You don’t need one to get music or software or whatever else you’re after—your browser handles that job pretty well for the most part—but in some special situations, they can come in handy. Some can even speed up the download process by grabbing your file from multiple sources at once. These programs also often support pausing and resuming of downloads—something many browsers actually do already. Here’s a list of completely free download managers and music downloaders that we think you’ll like: You can create batch downloads, download torrents, preview ZIP files before they’re downloaded and even deselect files you don’t want from the compressed folder, download entire websites, resume broken downloads, run automatic virus checks on downloads, quickly control the bandwidth allocation for all downloads, and download all links from the clipboard. Downloads are performed in the order they are listed in FDM, but you can move files up or down the list to set their priority. In addition to the above, you can preview and convert audio and video files before they’re finished downloading, set traffic limits, create a portable version of the app, and schedule downloads to occur on certain days only. The latest version of this program runs on Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7. It can also be installed on Linux, Android, and macOS 10.12 and later. The browser extension works with Chrome and Firefox. IDA has a live monitor for other browsers, so files can be downloaded with IDA and placed in proper file categories for easy organization. This can be done with regular downloads or files from an FTP server. Internet Download Accelerator can grab a group of downloads via URL variables, automatically scan for viruses, use hotkeys, change the user-agent information, and auto-download files with certain file extensions of your choosing. A few IDA plug-ins are available that expand the functionality of the entire program. An advanced scheduling function is one particularly useful example. This download manager runs on Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. The browser functions are supported in a variety of programs such as Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Yandex, and Vivaldi. LinkGrabber is a part of this program that adds any download link from the clipboard directly into the program so you can start a download nearly immediately after copying the link. This download manager can also save a list of download links as a password-protected encrypted file so you can easily import them again later. Play, Pause, and Stop buttons are at the top of the program, which makes controlling all pending downloads simple. It’s also easy to control the download speed and the maximum number of simultaneous connections and downloads from the bottom of the program at any time. This download manager supports Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems, within the Firefox and Chrome browsers. You can paste links directly into the program or import an LST file containing all the download links. Defining categories for where to place downloads is easy because you can specify the exact file extensions that should be considered a particular category. Doing so places executable files, for example, into a Software folder while MP4 and AVI files are placed in a Videos folder. GetGo Download Manager can store login credentials for downloading files from password-protected websites. It can also preview image files before downloading them, run downloads on a schedule, and capture videos from video-streaming websites. Windows is the only operating system that this program works on. It integrates with Firefox. It also supports batch downloads, a scheduler, virus checker, confirmation sounds, and stored credentials. Another feature is MediaGrabber, which can automatically check for streaming video, music, and Flash files in any browser on your computer. This program can integrate with Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Netscape, and Safari, in Windows only. The supported operating systems include Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. Download files over the HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent, and other protocols with a seamless integration into the one-for-all download button. Even if you add a torrent file or image/video file to be downloaded, you use the same button, and FlashGet immediately knows how to handle it. This program also has a floating desktop button, so you can toggle browser monitoring, pause/start downloads, and add new download links. You can download it on your Windows computer. A few features include the ability to import a list of links via an M3U or plain text file, the option to disconnect from the internet after all files are downloaded, a virus checker, and the ability to start downloads immediately after importing the links. Since there’s also a premium edition, some features are only available if you pay. DAP can work on a schedule and supports being integrated with Chrome, Safari, Opera, and Firefox. It runs on Windows only. XDM includes a download preview, so you can take a sneak peek at media files. It also lets you resume broken downloads, limit the download speed, convert files, automatically download files of a certain format, schedule downloads, and run certain shutdown parameters after downloads. This program is for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Browser monitoring is supported in Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and other browsers.
