IDM - Bulk Download Manager Extension
Guide

How to save downloads into folders automatically, by site and date

Chrome puts every file in one Downloads folder. IDM - Bulk Download Manager Extension can save the files it downloads into a subfolder instead, named after the website and the day: set the Download folder to {host}/{date} in its settings and files from example.com land in Downloads/example.com/2026-10-20.

Updated · 4 min read

With {host}/{date}, every site and every day gets its own folder.

Set up folders in IDM - Bulk Download Manager Extension

  1. Open the settings

    Click the IDM icon, then the gear icon at the top of the popup. The settings page opens with its sections in a sidebar: Saving files, Page scan, Appearance, Browser, Keyboard shortcuts and About.

  2. Find Download folder

    It's the first option under Saving files. The default is Download Manager/{host}: one main folder with a subfolder per website.

  3. Type your pattern

    Use {host} for the website and {date} for today, and a slash to make a folder inside a folder. The example line below the field shows where a file would be saved.

  4. Download as usual

    Changes are saved straight away; a small "Saved" note confirms it. From now on, files and ZIPs from the popup and the right-click menu go into the new folders.

Patterns that work well

  • Download Manager/{host} (the default): everything from the extension in one place, sorted by website.
  • {host}/{date}: a folder per site, with a folder per day inside it.
  • {date}/{host}: a folder per day first, handy if you collect from many sites daily.
  • Research/{host}: your own main folder name, then the site.
  • Empty: files go straight into the Downloads folder, like normal browser downloads.

{host} is the address of the page you downloaded from, for example example.com or www.example.com. {date} is today's date as year-month-day, such as 2026-10-20, so folders sort in the right order. Characters that aren't allowed in folder names are replaced with a dash. For a list of links you paste, {host} is each link's own site.

Name the files too

Below the folder, File names sets how each file is named: keep the original name (the default), put a number or the date in front, or use the page title and a number. The file type always stays the same, and the same names are used inside a ZIP.

ZIP file names work the same way

The ZIP file name setting uses the same two placeholders. The default, {host}-{date}, gives names like example.com-2026-10-20.zip. The ZIP itself is saved into your download folder pattern. More in downloading images as one ZIP.

What it can't do

  • Save outside the Downloads folder. Browsers only let extensions create folders inside your download location. To move the whole location, change it in Chrome under Settings › Downloads.
  • Sort downloads it didn't start. Files you download by clicking a link on a website are saved by the browser as usual. The pattern applies to files you download through the extension.

Without an extension

Chrome has one setting for this: turn on Ask where to save each file before downloading under Settings › Downloads (or at chrome://settings/downloads). Chrome then shows a Save As window for every download, and you pick or create the folder yourself. That's fine now and then, but for twenty files it means twenty windows. The other option is moving files out of Downloads by hand afterwards.

IDM - Bulk Download Manager Extension has a similar switch, Ask where to save each file. It opens the Save As window for every file, including each file of a bulk download, so leave it off if you use folder patterns.

Tips

  • Collecting the same kind of files for a project? Put the project name first, such as Project X/{host}, and change it when the project changes.
  • The settings page shows an example path under the field while you type, so you can check the result before downloading anything.
  • Use Show in folder in the Downloads tab to jump straight to the folder a file was saved in.

FAQ

What happens if a file with the same name is already there?

By default nothing is overwritten: the browser adds a number to the new file's name, such as photo (1).jpg. To replace the old file instead, change If the file already exists in the settings under Saving files.

Can I use a different date format?

No, {date} is always year-month-day. It's the one format that sorts correctly by name in every file manager.

Do I have to create the folders myself?

No. The browser creates any folder in the pattern that doesn't exist yet.

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