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Is there any way to make Chrome automatically remove a file from the list of downloads after it's finished downloading?

If not, is there at least any way to auto-hide the download bar after a few seconds? It's so darn annoying when it takes up screen estate, and if I can't remove my downloads from the main list, at least I'd like to hide the download bar so I can get on with my work.

6 Answers 6

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I know that this is an old question but for everybody who, like me, arrives here in the search to get rid of the download bar there is an officialy unofficial way to do it:

  1. Type in the URL chrome://flags/ in the omnibox.
  2. Scroll down to "New Downloads UI" and enable it then restart Chrome.

Setting this flag completely gets rid of the download bar which isn't really what the question was about but at least it gives you a choice whether to keep the bar or not.

Update: As of today September 10th 2014 it seems this flag is no longer in current versions of Chrome.

Tested on OSX 10.9.4 w/ Chrome Version 37.0.2062.120, and Windows 7 w/ Service Pack 1 and Chrome 37.0.2062.120 m

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  • Flags are risky and temporary solutions. Of course, after so many years, this is no longer available in modern Chrome versions. More robust solutions are Extensions like "Clear Downloads Bar".
    – dev101
    Dec 30, 2018 at 10:29
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There's a nice extension that solves this problem called "clear-downloads", I like this extension because it only auto clears the download bar/ download history and nothing else such as cookies etc (I use other plugins for those already).

The extension auto clears the download bar/ download history of completed downloads every 10 seconds, which sounds heavy hitting to me, but so far in my experience I've not seen a decrease in web browser performance. What's more, source code is hosted on github.

Keep in mind this extension has no settings, and will not show up in the extensions bar (you can still get to it via the 3 horizontal bars > tools > extensions, clear-downloads) you will be expected to know where you saved your files. Loving this little niche extension though, it's gotten rid of the most annoying thing about Chrome for me.

clear-downloads via Chrome Web Store and GitHub

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As of now, it's not possible to (auto-)hide the download bar. You can star this bug id to follow progress on it

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For what it's worth, you can close it with the keyboard by doing:

  • Windows: CTRL-J, CTRL-W

  • Mac: CMD-SHIFT-J, CMD-W

The first command pops your downloads in a new tab, the second quickly closes the downloads, sending you back to your previous tab. Doing so closes the 'Downloads' bar.

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  • Haha I wasn't able to figure out the combo, thanks! :) (By the way, I don't think Alt-D works on Windows; you need Ctrl-J to bring up the downloads window. Even better!)
    – user541686
    Mar 22, 2011 at 16:59
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Not sure if this will work for everyone but I hit the three bars (settings) and clicked "Downloads" which brings up a page of downloaded file history. When I closed the page, the list of files in the download bar was cleared automatically.

Hope it wasn't a fluke.

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Same as above, but shorter:

Ctrl+J, Ctrl+W

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