Google is working to redesign the downloads interface for the Chrome browser. The company may be shifting Downloads from the shelf at the bottom to the toolbar on top. As of now, it added a downloads icon to the toolbar. You’ll find the downloads experience and UI similar to the new Microsoft Edge and Firefox. Don’t be surprised if Chrome’s new Downloads interface resembles that of the new Edge download hub when it reaches the final stage.
Every Web browser has the ability to download files from sites on the web, Google Chrome is no different. When you start a download, Chrome shows its progress at the bottom of the shelf with options to pause, cancel, open when the download is complete and always open a certain file type.
The UI has not been updated for years, Google is now overhauling the downloads interface in Chrome.
First things first, as of now, the company s prepping to add a download icon to the toolbar area. This icon with tooltip “downloads” appears by default on the toolbar when you launch Chrome.
Clicking the downloads icon on the toolbar displays recent downloads with an option at the bottom to navigate to the chrome://downloads page to see all downloads.
Enable new Downloads toolbar button & UI in Chrome browser
- Visit chrome://flags
- Find “Enable download bubble“, select Enabled
- Restart the browser.
Note: We’ve been following the development of the feature since December by running Chrome Canary with a command line shortcut --enable-features=DownloadBubble
Now if you start a download, you’ll get the new experience where a blue down arrow appears on the toolbar with download progress shown for each.
The downloads meu provides open, Always open files of this type, Shown in a folder, and Cancel context menu actions for each download.
The above gif shows the early development of Chrome’s new downloads manager feature.
The feature is still being worked on by the Chromium team. There is no ETA about the new downloads launch.
Final words: Google has replaced the Chrome browser Downloads shelf at the bottom with a new button on the toolbar. The Downloads pop-up shows download progress and offer context menu options for each download to act on. The feature is currently available in Chrome 102 Canary. According to the release schedule, Chrome 102 is expected to be available to the public on May 24.
What’s your take on Chrome adding the downloads button to the toolbar. Let us know in the comments below.
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