Download settings don’t seem to work

One of my users comments “I’m unable to just view a document without saving it first, even if I right-click.” I get the same experience.

Though there are relevant settings:

Download Files: Files can either be shown in the browser (default) or selected to download.
Open Files in new Tab/Window: Force a new tab/window to opened when a file is selected.

No matter how I set them, the same thing happens when select a file (Safari or Chrome on a MacBook Pro):
–a new tab opens, blank except for a rectangle upper left.
–after a standard Apple download animation, the file downloads to my Downloads folder.

Thanks,
–Jim