How to Enable Parallel Download on Chrome

Google Chrome supports parallel downloading. You can enable the parallel downloading flag to use this feature.

What is Parallel Downloading?

Parallel downloading helps a download manager or web browser to download a file in multiple streams simultaneously. This improves the overall download speed, especially for large files.

When you download a file from the internet, your computer or device has to get that file from a server, which is like a big computer that stores lots of files. Normally, your device would ask the server for the file and wait while the server sends it over. This process is a bit like standing in line to get a ticket. It can take a while, especially if the file is really big, like a movie or a video game.

How Parallel Downloading Helps

Parallel downloading speeds up this process by breaking the file into smaller pieces and downloading those pieces all at once. Think of it like having several friends waiting in different lines for tickets at the same time. Each friend gets a part of the tickets and brings them back to you quickly.

Here’s how it works:

1. Splitting the File: When you start downloading a file, Chrome splits it into smaller parts.
2. Multiple Connections: Chrome opens multiple connections to the server, like opening several doors to the same room.
3. Downloading Simultaneously: Each connection downloads a different part of the file at the same time.
4. Reassembling the File: Once all the parts are downloaded, Chrome puts them back together into the complete file.

Why is Parallel Downloading Useful?

1. Faster Downloads: By downloading multiple parts of a file at once, the overall download time is reduced. This is especially helpful for large files.
2. More Efficient Use of Bandwidth: If you have a fast internet connection, parallel downloading can make better use of it, ensuring you get the file as quickly as possible.
3. Reliability: If one part of the download is slow or interrupted, the other parts can still continue, and the slow part can retry, making the whole process more reliable.

Let’s say you want to download a new game that is 1GB in size. Without parallel downloading, Chrome would download the file in one piece, which might take 10 minutes. But with parallel downloading, Chrome splits the file into 10 pieces, each 100MB, and downloads all of them at once. This way, the game might be ready to play in just 2 minutes instead of 10.

Google Chrome now supports this feature. All you have to do is enable the parallel download Chrome flag.

Enabling chrome://flags/#enable-parallel-downloading flag

Google is testing parallel downloading behind the following experimental flag.

Parallel downloading: Enable parallel downloading to accelerate download speed. – Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, Android, Fuchsia, Lacros

To enable parallel downloading:

1. Open a new tab and go to chrome://flags.
2. Search for Parallel downloading flag. You can also directly go to chrome://flags/#enable-parallel-downloading
3. Select Enabled from the drop-down.
4. Select the Relaunch button on the bottom of the page.

You should now have Parallel Downloading working on your Google Chrome browser. Give it a try and let me know your thoughts.

Parallel downloading is like a superhero for your browser, helping you get your files faster and more efficiently. It’s a clever way of making sure you spend less time waiting and more time enjoying the things you download. So, next time you’re grabbing a cool new game or a fun movie, remember that parallel downloading is working hard behind the scenes to get it to you quicker.