[Feature Request] Persist the "Use formatted filename" choice for downloads

[Tio61]

Description

Current state

Since #12095, the document detail view has a "Use formatted filename" option in the download dropdown. Thanks for that — it solves the naming itself nicely.

However, the choice is not remembered. It resets after every download, and even when navigating to another document and back within the same session. For anyone who regularly sends documents out, this means ticking the box every single time — and re-downloading whenever it was forgotten.

Feature request

Allow the choice to persist instead of resetting. Any of these would solve it, roughly in order of preference:

1. Persist the checkbox state per user in the UI settings, like other frontend preferences.
2. A user-level setting (Settings → General), e.g. "Use formatted filename by default when downloading".
3. An instance-level variable, e.g. PAPERLESS_DOWNLOAD_USE_FORMATTED_FILENAME, defaulting to false so nothing changes for existing users.

Option 1 alone would already be enough here, and it would not require a new user-facing setting at all.

Why this matters

The formatted filename comes from something the user explicitly configured — PAPERLESS_FILENAME_FORMAT or a storage path. Having to re-assert that same intent on every single download is repetitive. This also lines up with the point @shamoon raised in #11296: if a filename on disk exists because the user deliberately set it up, it makes sense to honour that by default.

Related

• [Feature Request] Formatted filename for single document downloads #11296 — the request that led to the checkbox
• Enhancment: Formatted filename for single document downloads #12095 — the implementation

Environment: Paperless-ngx 3.0.2, Docker

Other

No response

[farfromexact]

Persisting this per-user preference makes sense, and I would prefer a user-level UI setting over an instance-wide environment variable. The choice is about how a person wants downloads named, not how the server should process every user's documents.

There are two reasonable storage layers:

• A server-side user preference if the choice should follow the account across browsers.
• Local browser storage if it is intentionally device-specific and should not change server state.

Whichever layer is chosen, keep the default false for existing installations and provide a reset-to-default action. The download action should read the current preference at the moment it creates the request, rather than relying on a component value that can become stale when navigating between documents.

I would also preserve an explicit per-download override so users can occasionally use the other naming mode without changing their default. If the download is exposed through an API or keyboard shortcut, make the override an explicit request parameter so the UI and API do not diverge.

The regression tests should cover a fresh user, toggling the setting, navigating to another document, reloading, opening a second browser, and changing the filename format itself. The preference should control whether formatted names are used; it should not cache the formatted result, because the underlying document or storage configuration can change.

[Tio61]

Agreed, a user-level setting fits better than an env variable. And yes, the stale component value is exactly what I'm seeing: the checkbox even resets when navigating to another document and back.