CRDOWNLOAD file extension – What is it , What’s its deal?
It’s a temporary file that your Google Chrome based browser(ies) chuck out as a by product when you start a download. Once the download is finally done , dusted, this file just sort of… disappears. And the file you downloaded morphs into its proper format – PDF, EXE, RAR etc. Now, if you’re seeing this file hanging around even when your browser is closed, that usually means the download was interrupted, paused or straight up cancelled. If there isn’t an active download going on, you can safely delete it.
The thing is, when you download an installation file through Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, the browser just strips off the .EXE extension , slaps on a .CRDOWNLOAD till the transfer is complete. Once it’s done, the file’s extension just changes back over to .EXE – but if something goes wrong during the transfer, or your internet connection drops out, the file gets stuck with the .CRDOWNLOAD extension , won’t open. This is because the transfer didn’t complete properly, so the file’s incomplete. You get the same situation in Mozilla Firefox, but they use .DOWNLOAD instead of .CRDOWNLOAD – the situation’s pretty much the same
Though it’s extremely rare, the download extension sometimes refuses to change. And to be honest, not even automated tasks can be relied on to work as expected all the time. So if you find yourself in the situation where the extension hasn’t changed, it means manual intervention is your only option. Here’s what you have to do :
- First, position your mouse cursor over the file , right click.
- You’ll get a pop-up menu – go to the bottom of it and click on Properties. A new window should now open showing the file’s properties.
While the General tab is open in that window, have a go at typing the extension of the downloaded file into the text box that currently says ‘crdownload’ or ‘download’. Stuff like exe, zip, rar, docx, jpg, and png are common types – just make sure you get it right. A lot of the time, downloaded files are either a ZIP or an EXE – so if you’re really stuck, try one then the other till you get the right one. Once you’ve identified the right extension, click the OK button at the bottom of the window , hey presto – your file should now be usable. If you can open it straight after clicking, then you’ve been successful.
Some of you might be thinking “I want to sort out the file, but I’ve no idea where it even is”. No need to panic ; here’s the lowdown.
Where do downloaded files actually end up?
To see your downloaded files in Chrome, you need to head to the chrome://downloads/ page. Just type that into the URL box and hit Enter.
Same goes for Firefox – just type about:downloads into the box and press Enter.
Alternatively, you can click on a Downloads link you see lurking up in the browser’s top menu bar. Either way, you’ll be taken to the folder where the downloaded file is hanging out.
To find a specific downloaded file, take a look at what program you were using when you downloaded it. If you downloaded a picture, some software or a document using a web browser, you should check the download settings for that browser to see where the file ended up. By default, Google Chrome puts downloads in a folder called Downloads, within the Documents folder on your computer. If you haven’t changed the settings, it’s probably there somewhere. If you’re always struggling to find downloaded files, well we can make it easier for you.
First, click on the three dots in the top right corner of Chrome’s browser window, then click on the settings link in the window that pops up. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Advanced. Then, in the other features menu, click the Change button in the Downloads section to decide where files get saved. The most popular option is to have them downloadable to your desktop. This way, you can simply stash it on the desktop and be done with it – and you’ll have designated a place where all your downloaded files will end up.
