Struggling to keep your file downloads organized, or have you suddenly lost connection on a download at 99%? If you don’t already have a download manager installed on your Linux machine, it’s time to get one.
Thankfully, there are several good download managers for Linux users to try. Here are four of the best. While we are using Linux Mint as an example, most of them should work on other Linux distros, too.
1. Persepolis
If you’re looking for an open-source, quick, and capable download manager for your Linux Mint installation, look no further than Persepolis. Persepolis is actually a GUI wrapper for a terminal download utility called aria2.
Persepolis acts as a download scheduler, downloading your files one by one, and is perfect if you’re looking to begin a bulk download overnight. It allows you to resume any paused or broken downloads and, with extensions for Chrome and Firefox, it’ll integrate directly with your existing web browsers.
Linux Mint users can download Persepolis by opening a terminal window and typing the following:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:persepolis/ppa sudo apt update sudo apt install persepolis
2. Xtreme Download Manager
The Xtreme Download Manager (or XDM) sells itself as a tool for rapidly speeding up downloads with browser extensions to extend its capabilities.
If you’re streaming videos, it’ll prompt you to download the content directly, giving you offline access to your favorite YouTube videos. It’ll convert any video downloads within XDM to a file format of your choice. As is standard, XDM also comes with download scheduling built in and allows for downloads to be paused and resumed at will.
Like Persepolis, XDM is cross-platform and will run on Windows and macOS, as well as other Linux distros. Linux Mint users will need to download the relevant tar.xz file from the XDM website, then run the following commands in the terminal:
tar xf your-xdm-file.tar.xz ./install.sh
3. uGet
One of the best, most well-known, and easiest-to-use download managers out there is uGet. It’s on every platform you can think of, from Android to BSD, and there’s a package available for Linux users, too.
This well-designed download manager tries to take the hassle out of your downloads, such as by recognizing file URLs in your clipboard and asking you if you want to begin a download automatically. uGet also lets you pause and resume downloads, which is in line with the other managers on this list.
If you want to speed up your downloads, uGet will let you – it supports sixteen separate connections at once for a single download. You can also download the same file from multiple different sources at once.
No dealing with tarballs this time. To install, simply type the following in the terminal:
sudo apt install uget
4. KGet
Fans of the KDE community should give KGet serious consideration. This beginner-friendly download manager and KDE project will organize your downloads neatly but won’t overload you with categories or settings.
Like the other managers, pausing and resuming downloads comes as standard. It’s minimalistic, so features are a little limited, but that’s the point – it’s lightweight. It integrates well with Konqueror, the default KDE browser. It also comes with support for FTP and BitTorrent downloads, so it could be a good alternative to a typical BitTorrent client like Transmission or Deluge.
If you’re looking to install KGet on Linux Mint, just open your terminal and type:
sudo apt install kget
Manage Your Downloads Effectively
These download managers for Linux will give you the organization you’ll be craving if you’re downloading files regularly. If you’re not a Linux user, take advantage of the best Windows download managers instead.
Do you use a download manager, or would you rather use something like wget at the terminal instead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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