Downloads slow on your Mac? How to make them faster

Most slow downloads have one of two causes: your connection is busy, or the server you’re downloading from is slow. A quick test tells you which.

The Lynx team Checked 6 min read

The short version

  1. Run networkQuality in Terminal to see what your line can really do.
  2. If the download is far below that, the server or the route to it is the limit, not your Mac.
  3. On your side: get closer to the router or use a cable, pause backups and updates, and try without the VPN.
  4. On the server’s side: try another mirror, or download with several connections at once.

First, measure your connection

macOS has a speed test built in. Open Terminal (in Applications › Utilities) and run:

networkQuality

When it finishes, usually within a minute, it prints your Downlink capacity in megabits per second (Mbps). Downloads show speed in megabytes per second (MB/s), and 1 MB/s is 8 Mbps, so a 100 Mbps line tops out around 12 MB/s.

  • The download is close to your downlink capacity: your line is the limit. Only a faster plan or a less busy network will help.
  • The download is far below it: something between you and the server is holding it back. Read on.

Fix the Wi-Fi

  • Get closer to the router, or out of the room with thick walls between you. Wi-Fi speed drops fast with distance.
  • Use a cable for big downloads if you can. A USB-C Ethernet adapter is cheap and takes Wi-Fi out of the picture.
  • Restart the router if everything on the network has felt slow for a while.
  • Check the signal. If Wi-Fi is in your menu bar, hold down Option and click it to see your connection’s details, including the signal strength and the channel.

Stop what’s sharing the line

Everything on your network shares the same connection. Before a big download, pause the things that download in the background:

  • iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos syncing, and cloud backups like Dropbox or Google Drive
  • macOS and App Store updates
  • game updates, video streaming and video calls on other devices
  • other big downloads (run them one after another instead of all at once)

Check the VPN and speed limits

A VPN sends everything through its own server first, which can be slower or further away than the site you’re downloading from. If your work allows it, turn it off for a moment and compare. Speed limits you set yourself are easy to forget: check the settings of your download manager or any app that throttles bandwidth.

When the server is the slow part

A server can be far away, busy, or set to cap how fast each single connection may go. Browsers download a file over one connection, so they’re stuck with that cap. Two things get around it:

  • A different mirror. Big downloads such as Linux images, developer tools and datasets are often offered from several servers. Pick one in or near your own country.
  • Several connections at once. If the server allows downloading parts of a file (most do), a download manager can ask for several parts at the same time, so several capped connections add up.

When a download manager helps

If you download big files often, a download manager handles the server side for you. Lynx, our download manager for Mac, splits each file across 16 connections by default (you can set 1 to 32 in Settings › Downloads › Parts per file) and resumes after a dropped connection or a restart. With its extension, downloads in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Arc open in Lynx. You can also set a speed limit to keep your connection usable for a call while it runs.

Other good options, free and paid, are in the best download managers for Mac. For downloads that keep failing rather than crawling, see how to download large files on a Mac.

Questions

Why is the download speed on my Mac so slow?
Usually one of three things: weak or busy Wi-Fi, something else using the line (iCloud, updates, backups, other devices), or a slow server at the other end. Run networkQuality in Terminal: if your line is fast and the download isn’t, the server or the route to it is the limit, and a different mirror or several connections at once helps.
Why is my download slow when my speed test is fast?
Because a speed test measures your line with many connections to a nearby server, and a download is usually one connection to one server, often far away. If that server limits how fast each connection can go, or is busy, your download is slower than your line. Splitting the file across several connections, or picking a closer mirror, usually closes the gap.
Does a download manager make downloads faster on a Mac?
When the server is the slow part, yes: it fetches several parts of the file at once. It can’t go faster than your own internet connection, though. If one download already fills your line, more connections won’t help.
How many connections should I use?
More isn’t always better. Past a point the extra connections add nothing, and some servers refuse or slow down clients that open too many. 8 to 16 is a good range for most servers; drop lower if a server starts failing.
Do Safari and Chrome download with several connections?
No. They download a file over one connection. That’s fine for small files and fast servers, and it’s why big files from slow or far-away servers take longer in the browser than in a download manager.
Can a download manager use more data than my plan allows?
It downloads the same file, so it uses the same amount of data, only sooner. On a metered connection, only the file size counts.

Sources

Checked on October 2, 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us.

  1. networkQuality: macOS manual page (man networkQuality): built into macOS 12 and later
  2. RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics, Range Requests: how a client asks for one part of a file; servers don’t have to support it
  3. Apple Support: Use Wi-Fi with your Mac

More guides

All guides
Guide · Big downloads How to download large files on a Mac Check space and drive format, keep the Mac awake, resume in Safari or Chrome, and verify the file with a checksum. Guide · Big downloads Download time calculator Enter a file size and connection speed to get the download time. Mbps vs MB/s explained, with a table of common sizes. Guide · Big downloads Safari can’t resume this download: what to do Where the Resume button is, what the .download file is, and why Safari sometimes starts again from zero.