Media files now download instead of opening in browser

User Support Data Management
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1

Hi)
Since October 28, 2025, all media links from our forms (for example:
https://kc-eu.kobotoolbox.org/media/original?media_file=ukr018%2Fattachments%2F``...)
have started forcing downloads instead of opening inline in browser tabs.

Previously, we exported Excel files containing these links, and colleagues could easily open images directly in the browser without downloading.
Now, even in Excel Desktop or directly in browser, all files are downloaded automatically.

We inspected the response headers and found:

Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="image.jpg"
Content-Type: image/jpeg

This header forces file downloads. The change happened overnight and affects all our EU-server forms.

Could you please confirm:

  1. Was there a recent change in media file delivery policy (e.g., new security rule or update)?

  2. Is there a way to restore the inline preview behavior for shared forms or public media access?

Thank you in advance for your clarification and support!

kobocat media

image
image1628Ă—904 81.6 KB

#inline #attachment #kc-eu

2 Likes
2

Welcome back to the community, @ukr018! Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Let me investigate and get back to you with an update on what happened.

4

@ukr018, please be informed that this is a newly implemented system behavior introduced for security reasons.

5

Thank you for your response!

I completely understand the security reasons behind this change.
However, could you please clarify whether there is any possibility to restore or allow the previous behavior (opening media links inline in the browser instead of downloading)?

In our organization, we intentionally grant access permissions through the Kobo account settings to ensure that only authorized colleagues can view the uploaded files.
We work with a large amount of data and attachments, and sometimes opening shared media links directly in the browser is much faster and more efficient than downloading each file separately.

If possible, could this feature be made optional (for example, as a setting or an API parameter)?

Thank you very much for considering this — it would really help improve workflow efficiency for large projects.

1 Like
6

@ukr018, for your reference, please be informed that our team is currently working on implementing content-disposition: inline. Hope this solves your issue. :folded_hands:

2 Likes
8

Thank you very much!:slightly_smiling_face:

9

Hello,

I just wanted to support this request, because we’re working with a similar workflow. We’re downloading our project’s database through Kobo’s API and Power Query to display the survey’s results in an Excel file along with links for pictures. The end users can then quickly check the pictures for entries that show unexpected results. Being able to view the pictures directly in their browser instead of downloading them makes the workflow much smoother. Thanks!

1 Like
10

Hi @Kal_Lam may we please leave this thread open until the solution is implemented? Would be really helpful to be able to track implementation (rather than having the thread marked as “solution” already). Many thanks

1 Like