Chrome download failed? How to resume it on a Mac

Resume it from the Downloads list

While a download runs, Chrome shows a Downloads icon to the right of the address bar. Click it and point to a file to pause, resume or cancel it. The full list is on the Downloads page: Command-Shift-J, or More (the three dots) › Downloads, or type chrome://downloads in the address bar.

For some failures, such as a connection that timed out, Chrome retries automatically, up to five times. For others it waits for you: the download shows Failed - Network error or similar, and a Resume button. Click it and Chrome asks the server for the rest of the file.

The unfinished .crdownload file

Until a download finishes, Chrome keeps it in the folder it’s going to (Downloads, unless you changed it in Settings › Downloads) as the file’s name plus .crdownload, for example big-file.zip.crdownload. Resume continues that file, so:

• Leave it where it is. If it’s moved, renamed or deleted, there’s nothing to continue from.
• Don’t quit Chrome mid-download. Quitting cancels a download that’s running or paused and deletes the unfinished file. Chrome warns you first (Download is in progress): choose Continue Downloading.
• After a crash or a power cut, the download shows as failed when Chrome opens again. If it has a Resume button, it can carry on.

What Chrome’s error means

Chrome puts a short reason after Failed on the Downloads page. What each one means, and what to do:

“Virus scan failed” or “Blocked” means security software or Chrome itself stopped the file; don’t force a file you don’t trust. Google’s download errors page covers those.

Why Chrome can’t resume some downloads

Resuming means asking the server for the rest of the file, starting where the download stopped. Chrome only does that when it can be sure the rest belongs to the same file. It starts over, or can’t continue, when:

• The server doesn’t allow it. Servers don’t have to send part of a file. When one won’t, Chrome can only start again from zero.
• Nothing proves it’s the same file. Chrome needs the version stamp the server sent the first time (an ETag or Last-Modified header). Without one, it starts over.
• The file changed on the server since you started, so the part you have no longer fits.
• The link expired. Many download links are made for you and stop working after a while; that usually ends in Failed - Forbidden. Get a fresh link from the page.
• The .crdownload file is gone: moved, renamed, deleted, or cancelled when Chrome quit.

Big files: resume outside Chrome

If the same file keeps failing, download it with a tool that retries automatically. curl is built into macOS. Control-click the download link, choose Copy Link Address, then in Terminal:

cd ~/Downloads
curl -L -O -C - "paste-the-link-here"

If it stops, run the same line again and curl continues from where it got to. It only resumes when the server allows it, and a link that expires, or that needs you signed in to Chrome, won’t work here either.

Keep the Mac awake while it runs: plug in, and run caffeinate -i in another Terminal window. Space, drive formats and checksums are in how to download large files on a Mac.

Using a download manager with Chrome

A download manager keeps its own copy of the unfinished part, retries automatically and doesn’t lose the download when you quit. It can also split a file across several connections, which helps when a server limits how fast each one goes.

Lynx, our download manager for Mac, works with Chrome through its extension. Downloads you start in Chrome open in Lynx, which splits each file across up to 32 connections and picks up where it stopped after a dropped connection, sleep or a restart.

A download manager still follows the server’s rules. A link that has expired, or a server that won’t send part of a file, stops every download manager too.

Using Safari too? See Safari can’t resume this download and using a download manager with Safari.