A fast, reliable, cross-platform download manager with a clean desktop UI for Windows, macOS and Linux. It splits each file into multiple connections for maximum speed, lets you pause and resume any time, and organizes your downloads with queues and a scheduler — all in a simple interface anyone can use.

Built with Avalonia UI on .NET and powered by the Downloader engine.

Features

• Multi-connection downloads — each file is split into several parts and downloaded in parallel for higher speed.
• Pause / resume / stop any download, any time. Incomplete downloads resume after you restart the app.
• Add one or many links — paste a single URL or many at once (one per line) and send them all to the same folder.
• Clipboard suggestions — copied a link? The Add dialog offers it automatically; press Enter to use it, or just type over it.
• Automatic file names — leave the name blank and the app detects it from the link or server.
• Queues — group downloads and control how many run at the same time.
• Scheduler — start and stop a queue automatically at set times (e.g. download overnight).
• File-type icons at a glance — video, audio, image, document, archive, app, disc.
• Categories — open the menu (☰) beside the link box to sort downloads by type — video, audio, documents, archives and more — with live counts. Add your own categories, rename or recolor them, and move a download into any category.
• Clear status — live progress and speed, a friendly reason when something fails, and a details view with per-connection progress.
• Light & dark themes with a modern ocean-blue look.
• Desktop notifications when a download completes or fails (uses your OS's native notifications where available).
• Dynamic Island (notch) — an optional slim pill at the top-center of your screen showing the clock and live download speed; hover it to peek at active downloads without opening the app (Settings → Dynamic Island, off by default).
• System tray — closing the window keeps downloads running in the background; reopen, mute notifications, or quit from the tray menu. Optionally launch at startup (hidden in the tray).
• Automatic update check — get an in-app prompt when a new version ships, and update with one click.
• Extensible via plugins — a plugin can turn a link the engine can't grab directly into a real download: the app downloads all the parts and assembles them into one file for you (e.g. HLS .m3u8 streams → a single playable video via the HLS plugin). Multi-part downloads show live "Part 3/10" progress and an "Assembling…" step, and resume where they left off after a restart.
• Download Ollama models — paste an ollama.com link or just type a model name like gemma3:12b, download it at full multi-connection speed, then click Add to Ollama to install it into your local Ollama in one step (checksum-verified). Ships built-in, together with the GitHub Releases plugin (paste github.com/owner/repo → get the latest release for your OS).
• Automation-friendly — add and manage downloads from scripts or the terminal via a local API and CLI (see Automation).
• Multi-language UI — English, فارسی (Persian), Español, Français, العربية (Arabic), Esperanto — with full right-to-left layout for Persian/Arabic. Switch under Settings → App language.
• No installation, no dependencies — fully self-contained. You do not need to install .NET, FFmpeg, or anything else; just download and run.
• Your settings, your way — sensible defaults out of the box, saved the moment you change them, with every engine option available under Settings → Advanced. Dialogs are resizable and reopen at the size you left them.

Install

The app is fully self-contained — every release ships with everything it needs bundled in, so there are no prerequisites to install (no .NET runtime, no FFmpeg, no extra libraries).

Quick install

macOS (Homebrew):

brew tap bezzad/tap && brew install --cask downloader

This installs Downloader.app into your Applications folder — open it from Launchpad, Spotlight (⌘-Space → "Downloader"), or Finder like any other app.

• Recent Homebrew versions ask you to trust a third-party tap before installing. If you see that prompt, run brew trust bezzad/tap (or set HOMEBREW_NO_REQUIRE_TAP_TRUST=1) and re-run the install.
• The app isn't notarized yet. The Homebrew cask removes the quarantine flag automatically on install, so it should launch normally — you do not need to run xattr by hand. If macOS still blocks the first launch, right-click Downloader in Applications → Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Downloader.app".

Linux (Snap) — recommended; auto-updates via the Snap Store:

sudo snap install downloader

Installs from the Snap Store and keeps itself up to date automatically. If snap isn't available on your distro, use the install script below or Manual download.

Linux (script) — downloads the latest release and adds a menu entry + icon:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bezzad/Downloader.Desktop/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Debian / Ubuntu (APT) — apt install + updates via apt upgrade:

curl -fsSL https://bezzad.github.io/Downloader.Desktop/apt/pubkey.gpg \
  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/downloader.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/downloader.gpg] https://bezzad.github.io/Downloader.Desktop/apt stable main" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/downloader.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install downloader

Or grab the .deb from a release and run sudo apt install ./Downloader_*_amd64.deb. See packaging/apt.

Arch Linux (AUR):

yay -S downloader-bin

Windows (winget):

winget install bezzad.Downloader --source winget

This installs the portable app and puts Downloader on your PATH — launch it from the Start menu or a terminal. Update later with winget upgrade bezzad.Downloader.

• --source winget is recommended: it tells winget to look only in the community package repository, which is where this app lives. Without it, winget also queries the Microsoft Store source, and if that source is unreachable it stops and asks you to pick a source instead of installing.
• The short form winget install downloader --source winget also works, via the package's moniker.
• Seeing SSL Error: ... failed to check revocation status or SSL invalid CA for the msstore source? That's your network or machine (a corporate TLS proxy, VPN, or a blocked certificate-revocation check), not the package — --source winget avoids it entirely.

Windows (script) — downloads the latest release, adds a Start-menu shortcut, and puts Downloader on your PATH. Run in PowerShell:

iex (irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bezzad/Downloader.Desktop/main/scripts/install.ps1)

Manual download

1. Download the build for your operating system from the Releases page.
2. Unpack it:
   • macOS — open Downloader-osx-*.tar.gz and drag Downloader.app into your Applications folder, then launch it from Launchpad/Spotlight.
   • Windows / Linux — unzip anywhere and run the Downloader executable. That's it.

The version number is shown under Settings → About and increases automatically with every release. With Settings → Check for updates automatically on, the app downloads a newer release in the background, then shows an “Update Downloader” button at the bottom of the left menu plus a system notification. Click it (or just close the app) to install — it restarts into the new version. Snap builds update through the Snap Store instead, so the in-app updater is disabled there.

First launch on an unsigned build: Windows SmartScreen → More info → Run anyway; macOS Gatekeeper → right-click → Open (or xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine <app>).

Using the app

1. Add a download — paste a link into the top bar and click Add (or press Ctrl+N). In the dialog you can choose the save folder, optionally set a name, and pick a queue. To add several at once, paste multiple links (one per line).
2. Control downloads — each row has pause/resume/stop and, when finished, an open-folder button. Tick the checkboxes and use the toolbar to Start / Pause / Stop / Remove several at once.
3. See details — double-click a row to open the details window: overall progress, speed, the failure reason (if any), a live speed limit, and a per-connection progress strip that updates live as connections come and go (press Esc to close).
4. Filter — the left sidebar filters by All / Active / Completed / Failed. Collapse the sidebar to icons with the ☰ button.
5. Queues & Scheduler — under Manage, create queues with a concurrency limit (only that many downloads run at once; the rest wait their turn) and schedules that run them at chosen times.
6. Settings — set your default save folder, connections per download, speed limit and theme; everything else lives under Advanced.

Your downloads list and settings are saved automatically. Config file location:

• Linux: ~/.config/Downloader/config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Downloader/config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Downloader\config.json

Plugins: download more than plain files

Plugins teach the app to turn links that aren't direct file URLs into real downloads — just copy & paste the link, the plugin does the rest. Download HLS .m3u8 video streams as one playable file, pull AI models straight into Ollama, or fetch the right GitHub release for your OS — all at full multi-connection speed, with pause/resume and live per-part progress.

Note: the Downloader app itself does not download from video sites such as YouTube. That is done only by the optional Video sites plugin, which you choose to install, and it relies on the third-party tool yt-dlp. DRM-protected (encrypted) videos are not supported. You are responsible for following each site’s terms and copyright rules.

Manage plugins under Settings → Plugins: toggle them on/off, install optional ones with one click (downloads are checksum-verified before loading), and get an Update button right on the plugin when a newer version ships.

How to write your own plugin

A plugin is just a .NET class library that references one tiny package — Downloader.Desktop.Plugins.Abstractions — no app internals, no Avalonia. Every download flows through three phases, and your plugin hooks whichever it needs:

user input ──▶ RESOLVE ──▶ TRANSFER ──▶ POST-PROCESS ──▶ final file
             ILinkResolver  ITransfer    IPostProcessor

• Resolve — turn a pasted link (a page, a short-link, a repo URL…) into real download URLs. The core engine still does the downloading, so you keep multipart speed, pause/resume and progress for free. Most plugins only need this.
• Transfer — take over the byte transfer itself, only when plain HTTP can't (e.g. a torrent).
• Post-process — transform the finished files (mux video+audio, verify a checksum, unpack…). You can also add a one-click action button on completed downloads (that's how "Add to Ollama" works).

In short: implement IDownloaderPlugin, register your pieces in Initialize, build the DLL, and drop its folder into the app's plugins/ directory — it appears in Settings → Plugins on the next start. The bundled GitHub Releases plugin implements every interface and doubles as the reference example.

📖 Full step-by-step guide: Writing a Downloader plugin — project setup, each interface with code, packaging, and debugging tips.

Browser extension

A companion browser extension (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) sends links straight to the app:

• Right-click a link/image/video/audio → “Download with Downloader.”
• A popup to paste a link, scan the page for links, or grab detected video / audio / HLS (.m3u8) media.
• Captured links go straight into the app and start downloading — no dialog. Prefer to review each link first? Untick Add silently in the extension popup.
• Links are sent only to the desktop app on your own machine (Settings → Browser extension & local API, on by default). Video-site pages (YouTube, X, …) need the optional Video sites plugin — the extension sends your signed-in session with the page so the plugin can reach videos that need it. DRM-protected videos aren’t supported.

Install it from the app — Settings → Browser extension & local API → Get the files. The app finds the browsers installed on your computer, downloads and checks the right build for each, and shows you the folder plus the two or three steps to add it in your browser. It marks a browser connected once the extension actually reaches the app, so you can see it worked.

A few honest caveats while the store listings are still pending review:

• Chrome/Edge: added this way, the browser shows a developer-mode notice at each start and the extension will not update itself. Keep the folder where the app put it — moving or deleting it removes the extension.
• Firefox: a manually added add-on is removed when the browser restarts, so the Firefox Add-ons listing is the real answer there (submitted, awaiting Mozilla's review).
• Once a listing is live, the same button opens it in the browser you picked instead.

The app never installs an extension into your browser by itself, and never asks for administrator rights to do it — that is your browser's decision to make, not ours. Prefer to do it entirely by hand? src/browser-extension/README.md has the manual steps.

Automation: local API & command line

Other programs on your computer can add and manage downloads — handy for batch jobs and scripts (the most-requested developer feature, #2):

# From a terminal / script: add a download (starts the app if it isn't running)
Downloader add --url https://example.com/file.zip --path ~/Downloads

# Or over the local HTTP API from any language (Node.js, Bun, Python, curl, …)
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:15151/api/add -d '{"url":"https://example.com/file.zip"}'

You can also list all downloads (with progress and status) and pause / resume / cancel / retry / remove each one. Everything is local-only (loopback, never exposed to the network) and gated by the same Settings → Browser extension & local API toggle, on by default. If another program is already using port 15151, the app automatically switches to the next port in 15151–15155 — the extension and CLI find it on their own, and Settings shows the current address.

📖 Full reference with examples: docs/local-api.md

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Reporting bugs & requesting features

Please report bugs and request features through GitHub Issues — not by Telegram or email. Issues are tracked, searchable, and handled through an automated workflow, so this is the fastest way to get a response (and it lets others find the same fix). Before opening one, search existing issues to avoid duplicates.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/bezzad/Downloader.Desktop.git
cd Downloader.Desktop/src
dotnet run --project Downloader.Desktop/Downloader.Desktop.csproj

Needs the .NET 10 SDK. Full developer docs — publishing, packaging, releasing and macOS bundling — are in CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT