Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
When I want to download something in Safari, like http://foo.com/bar.zip, all I have to do is paste that link into the Downloads window. Is there a way to do this in Chrome?
I've gotten used to Safari, hitting ⌥⌘L (Downloads window), and then pasting. It's quick, neat, and saves me from going to File » Save As….
I like to keep my hands on the keyboard, so if there is a quick way to do this without using a mouse, that's my ideal solution.
Using Automator, it's quite easy to create a Service that downloads selected URLs.
Open Automator, create a Service that receives URLs as input in any application. Add the Download URLs action (don't worry about the Safari icon, the application isn't used at all or even started when executing). Save as "Download URL" or similar. You can now access the service from Application menu » Services » Download URL
Go to System Preferences » Keyboard » Keyboard Shortcuts » Services, locate your new service, and assign a keyboard shortcut.
To use your service, select a URL and press the assigned keyboard shortcut. The file will appear in the folder specified in Automator.
You can optionally append the Reveal Finder Items Automator action. This would open your downloads folder after the file is saved, and select the downloaded file.
Paste it into the URL bar and press Return. You can reach it using Cmd-L.
While Safari allows you to Option-Return to download any URL this way, Chrome does not support that, so http://example.org/file.zip will download, http://example.org/file.htm won't.
htm. Don't know if there's another way. You probably should edit your question to reflect that it's about files with viewing support in your browser.
Option-Return the URL in the navigation bar and it'll download. Chrome seems to be missing both options though.
Press CMD + S in the Chrome browser window where the URL is displaying and it should automatically download the URL :)
Create a new text document in a text editor (eg. notepad). Copy/paste the code below into the file, inserting your link. Save it as a .htm file (you may need to surround the new filename with quotes ie. save it as "downloader.htm"). Open it in your browser and right click-save as to download! Simples!
<HTML><BODY><A HREF="your_link_here">LINK!</a></BODY></HTML>
Cheers,
Rob
I know this is a late answer, but I'm putting it here for anybody who may still stumble upon this post as I just have. If the previous answers do not suit your needs, you can do as follows:
1) In Google Chrome, right click the element in which the file you're interested is contained.
2) Select "Inspect Element" to quickly locate the section of HTML in which the element is defined.
3) Locate the portion of the element tag in which the "HREF" or "SRC" is written and copy the URL contained within.
You now have a number of options:
4a) If you intend to save a video, music, or an image, you should be able to right click the element and select the "Save [file type] as..." option in the drop down menu.
4b) Alternatively, for most filetypes, you can use an online download tool by copying and pasting the URL found in step 3 into a form and simply hitting "Enter", as is the case for the online download tool, File2HD.com.
