When the browser can't hand a download to GDM, it keeps the download itself, so nothing is lost. The extension's toolbar button then shows a red !. Click it to see what's wrong, then How to fix it brings you to the matching section below.
To check GDM's side, open Options → General in GDM and click Test browser integration.... It checks that browser integration is on, that this is the installed copy, that the browsers can find GDM, and which browsers' extension has connected; How to fix it opens the section for the first that fails.
GDM isn't installed, or browser integration isn't set up
The browser can't find the small helper program it talks to. It is registered when GDM is installed.
- Install GDM with the setup from the download page, and keep Set up browser integration ticked.
- Already installed? Open GDM, then Options → General → Test browser integration, and click Set it up if it offers to.
- The portable copy can't be connected: it writes nothing outside its own folder. Use the installed copy for browser integration. See Portable mode.
- On Linux and macOS, GDM sets browser integration up itself each time it starts: start GDM once. Test browser integration says what went wrong if it couldn't, such as The helper program the browsers start is missing: Set it up puts it back.
- Restart the browser after setting it up.
- Zen, Helium, Brave Origin or another browser built on Firefox or Chromium, as your only browser on Linux or macOS? Older versions of GDM set browser integration up only for the browsers they knew; the current one also knows Brave Origin and the Beta, Dev and Nightly versions of Brave, Chrome and Edge. Update GDM and start it once.
- The AppImage on Linux: the AppImage's files are gone once it quits, so GDM keeps a copy of its helper program in its data folder (
~/.local/share/misterdownloadmanager/browser-host) and points the browsers there. Start GDM once after moving or renaming the AppImage, or after an AppImage manager (Gear Lever, AppImageLauncher and the like) moved it, so the helper knows where to start it from. - Zen on Windows: Zen 1.21.15b and later have a bug of their own that keeps add-ons from reaching their helper program (zen-browser/desktop#15432), with any add-on that uses one. Until Zen fixes it, Zen 1.21.14b works.
GDM didn't start in time
When GDM isn't running, the browser starts it for each download and waits for it. It waited about 20 seconds this time and gave up.
- Start GDM yourself and try the download again.
- A first start, a slow disk, or an antivirus scanning GDM can take that long. Next time it is usually quick.
- With a VPN or proxy program, allow connections to
127.0.0.1(your own computer): the browser's helper reaches GDM through one. - If GDM never opens, see The setup or GDM won't start.
The connection to GDM failed
The browser started GDM's helper, but it stopped before answering. Security software is the usual cause.
- Allow
misterdownloadmanager-nmhost.exe(in GDM's folder) in your antivirus or anti-malware program. - Reinstall GDM to restore its files.
- On Linux, with Firefox or Chromium installed as a Snap, see Flatpak and Snap browsers.
- Uninstalled GDM on Linux? The .deb and .rpm take their browser files with them; the AppImage's and the tar.gz's stay in your home folder: remove them, and the extension too.
GDM doesn't accept this copy of the extension
GDM's helper serves only its own extension. The browser says this copy isn't one it knows.
- GDM 0.2.x with the extension from the Chrome Web Store? The store's copy needs a newer GDM:
0.2.x knows only the copy in its own folder. Update GDM with Help → Check for updates....
Until then, remove the store's copy
and load the one in GDM's folder instead (
extension\chromium, see Browser integration). - Two copies installed? Open the browser's extensions page (
chrome://extensions,edge://extensions,brave://extensions) and keep only one GolinksPRO Download Manager. - A copy from elsewhere? Remove it and add the extension as GDM's Add GolinksPRO Download Manager to your browser window shows (see Browser integration).
- An older GDM? Update GDM: a newer extension may have an ID an old helper doesn't know.
The extension is newer than GDM
Downloads still work, but some of the extension's features need a newer GDM. Update it with Help → Check for updates... in GDM.
If GDM says it's up to date, there's nothing for you to do. The extension updates by itself through its store and can get ahead of the app for a while. Everything keeps working, and the message goes away with the next version of GDM.
A download's details were too large
A download carries its site's cookies (and a form's data) to GDM. A few sites set so many that together they exceed what GDM accepts from the browser (1 MB). The browser kept this one. Signing out and back in to the site usually trims them.
Downloads stay with the browser although GDM is connected
The extension is connected, but GDM's own settings leave this download to the browser. Check, in GDM:
- Options → General → Use advanced browser integration is on, and your browser is ticked under Capture downloads from the following browsers.
- The file's type is listed in Options → File types.
- The site isn't in Don't start downloading automatically from the following sites, nor the address in Don't start downloading automatically from the following addresses.
- The file isn't smaller than Don't take files smaller than in Options → File types.
Also check the extension's toolbar button: with Take downloads from this browser off, everything stays with the browser.
The browser opens PDFs and music instead of sending them
GDM also takes the file types the browser would show or play itself (a PDF, an MP3), when they're listed in Options → File types and Also take files the browser would open is ticked in Options → General → Keys.... This needs a Chromium browser (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi) version 128 or later, or Firefox. Sites in GDM's excluded sites keep opening them in the browser. Hold Alt while clicking a link to leave it to the browser: Firefox then opens it, while Chromium browsers download it themselves (Alt+click is their own "download link").
No Download video button on YouTube in Chrome, Edge or Brave
The copy of the extension from the Chrome Web Store showed no Download video button on YouTube before version 0.5.1. From 0.5.1 it shows it. Your browser updates extensions by itself; to get it sooner, open its extensions page and update them there.
You can always save a video without the button: in GDM, open Tasks → Download video from a page and paste the video's address.
The extension can't read this site
In Chrome, Edge and Brave you can limit an extension to some sites (right-click its toolbar button → This can read and change site data). On a site it may not read, the extension can't pass your sign-in on, so it leaves the download to the browser. Choose On all sites to let GDM take downloads everywhere.
Firefox forgets the extension after a restart
An add-on loaded with Load Temporary Add-on (from about:debugging) is removed when Firefox closes. Remove it and install the add-on from its page on addons.mozilla.org instead: Firefox keeps that one, and updates it.
Linux: Flatpak and Snap browsers
Browsers installed as a Flatpak or a Snap run in a sandbox, which decides whether they can reach GDM.
- Firefox as a Snap (Ubuntu's own Firefox) reaches GDM through the desktop, which reads the browser files in your home folder and those the .deb or .rpm installs for everyone. The first time the extension calls GDM, the desktop asks Allow Firefox to start WebExtension backend? for GolinksPRO Download Manager: choose Allow. After Don't allow, the extension says the connection failed and the desktop doesn't ask again; to be asked again, run this in a terminal, then use the extension again:
gdbus call --session --dest org.freedesktop.impl.portal.PermissionStore --object-path /org/freedesktop/impl/portal/PermissionStore --method org.freedesktop.impl.portal.PermissionStore.Delete webextensions com.misterdownloadmanager.host
- Chromium as a Snap (Ubuntu's Chromium) starts GDM's helper inside its sandbox, where it can't reach GDM, so GDM doesn't list it in Add GolinksPRO Download Manager to your browser. Use Firefox, or Google Chrome from its own .deb.
- Flatpak browsers (such as Zen's app.zen_browser.zen) can't start GDM's helper, so GDM doesn't list them either. Install the browser from your distribution's packages (or the browser maker's own .deb, .rpm, tarball or AppImage) to use browser integration.
Next steps
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