Getting started

GDM runs on 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11, and on 64-bit Linux: see On Linux. Builds for macOS are new and still experimental: see On a Mac.

Choose a download

Every version is on the Releases page. For Windows there are three files:

On Linux

GDM runs on 64-bit Linux with a desktop session. It is tested on Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12 and Fedora, with GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce and Cinnamon, on X11 and in Wayland sessions. Pick one of these files (up to version 0.2.4, their names end in -experimental, as in ...-linux-x86_64-experimental.deb):

Browser integration is set up by GDM itself at each start (the browsers installed then are found); add the extension as in Browser integration. Firefox installed as a Snap (Ubuntu's) reaches GDM once you allow it; other Snap and Flatpak browsers can't (see Flatpak and Snap browsers). The tray icon, Dark Mode support and Launch on startup work on GNOME (Ubuntu's), KDE Plasma, Xfce and Cinnamon.

In a Wayland session the windows go through XWayland (below). Not there yet on Linux: screen readers (Orca) don't read GDM's windows; browsers installed as a Flatpak can't reach GDM (Firefox from Flathub may, through the desktop as the Snap does, but that isn't checked yet); and View → Draw with → Vulkan is a choice, OpenGL stays the default.

In a Wayland session (GNOME, KDE Plasma and others), GDM's windows run through XWayland when it is there: Wayland doesn't let a program place its own windows, so GDM's menus and drop-down lists would open in the middle of the screen. To run on Wayland itself anyway, start it with MDM_WAYLAND=1 misterdownloadmanager. If the system lacks a library X11 windows need (such as libxkbcommon-x11, which the .deb and .rpm bring but the AppImage and the tar.gz can't), GDM opens on Wayland instead; with no window system it can use, it names what's missing and the command that installs it.

The windows are the ones described in this help, with the desktop's fonts, file icons and title bars:

And on the other desktops it was checked on:

Uninstall on Linux

sudo apt remove misterdownloadmanager (or sudo dnf remove misterdownloadmanager) removes the programs, and the small files that tell your browsers where GDM's helper is: the .deb and .rpm install those for everyone (in /etc and /usr/lib), for Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi and Firefox (the Snap too), so GDM doesn't write them in your home folder. For the AppImage or the tar.gz, delete the file or the folder.

What GDM keeps in your home folder stays, as with any package: your list and settings (~/.local/share/misterdownloadmanager), the AppImage's and the tar.gz's browser files, and those of the browsers that read them only there (Opera, Helium, Thorium, and Firefox's forks: Zen, LibreWolf, Floorp, Waterfox). A package can't remove those: it never touches home folders. Without GDM they lead nowhere, so the extension says it can't reach GDM. To remove them as well, run this as each user who used GDM, before uninstalling:

misterdownloadmanager-nmhost --unregister

(From the AppImage: ~/.local/share/misterdownloadmanager/browser-host/misterdownloadmanager-nmhost --unregister.) Already uninstalled? This removes the same files:

find ~/.mozilla ~/.librewolf ~/.config -name com.misterdownloadmanager.host.json -delete 2>/dev/null

On a Mac

The macOS builds are fresh and still experimental: we haven't tried them on a Mac ourselves yet, so you'd be among the first. Please tell us how it went, good or bad.

Browser integration is set up by GDM itself at each start (the browsers installed then are found); add the extension as in Browser integration.

Install with the setup

1. Run MisterDownloadManager-<version>-setup.exe.
2. Choose the language. Windows' display language is already selected. The setup offers every language GDM has, and GDM starts in the one you pick.
3. Choose whether to install for you only or for everyone on the computer. For you only needs no administrator rights and goes to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\GolinksPRO Download Manager. For everyone goes to Program Files.
4. Pick what the setup should do: - Set up browser integration (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox) - Open .torrent files and magnet links with GolinksPRO Download Manager - Start GolinksPRO Download Manager when Windows starts - Create a desktop shortcut (off unless you tick it)
5. Click Install, then Finish to start GDM.

If GDM is already running, the setup asks it to save and close first. To update, use Help → Check for updates → Update now, or run the setup of the new version; your list and settings stay.

Browser integration needs one more step in each browser: adding the extension. In Firefox, click Add to Firefox on its page on addons.mozilla.org; in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi, Add to Chrome on its page in the Chrome Web Store. Browser integration shows how.

Uninstall

Uninstall GDM from Windows Settings → Apps. The uninstaller asks whether to delete your download list and settings too. Your downloaded files are never touched.

Use a zip copy

1. Unzip the file to a folder you can write to (not straight into Program Files).
2. Run misterdownloadmanager.exe.

The zips hold the same programs as the setup: the app, misterdownloadmanager-cli.exe (downloads from the command line; see Command line and automation) and the extension folder.

First start and the language

• Installed with the setup: GDM starts in the language you chose in the setup.
• Otherwise: GDM shows the list of languages, each with its flag and its own name. Pick yours.

You can change it at any time in View → Language. More in Languages.

The video helpers

Next, GDM offers its two free video helpers: yt-dlp, which finds the video on a page, and ffmpeg, which joins its picture and sound. Click Yes, download them (recommended) and they download in the background, about 100 MB, once. Not now leaves them for later: the video window offers them when you first need them. More in Videos.

The main window

From top to bottom:

• Menu bar.
• Tasks — add downloads, torrents, magnet links, batch downloads and videos from a page; Torrent settings; Link grabber; RSS feeds; show the drop target; import and export the list; exit.
• File — the selected download: Stop Download, Remove, Download Now, Redownload.
• Downloads — Pause All, Stop All, Delete All Completed, Find, the Scheduler, queues, the Speed Limiter and Options.
• View — show or hide the categories, sort the list (Arrange files), Dark Mode support, Always dark, Theme, Interface size (every window larger, 100 % to 200 %; Ctrl +, Ctrl − and Ctrl 0 too), Draw with (OpenGL, or Direct3D on Windows, Vulkan on Linux, Metal on macOS) and Language.
• Help — help pages and tutorials (on the website, in your language when it has it), Keyboard shortcuts, Report a problem, Check for updates, About, Tell a friend and Support GDM (its creator's GitHub Sponsors page: optional, nothing in GDM changes).
• Toolbar. Add URL, Add Torrent, Resume, Stop, Stop All, Delete, Delete Completed, Options, Scheduler, Start Queue, Stop Queue. The small arrow next to Add Torrent, Start Queue and Stop Queue opens more choices.
• Categories (left). Choose what the list shows: All Downloads, Unfinished, Finished and Queues, each with its categories. Drag the gap between the pane and the list to make it wider.
• Download list (right). One row per download. See The download list.

Dark mode

GDM follows your system: when Windows (or your desktop's light/dark preference on Linux and macOS) is set to dark mode, so is GDM. To keep GDM light whatever the system does, turn off View → Dark Mode support. To keep it dark whatever the system does, for example on a desktop that reports no preference, turn on View → Always dark.

Themes

View → Theme changes GDM's look at once, keeping its layout:

• Classic: GDM's own look, the default.
• Native: your system's colours. Windows' accent colour (Settings → Personalization → Colors) and, when it is on, its contrast theme; the desktop's accent colour and its higher contrast setting on Linux (GNOME 47 and later, KDE Plasma); the accent colour on macOS. It follows them when you change them.
• High contrast: black and white, a bright accent, every edge drawn, text at 7:1 or more.
• Metro: Windows 8's flat look: square corners, flat buttons and boxes, a coloured title bar with the title centred (on Windows, where GDM draws it), and one-colour icons (Microsoft's Fluent UI System Icons).
• Adwaita: GNOME's look: round corners, flat grey buttons, a rounded focus ring, GNOME's check boxes, a header bar with the title in bold and round buttons (on Windows, where GDM draws it), and GNOME's Adwaita icons, in colour for files and categories, one colour in the toolbar.
• Breeze: KDE Plasma's look: rounded corners, buttons and boxes that take the accent's edge under the pointer or when focused, KDE's check boxes and focus frame, KDE's title bar with the title centred and round buttons (on Windows, where GDM draws it), and KDE's Breeze icons.
• Luna: Windows XP's look: buttons shaded from white with an orange glow under the pointer, green ticks, square text boxes, progress in green blocks, a deep blue title bar with the title in bold (on Windows, where GDM draws it), and colourful icons drawn for GDM in that manner.
• Aero: Windows 7's look: glossy buttons that turn light blue under the pointer, quiet check boxes, a glossy green progress bar, a glassy title bar with the title on a soft glow (on Windows), and glossy icons drawn for GDM in that manner.
• Aqua: Mac OS X's look: gel buttons round at the ends (the default one blue), glossy check boxes, a blue focus ring, a blue gel progress bar, a grey title bar with small round buttons (on Windows), and icons drawn for GDM in that manner.

Each has a light and a dark side: Dark Mode support and Always dark choose between them as before. Theme files you put in the themes folder (View → Theme → Open themes folder) are listed there too, and so are Base16 and pywal colour schemes (View → Theme → Add a theme file…; pywal follows wal as it runs): Themes says where that folder is, what a theme file holds (inherits, colours, sizes, control shapes, icons), how a scheme's colours are used, and how to make and share one.

The tray icon

Closing the main window doesn't quit GDM. It hides in the notification area, and downloads, queues and schedules carry on. To make closing quit (a portable copy's folder can then be deleted), untick Options → General → Keep running when closing the window. If there is no icon for GDM at all — not in the notification area, nor behind the ^ hidden icons — the window minimizes to the taskbar instead, so downloads continue and there is a way back. An icon behind ^ can be clicked to bring the window back, and starting GDM again always does.

On Linux this needs a tray, which most desktops have (KDE Plasma, Xfce, Cinnamon, Ubuntu's GNOME or GNOME with the AppIndicator extension, waybar's tray). On a desktop without one (some tiling window managers), closing the window quits GDM, since there would be nowhere to bring it back from.

• Click the tray icon to bring the window back.
• Right-click it for Add new download, Add batch download, Downloads in progress, Speed Limiter, Scheduler, the main download queue, Options and Exit.
• Downloads in progress lists the running downloads. Choose one to see its progress window.

Minimize hides the main window there too, while Minimize to the notification area is on in Options → General. It is on by default; where the tray has no icon, Minimize sends the window to the taskbar instead.

A download's progress window can go there as well, with its Minimize or with its Hide to the notification area button: a short dash with an arrow down to the corner.

On Windows that button is in the window's title bar, left of Minimize, and in the title bar's menu (Alt+Space). On Linux and macOS it's at the end of the tab row.

To bring the window back, choose it in Downloads in progress, or double-click the download in the list.

To quit, choose Tasks → Exit or Exit in the tray menu.

Where GDM keeps its data

The download list and settings are in %APPDATA%\misterdownloadmanager (downloads.json); on Linux in ~/.local/share/misterdownloadmanager, on a Mac in ~/Library/Application Support/misterdownloadmanager. A portable copy keeps them in its data folder instead. Downloaded files go to your Downloads folder, sorted into a folder per category; you can change that in Options → Save to.

Next steps

• Download your first file →
• Send browser downloads to GDM →
• Learn the download list →