Total Commander

Just installed a new phone and for some odd reason TC refuses to open the quick link to downloads. "empty reply from content provider. Permission denial. Opening provi...". It _used_ to work on the other phone... I am using Total Commander for Android 3.50b1d so I should be able to access ///_downloads as is?

Please try going to the top entry in the home folder first - then check whether there is a directory named Download (with uppercase D at the start).
If there isn't, it may be named differently on your device, or it may not have been created yet because you didn't download anything yet.

You can change the destination of the Download link by long tapping on its name, e.g. when you have redirected downloads to your SD card.

There is a Download folder (with capital D)

I can get a popup when I long press the "downloads" (with a lower d AND s at the end) and can choose from "properties, remove, create link and rename". When I press properties, the screen flashes white and I am returned to TC screen. I can not change the path?

When I select Rename I can change the name to "Download". The link than states "///_Download" with a _ in front. I seem unable to remove that _

"///_Download" is a virtual folder. Did you add this via "Add custom location"? That doesn't work any more on Android 14 and newer.
Please use "Remove".

You can add a bookmark via the second button from the left in the top toolbar and choose to show it in the home folder.

TC can not acces the download folder as a quick-link. So thanks to android 14 I have lost the ability to quickly jump to downloads to "protect my privacy". I can create a folder, call that TC, make that folder a user-defined location, and always have to manually move up one folder to reach downloads folder. There is Google stupidity for you.

As I have described above, you need to create a bookmark instead of using "Custom location".

1. Go to the download folder
2. Click on the second button from the left in the top toolbar
3. Click on "ADD BOOKMARK"
4. Important: Check the box "Show in home folder"
5. Click "ADD NEW BOOKMARK"