2 Best Free Download Managers

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The download managers are useful to manage and increase the speed of downloads, no matter which file types you save on local hard drive (software, games, music, video, documents, torrent files ..). These days, most web browsers include a download manager, usually with pause and resume functions, a real time progress bar to see the status of downloads, view file size, view download speed, open folder or file after download is completed and set default location (folder) where downloads will be saved. A specialized program to manage downloads should add other features and benefits, such as:

Multi Threads Split.  A file will be split in many parts and these will be downloaded in the same time and joined into a single file, at the end. This is useful for large files.

Organize Downloads into Categories. It allows to create different categories (for example Software, Games, Music, Video) and will detect automatically the file type and will save it into corresponding category. For example, a smart download manager will know that .mp3 is a music file, .mp4 is a video file, .docx or .pdf are documents and so on. This feature is useful to save different types of files in different folders.

Video Downloader. It allows to download video files or other multimedia content from sites which allows to download multimedia files.

Support for Torrent Files. Some files (usually big ones) are available as torrents. Torrent technology allows you to download multiple parts of a file in the same time from different servers, in this way the time of downloading decreasing considerably. There are specialized programs for torrent files, but is better to have this feature in a single program such as a download manager.

Import List. It allows to import a list with download links from TXT or CSV file and add it to processing queue with a single click, instead entering each download link separately. Is not very used, but when you need it such a feature will save it a lot of time.

Schedule. You can schedule the program to process downloads at desired time. For example, if you play a game or use internet to see videos (where you consume bandwidth), you can set the download manager to download files later.

Browser Integration. A smart download manager will be able to replace the browser’s default download manager and detect automatically when you want to make a download through your default web browser and take care of it. Is smarter then copy and paste download links in download manager’s interface. Usually, download managers offer separate add-ons to install on your browser, with option to enable or disable it with a single click.

Antivirus. The download manager will allow to select your default antivirus program and scan downloaded files automatically to find viruses. This will save time because you don’t need to perform additional operations to scan downloaded files with your antivirus program.

Concurrent Downloads and Speed Limiter. If you have a slow internet connection, downloading many files at once may slow down your web browser and you will need to wait to finish all downloads before using the browser properly. These features allow to customize your download manager and set maximum limits for number of files to be downloaded simultaneously and maximum download speed.

The above features were taken into consideration when i reviewed download manager software and here is a list with best free and clean programs. Other similar programs aren’t completely free or have a low quality interface with lack of useful features. As personal recommendation, Free Download Manager is a clean and high quality program with multiple features and highly customizable.

Here is a list with 2 best free download managers.

Free Download Manager

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This is a high quality program developed since years ago, always updated to work with new versions of popular web browsers. it works also as standalone program.

Besides clean and easy to use workspace, this software supports all common files (games, software etc.), but also works as video downloader and supports torrents. So you can use it for multiple operations and get rid of different software for downloading torrents and videos.

It allows to organize downloads in custom categories: you create categories, enter or modify desired file extensions and the program will save automatically those files in pre-defined category. You will have your files organized by type and this will save you a lot of time.

Other features include stop and resume downloads, import a list with URLs from a text file and add it to processing, virus checker, browser integration, scheduler and much more.

Download Ninja

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This is a nice looking program with advanced features, is clean and customizable. It supports different skins for interface, you can change transparency, pause and resume downloads, it can be integrated with popular web browsers, allows to create custom categories or limit concurrent downloads.