How to Change Download Location in Google Chrome

When you download files and media from the web, you won’t want to pile everything in a single folder on PC or Mac. The current market leader, Google Chrome, offers an option to change download folder location on computer and mobile. Here’s how you can change download location in Google Chrome on Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android OS.

Maybe you are downloading the latest thanksgiving wallpapers, and obviously, you won’t want to mix it up with software and other content downloaded from Google Chrome.

Let’s start with Google Chrome on Windows, and then we will move to another OS.

Google Chrome for Windows

By default, Google Chrome saves files to the Downloads folder on PC. However, you can change the folder location from the Settings menu. Here’s how.

Step 1: Open Google Chrome on Windows.

Step 2: Click on the three-dot menu in the upper right corner.

Step 3: Go to the Settings menu.

Step 4: From the left sidebar, select Advanced.

Step 5: Click on Downloads.

Step 6: Check the current Downloads location. Click on Change select another folder as the default location from File Manager.

You can also create a new folder in File Manager or save files from Google Chrome to OneDrive or Google Drive folder. Select a relevant folder and click on Select Folder on the dialog box.

From now on, Google Chrome will use the specified folder as the default download location on PC.

Google Chrome for Mac

Unlike Google Chrome mobile apps, the browser uses the same UI/UX on Windows and Mac. The steps to change Chrome download location is identical as mentioned above.

Instead of selecting a folder from File Manager, the only difference is that you need to select a new folder from the Finder menu. Here’s what you need to do.

Step 1: Go to Google Chrome Settings on Mac.

Step 2: Select Downloads from the Advanced menu.

Step 3: Click on Change and it will open the Finder menu.

You can either create a new folder in Finder or select an existing one. If you have OneDrive or Google Drive integrated with Finder, you can select a folder from these cloud storage services and keep downloaded files in sync among all platforms.

This is how many GT members use Google Chrome on Mac. We save these files directly to OneDrive so that they are readily available on other devices.

Google Chrome for Android

Understandably, Google Chrome saves downloaded files to the phone storage. If your Android phone supports an SD card slot, you can change location from device storage to an external SD card.

Step 1: Open Google Chrome on Android.

Step 2: Tap on the three-dot menu at the top.

Step 3: Select Downloads.

Step 4: It will open the Downloads menu.

Step 5: Tap on the Settings gear at the top.

Step 6: Tap on Download location and select SD card.

If you don’t have an SD card installed on your Android phone, then there is no way to change the download location folder on phone storage.

From the same menu, you should enable ‘Ask where to save files’ toggle.After that, when you try to save media from Google Chrome, it will ask you to choose Downloads folder or SD card. That way, you can change the download location without messing with Google Chrome Settings.

Google Chrome for iPhone

iPhone doesn’t come with SD card support. You will have to rely on another trick to change download location on the go.

Step 1: Open Google Chrome on iPhone.

Step 2: Whenever you come across a media to download on iPhone, long tap on it and select Open media in the new tab.

Step 3: From the new tab page, you will see an option ‘Open in’ at the bottom.

Step 4: The move will open the Share menu. Scroll down and select the Save to Files option.

It will open the default Files app on iPhone. You can either select iPhone storage or any of the integrated cloud storage services to save the file.

Unfortunately, iPhone won’t remember your preferred folder to save Google Chrome download files. You will have to do that every time to change the Google Chrome download location on your iPhone.

Save Google Chrome Files to Desired Location

It’s pretty easy to change download location in Google Chrome, be it desktop or mobile. Using the tricks above, you can change download location in Google Chrome and organize files more efficiently.