Reset (or Tweak) Chrome's Download Settings

How to Reset (or Tweak) Chrome’s Download Settings

By Cameron Summerson


By default, Chrome saves all downloaded files to the same location—a dedicated “Downloads” folder. The thing is, this isn’t always practical for all types of download files. The good news is you can easily tweak this setting.

While there aren’t a slew of choices on what you can do with downloaded files, there are a couple of available options. Y can change the default download location or tell Chrome to ask where to save each file individually.

The best part here is that both settings are found in the same place, which makes it super easy to change or tweak them as you see fit. So with that, let’s dig in.

First, click the three dots in the upper right corner to open Chrome’s menu, then select “Settings.”



Then, scroll all the way down to the bottom and choose “Show Advanced Settings.”



Finally, scroll about three-quarters of the way down this menu, until you see the “Downloads” section.



Here’s where you’ll find all the options available for tweaking your download settings. If you want to change the default download location, just click the “Change” button and pick the new location.



If you’d rather choose where every file gets downloaded individually—which is my preferred setup—just tick the “Ask where to save each file before downloading” box. Boom, bam, done.



While super simple in nature, these settings are crucial to getting a good download experience in Chrome. And if you ever accidentally tell Chrome to save all files to the same location, now you’ll know where to find this option to change it back