8 Best Free Download Managers

Download managers are special programs and browser extensions that help keep large downloads downloading as they should and simultaneous ones organized.

Also read | What does download and upload speed mean, when I do a speed test of my internet connection?

You don't need a download manager to download 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 really come in handy.

Some can even speed up the download process by grabbing your file from multiple sources at once. Download managers also often support pausing and resuming downloads. Most browsers do this already as well, but most people don't realize it.

Here are eight completely free download managers and music downloaders that we think you'll like:

01 of 08 Free Download Manager (FDM)

What We Like

• Able to integrate with your web browser.
• Supports pausing and resuming downloads.
• Enables bandwidth control.
• Can download whole websites.
• Let's download specific files out of archives.

What We Don't Like

• Your antivirus program might identify the software as malicious and block it from installing or being used correctly.

This free download manager is called...you guessed it, Free Download Manager (FDM). It can monitor and intercept downloads from web browsers, but can also work independently of them.

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 order of how they're 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, 10.13, 10.14, 10.15, and 11. The browser extension works with Chrome and Firefox.

See more | 8 Best Free Download Managers (Updated November 2021)

02 of 08 Internet Download Accelerator (IDA)

What We Like

• Can auto-categorize downloads for easier management.
• Supports downloading files automatically if they have a specific file extension.
• Able to check for viruses automatically after downloads.
• Plugins can be installed.
• Supports downloading based on URL variables.

What We Don't Like

• The advanced download scheduling feature only works through the use of a plugin.
• Few plugins exist for this program.
• Contains ads.

Another free download manager is Internet Download Accelerator (IDA), which can integrate a toolbar with Firefox to make downloading files really easy.

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 plugins are available that expand the functionality of the entire IDA 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 like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Yandex, and Vivaldi.