Help and tutorials

GolinksPRO Download Manager (GDM) is a free download manager for Windows and Linux (and, still experimental, macOS). It is laid out the way Internet Download Manager users expect: a toolbar, categories on the left, one list of downloads and a browser extension that hands downloads to it.

These pages explain each part of the program. The tutorials walk through the things people do most, one task each.

Start here

• Getting started — install GDM (setup, portable or zip on Windows; the packages on Linux; the .dmg on a Mac), choose a language and find your way around the main window.
• Your first download — a two-minute walk-through from copied link to opened file.

Downloading

• Adding downloads — Add URL, the clipboard, the drop target, batch downloads and lists of links, and Start Download versus Download Later.
• Link grabber and archives — many links at once, in packages; zip, 7z and rar archives extracted when they are downloaded.
• Browser integration — the extension for Firefox (from addons.mozilla.org), Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi (from the Chrome Web Store), which downloads it takes, and what happens when GDM isn't running.
• Run GDM on a server — GDM without a window on a home server or NAS (Docker, Unraid), downloading into its folders; send it downloads from your phone or browser.
• Control GDM from your phone — add links, magnets and torrents from a phone or another computer at home, and watch and control the list.

Organising

• The download list — columns, filters, the categories tree, selecting many downloads, finding one, and deleting downloads with or without their files.
• Queues and the Scheduler — run downloads a few at a time, start and stop them by the clock, and turn the computer off when they are done.

Speed and connections

• Connections and speed — the progress window, how GDM splits a file over several connections, resuming, and the Speed Limiter.

Video and torrents

• Video downloads — download a video from its page (YouTube, Vimeo and many more) with yt-dlp.
• Image galleries — download a gallery's pictures (Wikimedia Commons, Flickr, DeviantArt and many more) with gallery-dl.
• Torrents — magnet links and .torrent files, choosing files, and sharing.
• Torrents and your security — what others can see, the network switches, blocklists, proxies.
• Debrid service accounts — Real-Debrid, AllDebrid and Premiumize: file-host links through your own account.

Settings

• Options — every page of the Options window.
• Themes — the built-in looks (Classic, Native, High contrast, Metro, Adwaita, Breeze, Luna, Aero, Aqua), and how to make your own in a text file.
• Languages — the 86 interface languages, numbers and dates, right-to-left layouts, and how to help translate.
• Portable mode — run GDM from a folder or a USB stick without installing it.
• Keyboard shortcuts — every key the main window answers, and screen readers.
• Command line and automation — IDM's command-line switches, the misterdownloadmanager-cli tool, and the automation API other programs can use.
• AI assistants (MCP) — let Claude, Cursor, VS Code or another MCP assistant list, add, pause and remove your downloads.

Tutorials

• Download a file — copy a link, add it, open the file.
• Catch downloads from your browser — set up the extension so clicked downloads go to GDM.
• Download overnight — queue files and let the Scheduler start them at night.
• Resume a broken download — continue after a cut connection, a crash or an expired link.
• Keep some speed for everything else — cap GDM so browsing and calls stay smooth.
• Download a video from a page — pick a quality and save a video.
• Carry GDM on a USB stick — the portable copy, with downloads saved to the stick.
• Find a download in a long list — Find, Find Next and column filters.

Help

• Crash reports — what the crash report window shows when GDM closes unexpectedly or stops responding, what a report contains, and how to send it.
• Troubleshooting — what to check when a download fails, the browser doesn't hand over a download, or a schedule doesn't start.
• The browser and GDM aren't connected — what the extension's red ! means, reason by reason, and how to fix each.
• Releases — download the latest version.
• Report a problem — or use Help → Report a problem in GDM, which fills in your version, system and how GDM was installed for you.

Screenshots in these docs show Windows and the light theme unless noted; on the website each has its dark version beside it. GDM follows the system's dark mode: when Windows (or your desktop) is set to dark, GDM is dark too.