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How to open crdownload file on Windows 10

Browsers can download files, and some have fairly decent download managers built right into them. While you will find a download manager in most modern browsers, how a download is handled by the browser will differ from one browser to the others. The files, while they are downloading, have to be stored somewhere until the download is complete and the file is ready to use. Some browsers choose to keep the file hidden while it’s downloading, while others, like Chrome, create a file in the download location that represents the in-progress download. This file has the crdownload extension.

crdownload file

A crdownload file is a temporary file that Chrome creates. This file will exist on your system as long as a download is in progress. Each file that is downloading has its own crdownload file, and each one is given a different name. Once a download completes, the crdownload file is replaced with the name of the actual file that you were downloading.

Open crdownload file

If you see a crdownload file on your desktop, or in any other folder, it indicates one of four things;

  • A file is downloading in Chrome
  • A file was downloading in Chrome, but the browser crashed before the download could finish.
  • A paused download in Chrome.
  • The download failed, and Chrome was unable to clean up the residual crdownload file.

In all four cases, you will not be able to open the crdownload file. In fact, these files aren’t meant to open until the download has finished simply because all the data isn’t there. Here’s what you can do to open the crdownload file.

1. Wait for the download to complete

If the download is still in progress, allow it to complete. To check if a download is in progress in Chrome, follow these steps.

  1. Make sure Chrome is already open. The browser can’t download files in the background.
  2. Tap the Ctrl+J keyboard shortcut to open the Downloads page.
  3. You will see a list of all recent downloads and any files that are currently downloading.
  4. For a file that is still downloading, you will see a progress bar and the download speed. Allow it to complete.
  5. If there is a ‘Resume’ and ‘Cancel’ button, click the ‘Resume’ button. The download has been paused and will complete when you resume it.

2. Resume/Restart the download

If the download has failed, you can delete the crdownload file and start the download again.

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. Tap the Ctrl+J keyboard shortcut to open the Downloads page.
  3. Check to see if any downloads have a ‘Resume’ button. If you see one, click it.
  4. If you see a ‘download failed’ message under a download, you won’t be able to resume it. Copy the link that you see under the download.
  5. Paste the link in the URL bar in a new tab and tap Enter to restart the download.

You might be able to resume a failed download but not through Chrome. Check out this little trick with Firefox.

Conclusion

A crdownload file cannot be opened simply because all the data needed to open the file isn’t there. More importantly, there is no app that can actually open a crdownload file. If you’re downloading a PSD (Photoshop) file and it has the crdownload extension, you won’t be able to open it in Photoshop because the app cannot handle this file extension.

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