Disable the Chrome Downloads Bar

Martin Brinkmann
Aug 28, 2016
Google Chrome
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21

Disable Downloads Bar is a free browser extension for the Google Chrome web browser that hides the browser's downloads bar permanently so that it is never shown anymore.

Google Chrome displays a downloads bar at the bottom of the browser window whenever downloads are initiated.

The bar serves several purposes: first, it displays prompts that the user needs to interact with before downloads start or complete. Second, it displays the file transfer progress. Third, it can be used to open the files once downloads complete, and finally, it may be used to open the downloads management page of the Chrome browser.

While some Chrome users may find the Downloads Bar useful because of this, others may see it more as a nuisance that takes away space from the displayed web page.

If you happen to be one of those users, you may find the Chrome extension Disable Downloads Bar useful.

Disable Downloads Bar

hide chrome downloads bar

All it does is hide the bar permanently so that it is not shown when downloads are started. There are no controls, and the icon that it adds to the Chrome toolbar does nothing at all either. There is no option to disable the extension for a period of time other than deactivating it or uninstalling it.

Chrome offers other means of managing downloads if the downloads bar is disabled. You may use the shortcut Ctrl-J for instance to open the downloads page that lists all downloads.

Load chrome://downloads/ directly or select Menu > Downloads as alternatives to open the downloads page in the Chrome browser.

The downloads page lists progress and prompts as well, so that you retain all functionality that the downloads bar offered on that page. It may not be as convenient, as you may not realize immediately if a prompt is displayed that you need to react to before a download completes.

You may launch programs from there, delete them, or open the downloads folder.

chrome downloads

Closing Words

Disable Downloads Bar is a simple browser extension for Chrome. It does what its name states and nothing more. That is enough if you don't need the downloads bar.

Summary
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Software Name
Disable Downloads Bar
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Comments

  1. SubgeniusD said on August 29, 2016 at 4:13 am
    Reply

    A very useful feature esp if you d/l a wide variety of stuff going into different folders, HDDs, even networked computers and devices.

    Download Bar is so narrow I can’t imagine why anyone would trade such a useful feature for such a tiny bit of screen real estate.

    I have the opposite issue – if you open chrome://downloads from the menu (to check d/l speed for instance), the d/l bar disappears and can not be re-enabled. You have to close out session and restart chrome which sucks.

  2. com said on August 29, 2016 at 12:07 am
    Reply

    just enjoy the ads, it’s GOOGLE CHROME.

  3. flyli5411 said on August 28, 2016 at 10:43 pm
    Reply

    Your Download Box
    I too use and have been for years ,Takes care of that download bar ,
    Works very good , ads what ads !

    1. Bobby Phoenix said on August 30, 2016 at 3:00 am
      Reply

      It does indeed inject ads, but if you have an adblocker you won’t see them. Turn off any adblockers, and you will see “This ad brought to you by Downloads extension”.

    1. feature said on August 28, 2016 at 8:32 pm
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      the reviews says that the extension is malicious, it injects many ads?

      1. Bobby Phoenix said on August 30, 2016 at 3:02 am
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        The ad injection just started a bit ago. I used that extension for years, but switched to this one:

        https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-download-manager/mhajlnmbkfmnclimfamflbhhnneebpnh/reviews?hl=en

        No ads.

      2. Jed said on August 28, 2016 at 11:22 pm
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        It didn’t used to, must have been a recent update that added that in.

  4. Jed said on August 28, 2016 at 6:39 pm
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    I personally use an extension called Downloads – Your Download Box, which disables the downloads bar and adds an icon to the top bar which replicates the functionality of the Firefox download button.

    1. Bad_Attitude aka Richard Allen said on August 28, 2016 at 8:05 pm
      Reply

      I just looked at the Downloads – Your Download Box extension in the chrome web store and the first two dozen reviews complain about the extension injecting ads into webpages. Appreciate the tip Jed!!!!

      1. L said on December 30, 2016 at 5:15 pm
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        chrome been slow/fighting ads for while now, just realized it was download box and checked store/here see it was discontinued. Thanks for tips.

      2. Bobby Phoenix said on August 30, 2016 at 2:59 am
        Reply

        It does indeed inject ads, but if you have an adblocker you won’t see them. Turn off any adblockers, and you will see “This ad brought to you by Downloads extension”.

      3. Jed said on August 29, 2016 at 1:19 am
        Reply
      4. Jed said on August 28, 2016 at 11:22 pm
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        Oh fair enough, I hadn’t realised as I use uBlock Origin.

      5. mickpick said on August 28, 2016 at 11:18 pm
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        it’s not true. I use this extension for a very long time and there is no injection ad. If you suspect that this extension is the source of advertising, turn off all the other extensions and check again if you see any redundant advertising.

    2. Martin Brinkmann said on August 28, 2016 at 7:33 pm
      Reply

      Jed do you have a link for the extension?

      1. AhmedR said on August 29, 2016 at 12:43 pm
        Reply
  5. Earl said on August 28, 2016 at 6:38 pm
    Reply

    Ironic. It hides something which is–more or less–useful while adding a toolbar icon which you can’t hide but has no usefulness at all. At the very least you’d think [clicking] it could open the downloads page.

    1. Kimberly said on October 11, 2022 at 3:13 am
      Reply

      What is this on my pjone

    2. feature said on August 28, 2016 at 8:29 pm
      Reply

      this is google chrome’s feature, deal with it or change to other chrome clone
      https://www.ghacks.net/2016/03/03/how-to-hide-extension-icons-in-google-chrome/

      1. Earl said on August 29, 2016 at 1:18 am
        Reply

        So, what you’re saying is that you don’t understand the concept of “irony”. Beyond that, you’re just presumptuous. (I use ChromeOS–no bar to hide; I wouldn’t bother to anyway.)

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