Previous versions of OSX had a very handy shortcut for downloading an item from activity window. One had to open activity window with cmd + option + A then copy the item, open the download with cmd + option + L and paste it.

Safari activity window – he Activity window shows activity related to the Web pages you are viewing.

Not anymore. cmd + option + L shortcut in Lion is gone, which created a lot of confusion and many discussions on web. We have now (Lion) the download popover, but this seems to be accessible only there are some items on your download list that you have already downloaded and will not pop-up when you hit cmd + option + L. What does Apple say about it is that…

“…It’s even easier to keep track of your downloads with the new Downloads popover in Safari on Lion. When you download a file, an arrow button appears to the right of the Smart Search Field and shows you its progress. Click the button to see the popover and everything you’ve downloaded. You can drag downloads to the desktop or clear them from the popover…”

Download popover – Safari

True. But once you hit the clear button and erase your downloads history, it seems that there is no way to bring it back unless you download something from a web page and not from activity window. You cannot bring it back because it is empty. But how do you add a new download from activity window ?

I must agree, this was pretty handy for grabbing various multimedia content and a true goldmine for learning CSS, HTML and stuff. Anyway, there’s a quick workaround (that I am not sure if was also in previous versions): option + double click one line in activity window will open the popup with that specific item and you can download it.

There is also a neat thing that you might also do: create a set of bookmarks from entries in Safari activity window. Once you have your links in Safari’s activity window, collapse items, select those you want, copy them (cmd + C), open bookmarks (cmd + option + B) and paste them in your bookmarks destination folder.