Anchor app icon

For macOS

The missing download manager for macOS.

Anchor is a fast, open-source, native download manager for your Mac. Up to 16 connections per file, downloads straight from your browser, videos from YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, torrents, and a menu bar that keeps everything in view.

Download for Mac Watch the video

Free · macOS 26 · Apple silicon · Source on GitHub

Anchor's main window with downloads in progress

Everything a download manager should do.

Built in Swift for macOS, light on memory, and quiet until you need it.

  • Up to 16 connections

    Every file is split across parallel connections, and slow ones hand their work to faster ones, so downloads finish sooner.

  • Straight from your browser

    The extension for Chrome, Arc, Brave and Edge hands every download to Anchor, with your cookies, in one click.

  • Videos from the web

    YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and more, whole playlists included. Any quality, subtitles, and MP4s that play in QuickTime.

  • Keyboard shortcuts

    Download the link on your clipboard, pause everything or open Anchor from any app, with shortcuts you choose.

  • Torrents too

    Open magnet links and .torrent files, and choose exactly which files to download.

  • Pause and resume

    Stop anything and carry on later, even after a restart. Failed downloads retry on their own.

  • Speed limits and schedules

    Cap everything with one click, limit a single download, or let the queue run only overnight.

  • In your menu bar

    See progress for every download and start new ones without opening the main window.

  • Tidies up after itself

    Old installers and leftover files are suggested for cleanup and archived, with undo.

01

Every download, at a glance

Live speed, progress and time left for everything you are downloading. Filter by kind, sort how you like, and select many at once with a shift-click.

Anchor's main window with three downloads in progress

02

All the details

Open any download to see where it came from, where it is saved, how many connections it is using, and set its priority or a speed limit of its own.

The details panel for a download in progress

03

Videos, playlists and subtitles

Paste a link from YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and hundreds of other sites. Pick any quality the video has or just the audio, and add subtitles in your language. For a playlist or channel, choose the videos you want: they land in a folder of their own, numbered in order.

The New Download window for a YouTube playlist, with its videos and quality

04

Pick the files you want

The New Download window shows what you are about to get before anything starts. For torrents, choose files, set their priority, and download only what you need.

The New Download window listing the files in a torrent

05

Right in your menu bar

Every download's progress, one click away, with the total speed next to the icon. Add a link from your clipboard without switching apps.

Anchor's menu bar panel with downloads in progress

06

Shortcuts that work anywhere

Set your own keyboard shortcuts in Settings and control Anchor from any app: download the link you just copied, pause or resume everything, open the menu bar panel, or start the queue now.

Anchor's Shortcuts settings with keyboard shortcuts set

07

Tidies up after itself

Anchor notices installers you have already used and files you have not opened in a while, and moves them to an archive you can restore from.

The Cleanup list with files suggested for cleanup

Browser extension

Click download. Anchor takes it from there.

The Anchor extension hands your browser's downloads to Anchor, cookies and all, so files behind a sign-in come through too. If Anchor isn't open, the extension starts it. If it's off, your browser downloads the file as usual.

  • Chrome
  • Arc
  • Brave
  • Edge
Anchor is running Green when it's on, grey when it's not.
Get the extension

Set it up in a minute

  1. 1

    Download the extension

    Get it from GitHub with Code > Download ZIP and unzip it somewhere it can stay.

  2. 2

    Turn on Developer mode

    Open chrome://extensions (or your browser's extensions page) and switch on Developer mode.

  3. 3

    Load it

    Click Load unpacked and choose the extension's folder. Pin it to the toolbar to see whether Anchor is running.

  4. 4

    Switch it on in Anchor

    In Anchor, open Settings > Browser and turn on Take over browser downloads. Your next download goes straight to Anchor.

Using Safari? Support is coming soon.

See it in action.

A one-minute tour of Anchor.

Native, fast, free and open-source downloader for your Mac.

macOS 26 or later, on Apple silicon.

Download for Mac View on GitHub

Anchor isn't notarized yet, so macOS blocks the first launch. Open it once, then click Open Anyway in System Settings > Privacy & Security.