Follow these simple steps to change download location in Google Chrome. Launch Google Chrome on your Mac or Windows, whichever computer you are using. Click on the three dots in the top right. In Chrome the default download location in Windows and Mac OS is the Downloads folder under the User’s profile. However if you prefer to use another location like an external hard drive or another location on the computer you can modify this setting in Chrome by following the steps below. How to Change the Download Location in Chrome. Scroll down to Advanced Settings, click Downloads, and clear your Auto Open options. Next time you download an item, it will be saved instead of opened automatically. If you’re more of a visual learner, we did create a brief video of how to set chrome to download links instead of opening them below.
There are times when you download something from the Google Chrome browser and it saves the download automatically, but what if you want to save it at a different location or in a different directory? Google Chrome decides a default directory for saving files on your computer, but this can be easily changed from the Google Chrome settings itself. Here’s what you need to do to change download location in Google Chrome on your Mac as well as Windows.
How to change download location in Google Chrome
Follow these simple steps to change download location in Google Chrome.
- Launch Google Chrome on your Mac or Windows, whichever computer you are using.
- Click on the three dots in the top right corner of the browser and click on Settings from the list.
- On the left side panel, click on Advanced and select Downloads. You can also scroll the Settings page to get to the Advanced settings.
- Here, you have the option to change the Downloads Location, hit the Change button as shown to change the location from the default Downloads in the user directory to anything you wish for.
Easy, isn’t it? That’s all for now. If you are using Safari on your computer, here’s how you can change the download location in Safari. Want more stuff like this? Here’s what you need to check out – more tutorials, guides, tips, tricks, and hidden features for smartphones and apps.
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Chromebooks are great portable computers, but most lack adequate storage space. If your Chromebook downloads a few large files, you’ve filled up that 16 GB of space. The SD card slot or USB ports give you supplemental storage, but your Chromebook defaults downloads to internal storage. Here’s how to change the default download folder.
Open Advanced Settings on Your Chromebook
The easiest way to access these settings is typing in the Chrome browser chrome://settings. That takes you directly to settings. If you prefer the mouse, click on the hamburger menu in the upper right hand corner of your browser and pick Settings. Scroll down and click Show advanced settings…
Insert Your External Media
You’ll need to do this before you change the download settings. Your Chromebook can write to FAT, exFat and NTFS drives (check here for the full list). Drives formatted for the Mac HFS+ format are read-only on the Chromebook. If you need to reformat the external drive, open up the Files App, right-click on the USB drive, and pick Format device. ChromeOS defaults to FAT32 for formatting. If you aren’t sure of the format, copy a test file from your Downloads folder into the external drive.
Need to back up before formatting? Copy those files to your Dropbox with a handy Chrome ExtensionSet the Download Location
Once your Chromebook mounts the USB drive or SD card, scroll down to the Downloads area in Settings and click Change…
That brings you to a File explorer window and lets you pick the download location. Pick your external media from the side menu and then click Open. ChromeOS doesn’t give you a select option, so this is a bit confusing.
The Chromebook won’t verify if the device is writable from ChromeOS – that’s why you might need to test the external storage beforehand if you aren’t sure of the format. As for the Ask where to save each file before downloading option, I think it’s more efficient to uncheck that setting if you’re downloading a bunch of files.
You can check the box next to the Ask setting if you want to download some files to external media and other files to internal storage. When you’re done, your settings should say > media > removable > and then the name of your drive.
Heed a Few Warnings
Change Download Location Chrome Android
If you remove the external media, the ChromeOS won’t default back to the internal Downloads folder. I hope they fix that in a future release, as other operating systems revert to the standard download folder. Since the location is specified by name, if you rename your external media, the ChromeOS won’t recognize the new disk as the download location. Don’t bother trying to make your Dropbox the new Downloads location either. That setting didn’t work.
Another problem I found out the hard way is that the Downloads folder is the default location for Chromebook screenshots. If you try to take a screenshot and the external drive isn’t available, the screenshot fails with the message An error occurred. Failed to save screenshot. The Chromebook doesn’t tell you why, so the error took me way too long to figure out.
How do you take a screenshot on a Chromebook?Press ctrl + switch window key (f5) for a current page or
Change Download Location Mac Chromebook
ctrl + shift + switch window key (f5) for a partial screenshot.Remember if you’re in guest mode, your downloads get erased from the internal drive when you log out. Change the Downloads folder as soon as you log in so you won’t forget about your files.
Sure, you can just copy files from the Downloads folder to external storage, but this saves you a few steps if you’re downloading large files or torrenting.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
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