Keep Safari from opening downloads without asking

If you want the rule to be "nothing happens to a download unless I do it," Safari gives you two levers. Turn off Open "safe" files after downloading so files never open on their own, and use per-site Downloads permissions to decide which sites may download at all. Together they put every file behind your explicit action. Both live inside Safari and apply to Safari only.

Stop files opening on their own

Start with the setting that lets downloads launch themselves the moment they finish:

1. Open Safari and choose Safari → Settings (Cmd+,).
2. Click General.
3. Uncheck Open "safe" files after downloading.

The same preference from the command line, with its reverse below:

# Don't let downloads open without your say-so
defaults write com.apple.Safari AutoOpenSafeDownloads -bool false

# Undo — allow safe files to open automatically again
defaults write com.apple.Safari AutoOpenSafeDownloads -bool true

Restart Safari to apply it. The Terminal route needs Terminal to have Full Disk Access because Safari's preferences sit in a protected container; the checkbox needs nothing extra. This holds on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia.

Decide which sites can download at all

Safari also lets you gate the download itself, per website — so a page can't quietly drop files without a prompt:

1. In Safari → Settings, click the Websites tab.
2. Select Downloads in the sidebar.
3. Set currently open sites to Allow, Deny, or Ask.
4. At the bottom, set When visiting other websites to Ask so any new site has to check with you first.

With the default set to Ask, Safari prompts before a site you haven't approved can download anything — closing the gap where a click triggers a download you didn't intend.

What "open on your terms" looks like

With both levers set, a download finishes and simply waits in your Downloads folder. Nothing launches, nothing mounts, nothing expands. When you're ready, click Safari's Downloads button to reveal the file, or open the folder in Finder, and double-click only what you meant to open. If you keep downloads somewhere specific, set that in Safari's downloads location so everything lands where you'll actually review it.

These are Safari settings

Both the auto-open checkbox and the per-site Downloads permissions belong to Safari and don't reach other browsers. Chrome, Firefox, and Edge each handle downloads their own way, so set your preferences separately in each. This guide is Safari-only.