_argument('--no-sandbox')
chrome_options.add_argument('--verbose')
chrome_options.add_experimental_option("prefs", {
        "download.default_directory": "<path to the folder of download>",
        "download.prompt_for_download": False,
        "download.directory_upgrade": True,
        "safebrowsing_for_trusted_sources_enabled": False,
        "safebrowsing.enabled": False
})
chrome_options.add_argument('--disable-gpu')
chrome_options.add_argument('--disable-software-rasterizer')
url = "https://www.thinkbroadband.com/download"
driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path = './chromedriver' ,chrome_options = chrome_options)
driver.get(url)
time.sleep(5)
driver.find_element_by_css_selector("div.module:nth-child(8) > p:nth-child(1) > a:nth-child(1) > img:nth-child(1)").click()

Answer 7

Pass the variable to "download.default_directory"

Store the dir path in variable and pass the variable to "download.default_directory"

Note: Both .py file and Folder "PDF_Folder" in same location and file should download in Folder "PDF_Folder"

exepath = sys.arg[0]
# get the path from the .py file
Dir_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(exepath))
# get the path of "PDF_Folder" directory
Download_dir = Dir_path+"\\PDF_Folder\\"

preferences = {"download.default_directory": Download_dir , # pass the variable
                   "download.prompt_for_download": False,
                   "directory_upgrade": True,
                   "safebrowsing.enabled": True }
chrome_options.add_experimental_option("prefs", preferences)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=chrome_options,executable_path=r'/pathTo/chromedriver')
driver.get("urlfiletodownload");

Answer 8

I try all the anwsers in this question, but it doesn't work for my in Ubuntu 16.10. So I add the change with os.environ for the variable XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR. Which doesn't work, but I think that it helps.

That is:

os.environ['XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR'] = default_download_directory

The really change that works perfectly for me is setup the download folder via the command xdg-user-dirs-update through a system call in execution time:

os.system("xdg-user-dirs-update --set DOWNLOAD " + default_download_directory)

So, all my code related to setup the download dir is the following:

import os
from selenium import webdriver

default_download_directory = str(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))) + "/download"

os.environ['XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR'] = default_download_directory

os.system("xdg-user-dirs-update --set DOWNLOAD " + default_download_directory)

desired_caps = {
    'prefs': {
            'download': {
                'default_directory': str(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))) + "/download", 
                "directory_upgrade": "true", 
                "extensions_to_open": ""
                }
              }
        }

options = webdriver.ChromeOptions() 
options.add_argument("download.default_directory=" + str(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))) + "/download")

browser = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=options, desired_capabilities=desired_caps)

Answer 9

For anybody still wondering why their implementation doesn't work: You have to put the FULL PATH for it to work. e.g. '/Users/you/dlfolder' won't work, while 'C:/Users/you/dlfolder' will.

Answer 10

If anyone is still having trouble and the above solutions didn't work, I found adding a following slash ('\') to my download path.

Mine looked like this:

    if browser == 'chrome':
        options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
        options.add_argument("--start-maximized")
        prefs = {"profile.default_content_settings.popups": 0,
                 "download.default_directory": r"C:\Users\user_dir\Desktop\\", # IMPORTANT - ENDING SLASH V IMPORTANT
                 "directory_upgrade": True}
        options.add_experimental_option("prefs", prefs)
        return webdriver.Chrome(executable_path=Base.chromedriver_dir, chrome_options=options)

Answer 11

I think you also need

"directory_upgrade": true

Using the dictionary directly in a Chrome 'Prefrences' file, on a local windows install of chrome Version 28.0.1500.95 m, with the following download options:

   "download": {
      "default_directory": "C:\\Users\\rdub\\Desktop",
      "extensions_to_open": ""
   },

I get the default location, versus the desktop. When I change it to this:

   "download": {
      "default_directory": "C:\\Users\\rdub\\Desktop",
      "directory_upgrade": true,
      "extensions_to_open": ""
   },

I get the desktop location.

Try the following:

desired_caps = {'prefs': {'download': {'default_directory': '/Users/thiagomarzagao/Desktop/downloaded_files/', "directory_upgrade": true, "extensions_to_open": ""}}}