Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your DOWNLOAD file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert DOWNLOAD to another file type
To convert DOWNLOAD Partial downloads to another format, you need Apple Safari or other System software.
Convert a file to DOWNLOAD
To convert other file formats to the "Partial Download Placeholder" file type, you need software like Apple Safari or a similar tool.
About DOWNLOAD files
A .download file is a temporary placeholder created by web browsers like Apple Safari or cloud sync tools like Microsoft OneDrive. When you start downloading a file from the internet, the software creates this placeholder to store the incoming data chunks. Once the transfer completes, the .download extension is automatically removed, revealing the true file such as a PDF, ZIP, or MP4. However, this format becomes a frustrating problem when a download is interrupted, a browser crashes, or a cloud sync fails. You are left with an incomplete data stream. The operating system cannot open it because the file lacks a recognized extension, and standard software will reject it as corrupted. Furthermore, OneDrive often uses .download as a shortcut (LNK) for online-only files, meaning the actual data does not exist on your local drive at all. You cannot magically generate missing data, but you can salvage what is there. For web use or viewing, you need to identify the original file signature. If it is a partial video, we can strip the placeholder extension so you can open it in forgiving media players. If it is a document or archive, we will extract any intact data and attempt to convert it to standard targets like PDF or ZIP.
Convert.Guru analyzes your DOWNLOAD file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert DOWNLOAD file to PDF, JPG, LINK, IMAGE, VIDEO, HTML, HTM, CSS, JS, PHP, ASP or ASPX, you can use Apple Safari or similar software from the "Incomplete File Placeholder" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert RSS, CSS, CGI, SITEMAP, PL, WEBMANIFEST, JSON, JS, XML, HTML, ICO or HTM files to DOWNLOAD, try Apple Safari or another comparable tool in the "Incomplete File Placeholder" category.
The DOWNLOAD Converter Story
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our DOWNLOAD converter.