Google Chrome can be customized in almost all aspects. Be it the interface, common settings, or functionality like the download feature. This is why it has come to be the most beloved browser among online dwellers among the available options.

In this article, we are going to look into various ways you can manage your downloads. By default, the browser has a default of downloading to a pre-defined destination as the “Downloads” folder. Even though this can be handy, there might be some files that we want to save in another specific folder to avoid mixing different types of files. Or, the current default is now full and is causing slowness in the system.

Let us get down to how we can approach each method according to certain reasons.

How To change the default download location

1. First launch the Chrome browser.
2. On the far right corner, click on the three dots and navigate to the settings option.
3. Click on the advanced settings option on the menu.
4. Scroll down to the download section.
   
5. Here, click on the downloads for further options.
6. Click on change and choose the location of your preference.
   
7. You also have the option to be prompted every time before a file is downloaded.
   

Toggle on the “Ask where to save each file before downloading” option, and you will get an alert with each download. This always comes in handy when you are trying to separate the file types or want to separate each download according to your preference.

How to Disable Multiple Automatic File Downloads

There are sites that have the option to download files in a multitude and this can be dangerous if a virus sneaks into your system without you knowing. This can also be exploited by hackers to channel other malicious stuff as the particular download is going on.

This, however, has been mitigated by default in the Google Chrome browser, by preventing successive downloads by default. It is always enough, but for more security, it is recommended to make it permanent.

This will prevent any random downloads through accidental clicks, which might allow the unwanted downloads to continue accidentally.

To do so, first, navigate to the settings option in the menu using the three Hamburger dots in the right corner.

Click on the site settings option

On the next page, scroll down to the “Additional permissions” option.

This will expand the menu for more options, including the ‘Automatic downloads” option. Click on it to get more advanced settings.

This will now henceforth prevent any attempts to download additional multiple files.

How to Enable Automatic File Downloads, but Block Specific Sites

This feature is useful where you have disabled automatically in the above method. Permanently blocking downloads using the above method might prevent some required and useful files or might even prevent you from downloading files from trustworthy sites, you can just block a particular site that might have a bad reputation.

With the above settings, you have the option to customize according to an individual site to your preference.

You can also change the download file location manually in the Chrome browser. The download information is always displayed at the bottom of the browser. Click on the small window to open or to navigate to the folder where it has been downloaded to.

This will normally be situated in the default “downloads” folder. There, you can do whatever you want with that file; you can either copy or move it to your desired location. This is another option to free space on a particular drive. This comes in handy if you have previously downloaded items in bulk, and you want to categorize them now in a specific location.

How to Find Your Recent Downloads in Chrome

There are times when we constantly change the locations of our downloads or forget that we have changed the location, and you have already downloaded some files to an unwanted destination.

The most convenient way to locate all the already downloaded files is to use the CTRL+J key bindings.

To do so;

1. Launch the Chrome browser
2. Press the CTRL+J keybindings simultaneously. This will display a list of all the downloads.
3. On each download file, you have the option to access the destination folder. 
   
4. When you click on the show folder option, you will be directed to the download destination and also have a path to the destination.
   

How to use extensions to manage downloads in Google Chrome

First, you have to download and install the IDM software before integrating the extension into the browser. On installing the application in the system, you will get an option to include the available browsers to be connected to the IDM through the extension. If the IDM extension does not install in the process, you can still get it in the “Chrome Web Store”.

Once the extension is added to the Chrome browser, you can now configure it the way you want to allow its access and capabilities in the browser.

Click on the hamburger dots to open the menu

Navigate to the “More tools” option.

Click on it to expand the menu

Now, tap on “Extensions”

On the next page, search for IDM if you already installed other extensions, and make sure the toggle is enabled.

Tap on the “Details” button. This is where you allow some features to capture downloads on what sites you specify or even in incognito mode.

This will now take over all the download activities on the Chrome browser. In this example, we used IDM, but there are several other download extensions that function exactly the same way. Some might include Extreme Download Manager and FDM among others; the choice is yours as they all function almost the same.

Conclusion

Some operating systems have been known to delete files in the download folder to free up space. To avoid this incident, make sure to move the files after the download process is finished.

Google Chrome offers a lot of options and integration through extensions when it comes to downloading activities. The Browser is so mature that only on mobile devices do we get limitations on where we can download the files. They only limit download sections, but the computer version is almost not comparable to other browsers.