Downloads · Windows 10 and 11
Find any download, by name or by the site it came from
Everything in your Downloads folder in one list, newest first and grouped by day, that searches as you type. Octoolo also looks in the folders your browsers save to when they are not Downloads, and shows the site each file came from, so “the PDF from the bank” is quick to find.
How to find a file you downloaded
- 1
Open Your downloads
Open Octoolo's Downloads app. It starts on Your downloads: today's downloads at the top, then yesterday's, this week's and older ones.
- 2
Type what you remember
A word from the name, or part of the site it came from, such as github or bank. The list narrows as you type. The buttons below the search show one kind at a time: documents, pictures, videos, music, archives, installers or folders.
- 3
Open it, or do something with it
Click a name to open the file. The buttons on its line show it in File Explorer, rename it (its extension stays), move it to another folder or put it in the Recycle Bin. Tick several to move them or recycle them together.
Why downloads seem to vanish
- The browser saves somewhere else. Chrome, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera and Firefox each have their own setting for where downloads go, and Firefox can be set to the Desktop. Octoolo reads those settings and lists every folder it found at the bottom of the page, such as “Chrome saves here”, so those files are in the list too.
- Windows Search has not caught up. Search finds new files only once Windows has indexed them, which can take a while. Octoolo reads the folders themselves, every time you open the list or come back to it.
- It was sorted. Files that Sort your downloads moved into Documents, Pictures and the other type folders stay in the list, marked with the folder they are in.
Saved downloads somewhere of your own? Add a folder puts it on the list.
The site each file came from
When a browser saves a download, Windows keeps a note of the address it came from with the file, known as the Mark of the Web. Octoolo shows that site on each line (“from github.com”) and searches it, so you can find a file by where you got it even when its name says nothing, like document(3).pdf. Files that came from a USB stick or an email attachment saved another way have no site.
What needs a look
Above the list, Octoolo points out three kinds of download you probably do not need, each with one button to move them to the Recycle Bin:
| Shown as | What it is |
|---|---|
| Downloaded twice | A file with exactly the same bytes as another download, often “report (1).pdf” beside “report.pdf”. The first one stays; only the extra copies go. |
| Unfinished | A download a browser started and never finished, such as a .crdownload or .part file. It cannot be opened. |
| Already unzipped | A ZIP, RAR or 7Z file whose contents are already in a folder of the same name beside it. The folder stays. |
Octoolo compares the files themselves to find copies, not only their names. Nothing is ever deleted for good: the Recycle Bin can put anything back.
Questions, answered
Where is my Downloads folder?
In File Explorer it is under This PC and in the left-hand list, normally C:\Users\your name\Downloads. If you moved it, Octoolo still finds it, because it asks Windows where it is.
Does it see what every browser downloaded?
Yes, from the folders they save to. Octoolo reads where Chrome, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera and Firefox are set to save, and lists those folders as well as Downloads.
Is my list of downloads sent anywhere?
No. The list is read from your folders on this computer and stays there.
Why does a file say “Copy of”?
Its bytes are exactly the same as another download's, so one of the two is enough. The line names the file it is a copy of.
Find downloaded files, and 16 more apps.
Download for Windows7 days free, then from $3.99 a month for all 17 apps. Windows 10 and 11.