DownHere

Choose which folder downloads are saved to, for each website.

DownHere is a Chrome and Firefox extension that sorts your downloads as they happen. Tell it that files from github.com belong in Downloads/Code/GitHub and that invoices from your bank belong in Downloads/Money/Invoices, and every download from those sites lands in the right folder without a Save As dialog.

Features

• A folder for each website. Rules like github.com → Code/GitHub, including nested folders, which are created automatically.
• Set up in seconds. Open a site, click the DownHere button, type a folder name, save.
• Subdomains included if you want them. One rule for google.com can cover drive.google.com and mail.google.com, or you can give each its own folder. When several rules fit, the most specific one wins.
• Understands where a download really comes from. Rules match the page you downloaded from as well as the file’s own address, in Chrome before and after redirects (for example, GitHub release files are served from another domain).
• Your choice when a name is taken. Keep both files, replace the old one, or be asked.
• Switch rules off without deleting them, or pause DownHere entirely.
• Check before you download. Paste an address to see which folder it would go to.
• Back up and restore your rules and settings as a file, also to move them between Chrome and Firefox.
• Private. No accounts, no tracking, and nothing is sent anywhere. Light and dark mode.

Install

DownHere isn’t in the Chrome Web Store or on addons.mozilla.org yet.

Chrome

1. Download downhere-<version>-chrome.zip from the latest release and unzip it into a folder you’ll keep. Chrome loads the extension from that folder, so don’t delete it.
2. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome.
3. Switch on Developer mode (top-right corner).
4. Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder (the one that contains manifest.json).
5. Optional: open the puzzle-piece Extensions menu next to the address bar and pin DownHere so its button is always visible.

To run DownHere from the source code instead, clone this repository and select its extension folder in step 4.

DownHere needs Chrome 121 or newer. Other Chromium-based browsers may work too, but haven’t been tested.

Firefox

Firefox only keeps add-ons installed for good once Mozilla has signed them. Until DownHere is signed, you can load it for as long as Firefox is open:

1. Download downhere-<version>-firefox.zip from the latest release. There’s no need to unzip it.
2. Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox in Firefox.
3. Click Load Temporary Add-on… and select the ZIP file.
4. Optional: open the puzzle-piece Extensions menu in the toolbar, click the gear next to DownHere and choose Pin to Toolbar.

To run DownHere from the source code instead, clone this repository and select extension/manifest.json in step 3.

DownHere needs Firefox 140 or newer. See In Firefox for how it works there.

How to use it

From the toolbar: open any website, click the DownHere button, type a folder name and click Save. From then on, files you download from that site are saved in that folder inside your Downloads folder. Use / for subfolders, for example Work/Invoices.

On the settings page (click All rules and settings in the popup, or in Chrome right-click the DownHere button and choose Options) you can add, edit, switch off and delete rules, change settings, check where a download will go, and back up your rules.

How rules are matched

• A rule for example.com covers example.com and www.example.com. With Include subdomains switched on it also covers addresses such as files.example.com. You can type or paste a full address; DownHere keeps only the domain. Typing *.example.com switches on subdomains for you.
• Every download has two addresses: the page you were on and the file’s own address. DownHere checks the page first, then the file’s address before and after any redirects. The first address that has a rule decides the folder. In the settings you can make the file’s own address go first instead. Firefox doesn’t tell extensions where a redirect led, so there only the file’s address before redirects is checked.
• The page address is the one the browser records as the download’s referrer. Some websites and links hide it; then only the file’s own address is checked. For a download started inside an embedded frame, it is the frame’s address.
• When several rules fit the same address, the most specific one wins: a rule for docs.example.com beats one for example.com.
• Rules that are switched off are skipped. Downloads that match no rule are saved wherever the browser would normally put them.

Rules	You download…	Saved in
github.com → Code/GitHub, with subdomains	a release from a github.com page	Downloads/Code/GitHub
google.com → Google, with subdomains	an attachment in mail.google.com	Downloads/Google
google.com → Google and drive.google.com → Work/Drive	a file from drive.google.com	Downloads/Work/Drive
reddit.com → Memes, imgur.com → Imgur	an image stored on imgur.com, from a reddit.com page	Downloads/Memes (page first, the default)

Settings

• If the folder already has a file with the same name: keep both (the browser adds a number, such as report (1).pdf), replace the existing file, or ask where to save the new one. Firefox can’t ask, so there “ask” keeps both files.
• If the page and the file match different rules: use the rule for the page (default) or for the file’s own address.
• On / Paused: the switch at the top of the popup and the settings page turns all rules on or off at once. While paused, DownHere doesn’t change any download.

Good to know

• Browsers only let extensions save files inside your Downloads folder, the location set in Chrome’s Settings › Downloads or in Firefox’s Settings › General › Files and Applications. Your rule folders are created inside it. To use a different base folder, change that location in the browser.
• Files opened from your own computer (file:// addresses) are never moved.

In Chrome

• Use real folders for rules. Newer versions of Chrome don’t follow symbolic links or junctions that lead outside the Downloads folder.
• DownHere only chooses the folder. Files keep the name Chrome gives them. A few names, such as CON.txt or shortcut files ending in .lnk, .url or .scf, aren’t accepted inside folders by every version of Chrome, so DownHere leaves those files in the Downloads folder. On Windows, Chrome renames such files first (for example to _CON.txt), so they are sorted as usual.
• If Chrome is set to ask where to save each file, the save dialog suggests the rule’s folder.
• Rules only apply in Incognito windows if you allow DownHere in Incognito (chrome://extensions › DownHere › Details).
• While DownHere is on and has a rule switched on, Chrome ignores the folder and file name that other extensions ask for when they download something: those downloads are sorted by your rules like any other, or saved in the Downloads folder with the name Chrome gives them. Pause DownHere to let other extensions choose again.
• If another extension also watches downloads while Chrome names them (download managers and organizers often do), Chrome lets only one of them decide while both are active: the one installed or updated most recently, even for downloads it doesn’t change. If DownHere stops sorting your files, check for such an extension.
• On Linux, folder names with non-English characters need a UTF-8 system locale (the default on current distributions); otherwise Chrome saves the files in the Downloads folder instead.

In Firefox

Firefox doesn’t let extensions choose the folder before a file is saved. So DownHere lets each download from a website with a rule finish in the Downloads folder, downloads the same address again into the rule’s folder, and deletes the first copy once the second one has arrived with the same size and type. For a moment you’ll see both in the downloads list. Each sorted file is downloaded twice, which takes longer for very large files.

Whenever something doesn’t work out, the first copy simply stays in the Downloads folder, so no download is lost. That’s always the case for:

• files a page creates itself (their address starts with blob:), which can’t be downloaded again;
• files you get by sending a form, and links that only work once;
• downloads in container tabs, because downloading them again would send the wrong cookies;
• files you choose a place for yourself, for example with Always ask you where to save files;
• files with % or a special space in their name, which Firefox would change, and the few names Chrome doesn’t accept either;
• files for a rule made before 0.2.1 whose folder name has %, a special space (such as a no-break space) or ends in .desktop, because Firefox would change the folder’s name. The popup and the settings page point these rules out; new rules can’t have such names;
• files that other extensions download.

If your Downloads folder already has a file with the same name, Firefox numbers the new one, for example report(1).pdf, and the sorted file keeps that name, because DownHere can’t tell that number from one that belongs to the file’s real name.

Rules only apply in private windows if DownHere may run there (about:addons › DownHere › Run in Private Windows). If a file from a website with a rule wasn’t sorted and you’d like to know why, open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox and click Inspect next to DownHere; its console says why.

Privacy and permissions

DownHere doesn’t collect, send or share any data. Your rules and settings are stored only in your browser (storage.local). In Chrome, the extension makes no network requests at all. In Firefox, it only downloads a file a second time from the address it came from, as described above.

Permission	Why it’s needed
downloads	Chrome: to choose the folder while Chrome is naming a download (shown as “Manage your downloads”). Firefox: to download a file again into its folder and remove the first copy (shown as “Download files and read and modify the browser’s download history”).
storage	To keep your rules and settings, and in Firefox the downloads being sorted.
activeTab	To read the address of the current tab, only when you click the DownHere button, so the popup can fill in the website.

Development

The extension is plain JavaScript with no build step and no dependencies. Node.js 20 or newer is only needed for the tests and for packaging.

npm test               # run the unit tests
npm run test:firefox   # try DownHere in a real Firefox (needs Firefox 140 or newer)
npm run package        # create dist/downhere-<version>-chrome.zip and dist/downhere-<version>-firefox.zip

extension/manifest.json works in both browsers, so the extension folder can be loaded as it is (Chrome may warn about the keys only Firefox uses; the packaged ZIPs leave out the other browser’s keys). After changing files in extension/, click the reload button on DownHere’s card in chrome://extensions, or Reload next to DownHere in Firefox’s about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox.

npm run test:firefox starts Firefox without a window and with a new, empty profile, so your own Firefox isn’t touched. Set FIREFOX to the Firefox program if it isn’t found.

extension/
  manifest.json      Extension manifest (Manifest V3, for Chrome and Firefox)
  background.js      Background script: picks the folder for each download
  lib/rules.js       Rule matching and Chrome's path rules (no browser APIs, unit tested)
  lib/redownload.js  Firefox: downloads a file again into its folder (unit tested)
  lib/storage.js     Reading and saving rules and settings
  lib/ui.js          Shared helpers for the popup and settings page
  popup/             Toolbar popup
  options/           Settings page
  styles/            Shared styles
  icons/             Extension icons
assets/icon.svg      Source of the icons
docs/screenshots/    Images used in this README
scripts/             Packaging (package.mjs, manifests.mjs) and the Firefox test (firefox-test.mjs)
tests/               Unit tests (Node's built-in test runner)
.github/workflows/   Adds the built ZIPs to each GitHub release

Releasing a new version

1. Update version in both extension/manifest.json and package.json, and describe the changes in CHANGELOG.md under a heading like ## 0.2.0 – 2026-10-01. Commit the changes to main.

2. Publish a release for the tag v + the version, either on GitHub (Releases › Draft a new release, type v0.2.0 as a new tag on main, then Publish release) or from the command line:

   git tag -a v0.2.0 -m "DownHere 0.2.0"
   git push origin v0.2.0

3. The Release workflow then runs the tests, builds downhere-0.2.0-chrome.zip and downhere-0.2.0-firefox.zip and attaches them to the release (it creates the release if you only pushed a tag). If the release has no description, it uses the notes from the changelog. It stops with an error if the tag doesn’t match the version in both files.

4. To update the Chrome Web Store listing, upload the Chrome ZIP in the Chrome Web Store Developer Dashboard. For Firefox, upload the Firefox ZIP on addons.mozilla.org to have it signed, either listed there or for sharing yourself. The add-on ID in manifest.json (downhere@megafia.github.io) can’t change once it has been submitted.

License

DownHere is released under the MIT License.